Rating: 
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: James Ellroy's "The Black Dahlia" is almost too dark, too gripping and too believable. It stands out among a crowd of mysteries (sub-genre police procedural) as simply a great novel. Most mysteries I put down and forget that I've read them. The characters from Ellroy's noir vision of L.A. in the late 1940s and early 1950s are indelibly etched in my mind, as is Ellroy's characterization of the period and location itself. This is the most visceral book I've ever read. I picked up this book myself from Partners and Crime's Top 100 shelf (P&C is an awesome mystery bookstore in Manhattan's Greenwich Village). I loaned my copy to a friend, who gave it back to me a week later and said he didn't want to read the rest of the series or any other mystery novel again in his life -- this one was perfect and anything else would just ruin his ability to savor "The Black Dahlia". I loaned it to a second friend who finished it in a week, and then went out and bought the complete Ellroy ouevre. This is not a one-night read unless you have strong eyes, strong coffee, heroic concentration and an iron will. If you get a chance, hear Ellroy read from these books in person. Sequencing Ellroy's books is tough, because they're all similar in terms of time frame, setting, and characters. The L.A. trilogy plus one is: * 1947: The Black Dahlia
* 1950: The Big Nowhere
* 1951: L. A. Confidential
* 1958: White Jazz Dudley Smith also appears in Ellroy's second novel, "Clandestine", set in 1951.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing Reconstruction of Post WWII USA
Review: James Ellroy's "The Black Dahlia" may be a working hypothesis for a real unsolved crime tangled in the guise of prose, but the book is much more than a true crime/novel-it is an extremely well-researched glimpse into the minds and emotions of post World War II citizens of Los Angeles, the confusion that is raised in the face of an unspeakable crime, and our abilities as human beings to cope.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece!
Review: James Ellroy writes some of the most wonderful crime prose ever created. I will not try to add or summarize, other than to say this is a real joy to read and the motivation to read all of his other novels. You can readily see why he is such a successful author that creates only the highest of quality crime novels.
Rating:
Summary: A Dark Book by the Dark Prince of Noir
Review: As a mystery writer with my first novel in its initial release, I admire THE BLACK DAHLIA more than any other crime fiction work by James Ellroy, an undisputed master of American noir. In THE BLACK DAHLIA, Ellroy takes personal possession of the famous murder of Elizabeth Short, a Hollywood hopeful. The torture/homicide actually happened in the late Forties. It remains unsolved as of today. Ellroy blends the actual known facts with his fictional creations involving the case. His book centers on two obsessed LAPD detectives searching for the murderer. To some degree, his fictionalization of the Black Dahlia case is highly personal, involving speculation upon events in his own life. THE BLACK DAHLIA is Ellroy's master work. It succeeds on all levels.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Gripping Story Teller
Review: I saw Ellroy's interview with CBS 60 Minutes 2 weeks a go and decided to try one of his best seller "Black Dahlia". I didn't know Ellroy until then, and didn't realize that "LA Confidential" was by him. Saw the movie version, but wasn't very impressed, I thought it was too complicated. So when I picked up this book, I had some trepidation that this too will be too complicated and boring. But, from the very first page, I could not put it down. His style of story telling and writting is truly gripping. This is one of the best suspense novel I have ever encountered. I will now attempt to devour the rest of his collections.
Rating:
Summary: A fine piece of work by a fine writer.
Review: In Los Angeles, 1947, the promiscuous and movie-struck Elizabeth Short turns up murdered and mutilated at 39th and Norton. Her murder is seen as an opportunity for Lee Blanchard and Bucky Bleichert's boss to make political capital. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Short now known as the Black Dahlia had encounters with many people within the police force and local big business. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, but since her elevation in death to media superstardom, any past, or ongoing investigative association is the kiss of death. For Lee Blanchard and Fritz Vogel this turns out to be literally the case by way of a very twisted road involving blackmail and murder. For Bucky Bleichert it spells the end of a police career even though he has solved the Black Dahlia homicide. In terms of plot complexity, the Black Dahlia would be pretty comparable to books by Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. But I felt that too many plot twists were implemented simply because many characters in the story are on the take and on the make irrespective of what side the law they are on. This was almost taken to the point of absurdity / parody, but just stopped short. Less is often more. On the other hand, since James Ellroy's Black Dahlia is a fictional resolution of the real Black Dahlia homicide - which as I understand it is still unsolved, officially at any rate - it's possible that he employs too twisted a plot to echo the ongoing debates / discussions by interested parties on the subject. With respect to the book as a piece of fiction though, many of the sequences were uncomfortably terse with respect to a resolution within themselves, their background detail barely sufficient to retain balance with the rest of the story, they being rescued from implausibility by their reintroduction as an explanation to why certain things happened. The section where Bucky Bleichert goes to Mexico to track down Lee Blanchard, and finds him dead, and makes a desperate escape back across the American border is a good example of this. This section is also a good example of what I mean by overly twisting the plot to allow an extra element to Madeleine Sprague's conduct. James Ellroy's Black Dahlia is a very balanced book with respect to the quality of its writing; it being evenly paced without any parts better or worse written than the others. This is not often so. I also thought that he imbued his characters with plausible traits that weren't simply tacked on to add colour; and that his prose style projected an objective and strongly passionate personality. L.A. Confidential and The Cold 6000 are next.
Rating:
Summary: The Simple Art of Ellroy
Review: It seems readers either love or hate this book, with no middle ground. The fact that it generates such emotional debates is a credit to the book, in its own way. I thought Ellroy's ability to wrap me up in the lives of these all-too-human characters was incredible. Each one had despicable characteristics in their nature, and I still loved them. Lee with his police face at work and nervous ticks at home, Kay with her artsy vogue hiding white trashiness, and Bucky's mostly-good looks coupled with goofy self-serving actions. The story was brutally honest about humanity, and I've discovered that most people who have a problem with this have a problem with themselves, as well. Ellroy's prose glances from poetry to cop-talk, hip talk of the day to universal axioms, and the canvass of post-war LA is fearfully and wonderfully painted on. My response to the abject hatred of this book is that if you want a mystery that goes from step A to B to C ad infinitum, this story isn't for you. Go back to Agatha and Mystery! on PBS (no disrespect to them, but they're not always my cup of tea... no pun intended). If the vulgarity offends you, then look in the mirror: you are drawn from the same pool of that human vulgarity, like it or not. Far from being nihilistic (as it is often accused of being), the book ends (without spoiling it) on one of the highest notes of human goodness. Long story story short, it is one of the roughest-edged crime novels written this century, showing the underbelly of this world with fictional elements inserted into reality. By the way, if you are a Black Dahlia Murder purist, this book isn't for you, either (but please stick to the facts of the case and don't compare your conclusions with Ellroy's fiction... he never once stated this was a play-by-play of the actual case). If you think the novel is misogynistic and racist, congratulations. You are beginning to grasp the mentality of America during this time. Ellroy refused to shy away from the blatant sexism and racism that defined law enforcement, as well as everyday life. Quite frankly, I deplore those who write about this era and soft-pedal these subjects, making their characters the only non-evildoers in society. Ellroy's stories are far from "whitey triumphant" in theme, being quite the opposite when he shows that there is no human, group or race beyond reproach. If you are a first time reader of noir, this one will spoil you, but I can't think of a better way to start. Hang on, because this coaster is wicked.
Rating:
Summary: Ellroy at his best
Review: I had read several other Ellroy books prior to picking up "Dahlia" including his L.A. Noir series, but nothing prepared me for how polished this particular book was with its great characters and developed plot. His writing style and how he develops his characters are what I find most fascinating. He'll, for example, take a hero in the story and make him appear to be a good person but also expose his vices at the same time. If you've seen L.A. Confidential (which was based on an Ellroy book) you'll know what I mean. I highly recommend this book for anyone that enjoys good fiction and is looking for something different to read. It will not disappoint. But one warning: if you get squemish reading about brutal crimes and their descriptions, you may have some trouble at points.
Rating: 
Summary: Now, children, let's stick to the main topic...
Review: I'm not a know-all on the details of the Elizabeth Short murder case, but this is simply perverse. Ellroy has a hard time remembering his topic (the Black Dahlia) and stupidly persists on telling a lame story about two L.A. cops who are too self-involved to be taken seriously. (If they are in some way interested in the Dahlia, it's only in reference to what her death has done to their psyches.) It's shame in print, in black and white; I am very sorry this book was published. I might add that Ellroy's freak attempt at bringing psychological reality to the two warrants cops is a complete farce: nothing else in the book simulates reality in the slightest. Ellroy has awkward prose and unnatural dialogue; the same applies to his other crime novel, _L.A._Confidential_. (The movie was good, the book...well, Ellroy has his patterns...) As for the noir aspect......? Uh, no. Noir belongs to gods like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I'm not inclined to give Ellroy such undue honor.
Rating: 
Summary: Call her Betty
Review: The guns, the broads, the alpha male posturing- all this and more make James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia an engaging read. I had trouble putting it down, the writing was just that taut and suspenseful. Although I don't agree about whodunnit (I think it's the surgeon guy who went nutso...a guy never mentioned once in this book) and I was pretty sure of who Ellroy would have it turn out to be from early on (although that could be due to the fact that I read too many mysteries and can guess pretty easily) I did thouroughly enjoy this novel. I don't know much about the Dahlia's background, so I can't comment on the accuracy with which she was portrayed, but I will say that I did find the story Ellroy wove out of Elizabeth Short's life to be fascinating either way. The one thing I didn't like was the psychologically overdone Lee- can you say cardboard? But you're allowed one lousy character in a book full of great ones. The dumb cops were a hoot, and all that manly man stuff had me in stitches (the interrogation room beatings and the phallicly charged gun-toting). If this is any indication of what Ellroy's other fictions involve, I'm sold! Long live the alpha male!
| 
