rachel19east's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Emotionally Hard to read but also hard to put down
alittleoverdue's review against another edition
2.0
I know it's a classic. I like suspense. I wanted to like it. But I didn't. Even for an average-lengthed book, it felt long and overraught. For whatever reason that was my reaction, but Ellroy is a good writer so worth a shot to try him out.
robhughes's review against another edition
4.0
Ambitious as always from James Ellroy; the real life story of the murder case labelled the 'Black Dahlia', interspersed with the human story of the men who tried to solve the riddle. Bloomin' brilliant crime writing.
yvan_noir's review against another edition
5.0
Novela noir, que nos traslada a los años 40 en todos los sentidos, tanto en la ambientación como en los prejuicios de la época, lo que podría herir susceptibilidades actuales, aunque no lo encontré particularmente chocante.
Da una muestra de cómo la corrupción y la burocracia son un obstáculo pata resolver un crimen. Lo que también se vuelve un obstáculo son las motivaciones de los personajes, los cuales muestran una moral dudosa que los lleva a cometer acciones que no se podrían calificar de heroicas.
Da una muestra de cómo la corrupción y la burocracia son un obstáculo pata resolver un crimen. Lo que también se vuelve un obstáculo son las motivaciones de los personajes, los cuales muestran una moral dudosa que los lleva a cometer acciones que no se podrían calificar de heroicas.
sjj169's review against another edition
4.0
I hated this damn book.
My friend Hulk-boy told me to read this author. I may punch him in the face.
It starts with the boxing fight of two young police officers Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard. They become known as Mr. Fire and Mr. Ice. The hotshot team that got the LA police dept a raise with their boxing match.
They team together after the fight as partner's. Then a young woman's body is found. She has been cut in two and tossed out. Betty/Elizabeth Short's story will become ingrained into your memory after that point.
Her history isn't pretty and the dept. tries to keep some of it out of the press because the public won't care about women they see as hooers.
I kept putting this book down saying that I was going to dnf the bastard. Then a few minutes later I would pick it up and begin reading it again. That's the kind of fucker this book is.
It's based loosely on a true story but in real life the Black Dahlia case is still open. Bless that poor girl's soul.
Dirty cops, women seen as skirts, corruption and sometimes just pure stupidity threads throughout this book.
I totally read it in my head with a Mickey Spillane voice too.
My friend Hulk-boy told me to read this author. I may punch him in the face.
It starts with the boxing fight of two young police officers Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard. They become known as Mr. Fire and Mr. Ice. The hotshot team that got the LA police dept a raise with their boxing match.
They team together after the fight as partner's. Then a young woman's body is found. She has been cut in two and tossed out. Betty/Elizabeth Short's story will become ingrained into your memory after that point.
Her history isn't pretty and the dept. tries to keep some of it out of the press because the public won't care about women they see as hooers.
I kept putting this book down saying that I was going to dnf the bastard. Then a few minutes later I would pick it up and begin reading it again. That's the kind of fucker this book is.
It's based loosely on a true story but in real life the Black Dahlia case is still open. Bless that poor girl's soul.
Dirty cops, women seen as skirts, corruption and sometimes just pure stupidity threads throughout this book.
I totally read it in my head with a Mickey Spillane voice too.
onlyfictionsworld's review against another edition
2.0
The plot revolves around a murder mystery set in Los Angeles in the 1940s. They found an unidentified young woman disemboweled and mutilated in a vacant lot. The two detectives, both ex-boxers, become obsessed with the case to where they literally destroy their own lives to solve the case.
As much as I wanted to enjoy The Black Dahlia, I found it to be a dull novel trying to be a stylistic breakthrough in crime fiction writing. Is it possible to write a crime fiction novel with no suspense at all? Active 2: The novel portrays the worst aspects of human nature and the dark side of LA in the 40s, with gross ambiance. The writing style was praised for its fast pace, but it's overrated with too much slang and testosterone-filled dialogue, lacking suspense and story building. That’s not my cup of tea. I prefer quality writing, even if it’s not “innovative”.
As much as I wanted to enjoy The Black Dahlia, I found it to be a dull novel trying to be a stylistic breakthrough in crime fiction writing. Is it possible to write a crime fiction novel with no suspense at all? Active 2: The novel portrays the worst aspects of human nature and the dark side of LA in the 40s, with gross ambiance. The writing style was praised for its fast pace, but it's overrated with too much slang and testosterone-filled dialogue, lacking suspense and story building. That’s not my cup of tea. I prefer quality writing, even if it’s not “innovative”.
coffeecrusader's review against another edition
4.0
A real son-of-a-bitch of a book. Ellroy is a mean stylist, and you learn quick that he's taken 'hardboiled' to its most extreme. He's a crazy man, an obsessive man. This book is certainly a testament to that. He also spins a damn good yarn.
jimmypat's review against another edition
5.0
Gruesome, brutal, violent.... but Ellroy writes with such glorious verve and passion that it makes this book an absolute classic.
dutchtineke's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting read. A little hard to get into, but ran fluently after about sixty pages. I felt a real film-noir effect, but that was mostly because of the behaviour of the detectives and what was allowed behaviour in the book.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This book is a mind-fuck. And that epilogue about the Hillickers? That completely shocked me, how the author would say those things about his life. Wow.