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James Ellroy is incapable of writing a standard whodunit mystery, but this comes closer than most of his work.
His amped up stripped down style is not as extreme as usual, but his eye and ear for grisly corrupt menace is tuned finely as usual.
Good news for Ellroy lovers: this is the beginning of a new series, which takes place earlier in the decaying-LA universe than his other work, and rounds up characters from his previous series as well as real-life people. (Jack Webb, of "Dragnet" fame, for example, is portrayed here as a pathetic cop wannabee - seems legit.)
Perfidia takes place between the Pearl Harbor attack and Christmas 1941 in LA. Roundups, land grabs, perversions, and blood all over the walls just like you'd expect.
I left off the fifth star because it is a bit lower-voltage than we all know Ellroy is capable of, but still, there's no one like him.
His amped up stripped down style is not as extreme as usual, but his eye and ear for grisly corrupt menace is tuned finely as usual.
Good news for Ellroy lovers: this is the beginning of a new series, which takes place earlier in the decaying-LA universe than his other work, and rounds up characters from his previous series as well as real-life people. (Jack Webb, of "Dragnet" fame, for example, is portrayed here as a pathetic cop wannabee - seems legit.)
Perfidia takes place between the Pearl Harbor attack and Christmas 1941 in LA. Roundups, land grabs, perversions, and blood all over the walls just like you'd expect.
I left off the fifth star because it is a bit lower-voltage than we all know Ellroy is capable of, but still, there's no one like him.