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samsavageSam Savage's first novel, Firmin, chronicled the coming-of-age misadventures of a very literate rat living in a bookstore in Boston's Scollay Square. Garnering praise from authors and... Continue »
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The Black Dahlia

by James Ellroy

The Black Dahlia Cover

ISBN13: 9780446698870
ISBN10: 0446698873
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia — and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.

Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia — driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches — into a region of total madness.

Review:

"Building like a symphony, this is a wonderful, complicated but accessible tale of ambition, insanity, passion and deceit, with the perfect setting of booming, postwar Los Angeles." Publishers Weekly

Review:

"High-intensity prose. Reading it aloud could shatter your wineglasses." Elmore Leonard

Review:

"In his best book, Ellroy fictionalizes the notorious true story of the murder of a Los Angeles whore (literally sliced in two), using the poor girl as a psychic stand-in for the novelist's own murdered mother." Salon.com

Review:

"Turgid with passion, violence, and frustration...imaginative and bizarre." Los Angeles Times

Review:

"A riveting 1940s noir Hollywood setting, full of period flavor and investigative detail." Boston Herald

Review:

"Ellroy distills the introspective style, slang, and racism of the '40s roman noir....His characters, individuals all, are beautifully shaded, and he captures the mind-numbing detail of police work." Chicago Sun-Times

Review:

"Ellroy kept me glued to the chair....His ear for 1940s speech is flawless." Newsweek

Synopsis:

The highly acclaimed novel from bestselling author James Ellroy is now a major motion picture directed by Brian DePalma (The Untouchables, Carlito's Way).

About the Author

James Ellroy was born in 1948 in Los Angeles, the city that has served as the inspiration for his acclaimed crime novels. His L.A. Quartet novels — The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz — are international bestsellers. His memoir, My Dark Places, was a New York Times notable book and a Time magazine best book of the year for 1996. He lives in Kansas City.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
ak, September 6, 2006 (view all comments by ak)
Very interesting read with twists that keep you going to the end!
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(5 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)

Product Details

ISBN:
9780446698870
Author:
Ellroy, James
Publisher:
Mysterious Press
Subject:
Police
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Police Procedural
Subject:
Young women
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Historical
Subject:
Movie-TV Tie-In - General
Subject:
Media Tie-In - General
Subject:
Los angeles (calif.)
Subject:
Mystery fiction
Copyright:
Edition Number:
Reprint ed.
Publication Date:
August 2006
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
337
Dimensions:
798x532x93 63

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