Suicide Hill

This deliciously pulpy detective novel in the spirit of Elroy's bestselling L.A. CONFIDENTIAL tells two interlocking stories. Recently sprung from jail, a brilliant and unscrupulous career criminal masterminds intricately planned bank heists with a loose cannon and his brother. He hopes to raise ill-gotten cash to save the career of the singer/crack whore he loves. An equally brilliant disgraced cop doggedly investigates these crimes while fending off colleagues who want to see him kicked off the force. L.J. Ganser contributes superb diction, energy, and a voice reminiscent of Philip Marlow, but little else. He reads as if late for an appointment, breezing past every opportunity the author gives him for panache and distinction. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

April 1, 1986
At one point in Ellroy's new mystery, a character wonders if the world is "nothing but wimps, pimps, psychos and sex fiends,'' and by the end of this book the reader wonders, too. Estranged from his wife and daughters and on the verge of forced early retirement, L.A.P.D. Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins is assigned to ``liaise'' with the FBI in investigating bank robberies in which the doxies of philandering bank managers have been held hostage. Hopkins's ``hot-dogging'' investigative methods blur the lines between good guys and bad guys, and by the final series of bloody climaxes almost everybody seems psycho. The book hurtles along with almost equal gore and slapstick, L.A.'s sleazy sides are brilliantly drawn and if the ending is a bit melodramatic readers will have had their money's worth. Ellroy