Ellroy

The new James Ellroy book arrived yesterday from America and I'm already 80 pages into it. After 'American Tabloid' (possibly the greatest book ever written) and the complex 'Cold Six Thousand', the bar was always going to be high for this concluding volume in the trilogy.

So far it's everything I expected it to be. From the complex plot development, the staccato, shotgun writing and the cold, clinical characters that could only be written Ellroy. It's the American Underworld as only he could write it. An interpretation of the history behind the headlines, from the deaths of MLK and RFK, to the hubris of Nixon's presidency.

Surprisingly, it's also very accessible but then this is my 13th Ellroy book so I am used to the style - I wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer. If anything , it's as readable as 'American Tabloid' which is a good thing because 'The Cold Six Thousand' was complex beyond belief at times.

The American edition of 'Bloods a Rover' has a nicer cover than the one proposed for the UK edition, which is also not released for another month. I couldn't wait any longer because as far as literature goes, there will be nothing to top the majesty of this book. It also has that crazy, non-uniform cut to the pages which I believe is called 'Deckled'.

Sadly, I have to put down a really good read in favour of the Ellroy one. 'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters is a ghost story in the style of Daphne Du Maurier and it pains me to put it aside (or rather leave for lunchtimes at work) but NOTHING was going to get in the way of me and 'Bloods a Rover' with the exception of my 7 year old daughter who wanted me to read her a chapter of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'.