The Big Nowhere - (L. A. Quartet) by James Ellroy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A novel in The L.A. Quartet. Murder, mayhem and dirty cops on the make against the backdrop of anti-communist hysteria in L.A. in 1950.

It's Los Angeles in the new year of 1950. The Communist Scare is heating up. Gangsters vie for control of the town. The Hollywood studios are feuding with the unions. Then a dead body with its eyes gouged out turns up.

The investigating officer, Sheriff's deputy Danny Upshaw, is obsessed with the murder case that no one else cares about. LAPD Lieutenant Mal Considine jumps onto the Red Scare bandwagon to advance his career and gain custody of his adopted son. And Buzz Meeks is in it all for the money.

The three cops get caught in the city's web of ambition, perversion, and deceit. All three have purchased tickets to a nightmare.

Review Quotes

"For something in the classic vein written by a man alive and in full noir-lit vigor, the strong of heart will want to read James Elloy's The Big Nowhere. . . . He makes you feel as if you really are in the Hollywood of 1950." --The Wall Street Journal

"You terribly want to know how the whole thing is going to work out in the end." --The New York Times

"A detective saga, monster movie, social history, and contemporary novel in one." --Chicago Tribune

"The Big Nowhere is a stunner. . . . It's a huge, sprawling canvas of postwar Los Angeles as a black hole." --Detroit News

About the Author

JAMES ELLROY was born in Los Angeles. He is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood's a Rover, and the L.A. Quartet novels: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement. He lives in Colorado.