I wish I could succinctly and beautifully sum up the genius that is James Ellroy, but I can't. The sequel to "
Perfida" picks up where it left off: New Year's 1942. L.A. is gripped by war fever. There's all the usual Ellroy tropes: police corruptions and cover-ups, scandals, and unsolved murders with a few more things thrown in: hunt for stolen gold, war profiteering, and arson. It was gritty and dark and lots of fun.
I heard Lansdale was coming out with a new Hap and Leonard book a few months ago and put it on hold, even though there were four others I haven't read yet since "
Vanilla Ride". I thought "no problem, I'll whip through those four before the new one comes in".
I, of course, did not. It's not really necessary to read these in order, but I think it helps, since they build on each other.
Hap and Leonard are driving home when they get caught in a bad storm. They rescue a young woman who is out in the middle of the road. Bad guys are after her and tried to cut out her tongue. As soon as they get her loaded in the car, the bad guys show up. They manage to escape and take her to the hospital, where the bad guys show up, kill the cop protecting her, and have a shoot out with Hap and Leonard. They take her to a police station. Safe, right? Well, it's Hap and Leonard, so...no. It was pretty good, I enjoyed it.
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