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MYSTERY/Ellroy, James
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Subjects
Published
New York : Vintage Books 2001.
Language
English
Main Author
James Ellroy, 1948- (-)
Edition
1st Vintage Books ed
Item Description
Originally published: New York : Knopf, 1992.
Physical Description
354 p. ; 21 cm
ISBN
9780375727368
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Whew! In Ellroy's latest novel, the L.A.P.D. makes the Borgias, Ivan the Terrible, and Vlad the Impaler look like the Little Sisters of the Poor. Shrewd but spectacularly dirty Lieutenant Dave Klein--a contract killer, slumlord, extortionist, strikebreaker, attorney, and all-around brutal slimeball--is hung out as bait in a war between two even dirtier, more twisted, more Machiavellian superior officers. Early on, Klein realizes he's a pawn, but his own crookedness traps him, and he has no choice but to see it through to "dues paying time." But even as he's being used, he's free-lancing for Howard Hughes by tailing one of Hughes' stable of starlets, killing a federal witness for Mafiosi Sam Giancana, working for mobster Mickey Cohen, and matter of factly hiring his own hitmen to do his light work. Set in 1958, much of the book takes place in Darktown, south-central L.A., where the police protect their designated drug dealer to "contain" the populace, and in the barrio of Chavez Ravine, which city fathers raze to build Dodger Stadium. Ellroy's clipped, telegraphic style, his use of real people and real events, and his creation of a world horrifyingly devoid of any conventional morality make White Jazz a harrowing, remarkable read. (Reviewed Aug. 1992)0679414495Thomas Gaughan

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Politics and pre-Miranda rights police work in this final volume of Ellroy's tense, lowdown L.A. epic. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Ellroy adeptly leads the reader into the murky, decadent world of Los Angeles in the late 1950s, as seen through the cynical eyes of David Klein, age 42, the commanding officer of the LAPD's vice division. Klein makes up his own rules as he goes along, rules that involve money, mayhem, and murder as necessary. Klein isn't the only one to follow such rules, which apparently are the ``norm'' for other members of the force as well. But Klein suffers the unthinkable when he becomes the scapegoat so that other officers can protect their own dirty laundry from the probing eyes of federal agents. White Jazz is the last volume of what is known as Ellroy's ``L.A. quartet'' of crime novels, which includes his previous L.A. Confidential (Mysterious Pr., 1990), The Big Nowhere (Mysterious Pr., 1988), and The Black Dahlia ( LJ 10/15/87). It's disturbing but riveting reading that Ellroy fans will especially enjoy.--Marlene Lee, Drain Branch Lib., Ore. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

L.A., 1958. Corrupt Lt. Dave Klein, rapidly into a morass of bribes, fixes, and murder, hunts a thief whose crime-family victims don't want him caught and agrees to dig dirt on a Howard Hughes starlet--all while struggling to duck the fallout from his latest killing. As controversy over the proposed stadium for the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine brings city politics to a boil, Dave gets the word from mobster Mickey Cohen to help Sanderline Johnson, a half-wit croupier picked up in a raid, out his ninth-floor window before he can testify. The official verdict is flipped-out suicide, but the murder squeezes Dave between his department patron, detective chief Ed Exley; his would-be patron, Capt. Dudley Smith, deep in the Organization's pocket; double-dealing D.A. Bob Gallaudet; and Welles Noonan, a politically-minded US attorney with blood in his eye. Meanwhile, Exley puts Dave in charge of a break-in to the home of mobster J. C. Kafesjian, who wants him off the case; and Dave falls in love with Glenda Bledsoe, the starlet whose contract Hollywood mogul Hughes wants to break--and vows to protect her from the man whose money he's taking to break her. As if all this weren't trouble enough, somebody (Exley? Gallaudet? Dud Smith?) frames Dave for a murder that's been captured on film. Finally, the mayhem is garnished with Ellroy's patented Extra Chunky prose, familiar to veterans of L.A. Confidential, etc. (sample action scene: ``Linoleum floor--maroon dots--dried blood. Chick on the bed, zipping his fly. Knucks/gun butt- -quick--I bashed his face, hacked his nuts, cracked his arms. Bone jar up my arms--Chick balled himself tight.'' Dave thinks like this too). Ellroy's been cooking up these overseasoned ragouts too long to change his recipe now; if you don't already know him, a page or two will convince you whether he's genius or a poseur, or both.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.