Ellroy#2

I never doubted that 'Bloods a Rover' would be a majestic novel based on my universal admiration of everything Ellroy has written. I was, however, uncertain as to what kind of ride it would be.

At first I reached page 250 and felt things were going the way of the previous book, 'The Cold Six Thousand', with the plot becoming ever more complex, almost to the point of confusion. So I stuck a second bookmark in at the beginning and skimmed over those first 250 pages and managed familiarise myself with the array of characters and their intertwined relationships. I also spent some time on wikipedia to take things back to 'American Tabloid' as one of the characters in 'Bloods a Rover' was one of the fictitious(?) assasins of JFK.

I say fictitious because the true genius of Ellroy's work is his ability to meld fact with fiction. Whereas 'American Tabloid' built to the inevitable conclusion of JFK's death, 'Bloods a Rover' focuses more on its own plot and stoyline, but once again using real life events and characters such as Richard Nixon to add weight to the story. Ellroy's nefarious depiction of Nixon is entirely believable given Tricky's repuation and there are a few subtle hints towards the impending Watergate break in.

The real power behind this novel has been the interplay between the main protagonists, with female characters more to the fore in this book than any previous Ellroy novel. The characters are as cold and calculating as ever as they engage in their dodgy dealings and machinations, except this time there is also a strong focus on relationships and in one case, a characters desperation to prove himself as a major player. His journey is the most fascinating, especially as the cards fall all around him during the course of the novel.

I've heard people complain about how Ellroy jumps from one person to the next and this is certainly the case, along with multiple location changes, from Haiti to L.A and Vegas. But given the time frame of several years that the book covers and the scope of its multi-faceted plot, such jumps are inevitable and dare I say it, realistic. This isn't a small book about a simple crime - it's noir at the deepest level, deep in the underbelly of the American underworld, both political and criminal.

After page 250 things coasted along at a frenetic pace and whilst the writing was powerful, I was in the dark as to how the book would conclude. It couldn't end with a whimper and the first indication that it wouldn't came at chapter 155. The book is laid out in small chapters and this particular one was white hot. You could feel the tension of the scenario and then its sudden, fiery conclusion. I gasped out load and had to put the book down for five minutes to absorb the power of this moment. When I returned to it, there was an even more shocking chapter that affirmed my belief in Ellroy and assured me that this book was indeed a masterpiece.

But as with any Ellroy book, once he starts he doesn't let go. A subsequent chapter detailed some previous history behind two of the characters and in doing so, the wider plot suddenly became clearer. What had initially seemed complex at page 250 was now crystal clear and I couldn't help but marvel at Ellroy's ability to write a novel of such scope.