Suicide Hill

Rating:
Summary: suicide hill - best of three
Review: I read this as the last of three in the paperback edition of the Lloyd Hopkins series, and found it the best - unusual, since at that stage, one can normally see through the plot and the characters. The Llloyd Hopkins character in the first two books, particularly the first, seems a little unreal, but in Suicide Hill he has graduated to semi vetera nstatus, and his hard man view on life is more plausible. Also, the plot has some unusual twists and turns, and actually keeps you riveted right to the end - unlike the earlier two, where you can see the end of the plot from several chapters earlier.
As usual, all of the sleazy underside of LA is well exposed, along with its hip language and slick turns of phrase - to the degree that Ellroy can well assume the mantle of a latter day Dashiel Hammett. The bad guy characters are a little more developed and more believable than in the earlier Hopkins novels, particularly the relationship between the Garcia brothers, which generates a degree of empathy for real life brothers.
Worth reading - but do read the first two in the trilogy, just to save the best till last