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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I started off really disliking the Black Dahlia. The story centres on "Bucky", an ex pro boxer who turns cop. He takes part in a fight to raise the profile of the local cops, winning a promotion and a new partner in return. But his partner Lee Blanchard is harbouring issues from his childhood, and when they stumble into a horrendous case involving the murder of a young woman, their upward trajectories start to fall apart.
For the first hundred pages or so the novel is a lot of cop talk, a lot of slang, a lot of macho posturing, and it's pretty dull. But once the case is discovered things rapidly heat up. As Lee gets crazier, Bucky starts to draw together the pieces. But will it end up wrecking his life aswell as Lee's? By the end I was hooked, when it was all revealed, it was devious. The kind of novel I would never normally have picked up, and I ended up really enjoying it.
For the first hundred pages or so the novel is a lot of cop talk, a lot of slang, a lot of macho posturing, and it's pretty dull. But once the case is discovered things rapidly heat up. As Lee gets crazier, Bucky starts to draw together the pieces. But will it end up wrecking his life aswell as Lee's? By the end I was hooked, when it was all revealed, it was devious. The kind of novel I would never normally have picked up, and I ended up really enjoying it.
dark
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
slow-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A brutal brick of a novel that hurls it's narrative through your mental window at 3 a.m., the broken glass left in it's wake jaggedly reflecting the forms of shadowy criminals here to take up residence in your imagination, with intent to brutalize your thoughts and shred your sensibilities. It is a tale soaked in the blood of the innocent and gallons of cheap rye whisky, blanketed in murderous misogyny and fetid corruption, telling a story darker than the eyes of a bloated corpse in the the sewer running under the L.A. streets. The plot is propelled forward on the screeching and smoking tires of a car driven by someone two minutes late to their own murder, with prose as bone-cracking and hammer-blunt as the wild swinging fists of a pugilistic detective taking out years of unspent rage on a homeless hophead. A valediction in blood, a literary spark to the fuel-soaked timbers of the derelict house that is a love of the L.A. neo-noir genre, turning it from a woe-begotten husk to a flaming beacon of justice and ink.
I loved it.
I loved it.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I haven't read any Ellroy in a while and totally forgot how raw and abso-freakin-lutely violent and crude his books can get. I also forgot what a big theme obsession can play in his books. Seriously, there is a lot of it here. Mind you, I'm a true crime fan and have done plenty of reading on the actual historical Black Dahlia (including Hodel's book) which is probably why this book ended up on my shelves ages ago. But a little Ellroy goes a long way so it went unread for equal ages. It's actually an interesting conceit, building a tale of obsession and love and hate and corruption and facades around the case and Ellroy has a talent for making you loathe some of his characters. Equally as talented at presenting you with a character that you want to root for because they make your heart hurt... but they are so gosh darn flawed and such a mess that rooting for them feels a bit illegal.
Enter Bucky and Lee and Kay and all sorts of other reprobates. Very noir, very period accurate, very on-tone with the set-dressing and dialogue, and a very thorough romp down the spiral with your guest host, Bucky. It's fascinating like a car wreck is fascinating.
To be honest, the only character I would feel safe in a room alone with is Russ Millard. What an absolute sweetheart.
Enter Bucky and Lee and Kay and all sorts of other reprobates. Very noir, very period accurate, very on-tone with the set-dressing and dialogue, and a very thorough romp down the spiral with your guest host, Bucky. It's fascinating like a car wreck is fascinating.
To be honest, the only character I would feel safe in a room alone with is Russ Millard. What an absolute sweetheart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It has taken me a while to get my thoughts together about this book. It was good enough to finish, but I did not like it. I had a problem with all the racism and sexism and weird sexual fetishes. It was just like the author was putting it all in the book to show he could, not like it was a natural part of the story, more like “Look at me using the n-word, look at me using incest, look at me talking about necrophilia… ooo I am SO controversial!’
There was just TOO much of the trashy crap and not enough of the investigating of the actual crime. I don’t want to hear about someone wanting to have sex with a dead girl, it is gross.
So I cannot recommend this book, not that I actually ever recommend books, but I don’t know why this one is on must read lists and such…
There was just TOO much of the trashy crap and not enough of the investigating of the actual crime. I don’t want to hear about someone wanting to have sex with a dead girl, it is gross.
So I cannot recommend this book, not that I actually ever recommend books, but I don’t know why this one is on must read lists and such…
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Terrible, absolutely terrible. I didn't learn anything new in regard to the case. LAPD shows true colors in this book. I did not appreciate most of the dialogue used in this book ! I understand it was the 40s and that is how many spoke back then. But, did he really have to write it? No!!!!