The Black Dahlia
Books | Fiction / Noir
3.9
(159)
James Ellroy
The highly acclaimed novel based on America's most infamous unsolved murder case. Dive into 1940s Los Angeles as two cops spiral out of control in their hunt for The Black Dahlia's killer in this powerful thriller that is "brutal and at the same time believable" (New York Times). 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.
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More Details:
Author
James Ellroy
Pages
352
Publisher
Grand Central Publishing
Published Date
2008-08-01
ISBN
0446504467 9780446504461
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"The Black Dahlia 4/5 ✨
I get why people say this is dark but I did not expect that. The details! Many of which were TMI worthy. I've never read anything with such an obsession on one person, perverse or otherwise. This was nuts! At this point I don't know if I'll continue the series..."
Sarah
"I received this book as part of a swap at swaptree.com. When I first started reading this book....I had a really hard time understanding the old time cop lingo......I could not understand what in the heck they were saying......and there was no mention of the Black Dahlia, whatsoever, so I thought I'm not sure if I'm going to enjoy reading this book. However....the murder does come into play and the main characters are an intriguing bunch. I didn't always understand just what they were trying to tell me with the way they thought about things.......but the book did pick up and caught my attention and I was so intrigued by it that after I was done....I googled Elizabeth Short and found all kinds of fascinating and GRUESOME facts about her. This is one of those books that gets better after you read it because it causes you to think about it. It is a fictionalized account of the murder.....but it was an interesting way to put a new spin on the case."
Tracy Walters
"Perfect noir read. Great if you like HBO's Perry Mason."
Chris Hanson