Andrewche1_small
Reputation: 22
Follow 0
Follow 1

Is there anything as compelling as James Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy, but without the regressive politics?

I'd love to read something that approached the level of density and had some of the "down the rabbit hole" feeling of James Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy, but without the regressive politics.

Daily asked in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report

Answer this question or share it with a smart friend:

Avatar_default
Type your answer here…

Asker's Favorite

  • David_library_small
    David Wright

    Richard Price’s books might work for you – I’d especially suggest his Lush Life, which is a remarkably complex and impressively convincing look at crime and how it reflects our society. In fact, a number of authors featured in this list of titles for readers who enjoyed HBO’s The Wire do a similar job with both fiction and non-fiction. Certainly George Pelecanos.

    Andrew Vachss might be another one to try: his world is very dark indeed – a world in which the criminal underclass work together to police society’s most depraved transgressors. Those are the Burke books, but you might also try a non-series novel such as Two Trains Running, which is a riveting and bloody account of a corrupt Midwestern town in 1959.

    Likewise Loren Estleman’s Gas City is that good – even better than Ellroy in some ways. Ace Atkins’ Devil’s Garden, in San Francisco, or the Florida set White Shadow. Michael Simon’s Dan Reles series. David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet.

    I wonder if you might enjoy Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins crime novels, that cover a range of decades in Los Angeles, with a very thoughtful critique of race and social relations backing them up. Likewise Ken Kuhlken’s California Century series. An interesting recent Hollywood noir sort of book is Joseph Kanon’s Stardust. Megan Abbot is also good that way.

    If you really want to get darker than dark, I recommend Derek Raymond’s Factory Novels, or Tom Coffey’s Blood Alley.

    For non-fiction, Charles Bowden’s Down By the River: Drugs, Money, Murder and Family, which looks at the Mexican drug wars; Edward Bunker’s Education of a Felon; Norman Mailer’s Executioner’s Song.

    David Wright answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report
    3 comments by Daily, David Wright, and Daily…
    Share this answer with a friend:

1 Other Answer

  • Avatar_default
    Reputation: 2
    Follow 0

    Definitely the Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo books.

    margery answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago | Report
    Comment on this answer
    Share this answer with a friend: