A Masterpiece of Writing and Narration

Many reviewers have loathed this book, especially in its printed version. Admittedly, James Ellroy is an acquired taste, but one I fully embraced years ago. I've read every one of his novels, essays, short stories, and have found them a difficult journey worth taking. Perfidia is not the place to start, but it is more accessible than Ellroy at his most terse, such as White Jazz or The Cold Six Thousand. That being said, this first volume in his new LA Quartet is nothing short of a violent, rabid masterpiece--an over the top prose poem to violence and debauchery.

And while the novel is great by itself, it is made so much more vivid and memorable by the masterful Craig Wasson in what I believe is the single best audio book performance I have ever heard.

I read the book on the Kindle with the Audible book being read by Wasson simultaneously for one of the great reading / listening experiences of my life.

18 people found this helpful

Narrator Craig Wasson is a treasure!

I've listened to Craig Wasson narrate "The Cold Six Thousand" and "Blood's a Rover." He was fantastic, but he's even better here! His characterization of Dudley Smith is particularly good.

If you like Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy, you'll like "Perfedia." Its plot isn't as "driving" as other Ellroy novels, but it makes up for it with riveting characters.

8 people found this helpful

Rough beginning, softer landing

Any additional comments?

Out of the gate, this was a rough listen. The first section of the book was off-putting to the point where I nearly cashed it in. I am very glad I did not. The listen smoothed out shortly after the open and evolves in to a really good listen. In my opinion, there are likable though multi-flawed characters, a very good story line, and good narration. (Note: the narrator is the same on another great listen of 11/22/63 by Stephen King).

I look forward to the follow up books in this four-part series.

8 people found this helpful

City Of Monsters

I’ve been a certified noir-junkie since I saw The Maltese Falcon at twelve years old. I began my lifelong addiction following the exploits of Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe but It wasn’t until I discovered James Ellroy that I became what addicts call a “lifer”. No one refined the genre quite like he did. The common and familiar tropes were all there but Ellroy always managed to do something new and unique with them. With Ellroy the stalwart partner is actually a rogue criminal, the innocent victim is a pathological liar, the supportive father figure is the most despicable human you’ll ever meet. He consistently blew my mind and kept me guessing as he created diamonds from the rough coal of genre cliché. His characters are obsessed, driven, and implacable. His stories are complex, dark, and even scary. So much so that I found myself consistently unable to stop reading. Ellroy continues that tradition with Perfidia.
One of the things I enjoyed most about Perfidia was the reintroduction to familiar characters. Guys and dolls from his original LA Quartet series abound, as well as familiar faces from his Underworld USA trilogy. These are not just casual references or cameos either, far from it, these are detailed and intricate developments of characters like Bucky Bleichert, Kay Lake, and Lee Blanchard (from The Black Dahlia). One of Perfidia’s greatest feats however, is the exploration of noir literatures biggest villain: Captain Dudley Smith. Practiced Ellroy readers will be familiar with the Mephitic police Captain from LA Confidential and casuals might remember him from the film adaptation where he was played to perfection by James Cromwell. In Perfidia we see Dudley in all his hellish glory as he investigates the cold butchery of a Japanese family on the literal eve of Pearl Harbor. It’s impossible not to be disgusted and consumed with him as he consolidates his power, ensures his rise through the ranks of the LAPD, and ruthlessly profits from the post Pearl Harbor chaos.
While Perfidia was addicting from word one for me, I do have some caveats and criticisms. For one, Ellroy seems to be suffering from GRRM-itis in that he seems more and more unable to trim the fat of his stories. There are a few too many superfluous side-plots that could probably use another edit or could be excised entirely. Second, the casual racism, homophobia, and misogyny of his earlier stories, which felt organic to their setting, at a certain point becomes excessive. I’m not talking about the unfortunately all too real and common prejudices of the time and setting of the stories. I’m talking about the excessive, needless, and try-hard nature of those prejudices in his current books. It doesn’t feel organic anymore, it just feels like someone needlessly and thoughtlessly trolling. If those admittedly disgusting bigotries offend you then you might want to give this novel a pass. Third, there’s some odd world-building in this story that doesn’t gel or feel organic. For example, the titular victim of one Ellroy novel is actually the secret daughter of a character in another. He’s sort of tying ends that were never loose to begin with. Random historical figures jump in and out of the narrative as well and at a certain point it becomes rather comical. Fourth, gone is the nuance and “living in the grey” nature of his earlier books. While his protagonists were always flawed most of them tried to do the right thing as they saw it. In Perfidia, there’s no white or grey, there’s just black. Everyone is a monster. Finally, I think a different narrator would’ve been better suited to the material. Noir stories require a certain style and edge and this narrator simply has neither. On top of that, some of the voices just become rather laughable. Sid Hudgens from LA Confidential sounds like Larry David impersonating Bernie Sanders, Bucky Bleichert from The Black Dahlia sounds like Apocalypse Now-era Marlon Brando, and his Asian American characters sound like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
With all of that said I’m glad I listened to Perfidia. It’s not Ellroy’s best work but it is undeniably good noir. He’s considered a master of the genre for a reason and I can state unequivocally that he hasn’t lost his touch.

1 person found this helpful

Good performance, with a caveat

Narrator captures the hard boiled style without overdoing it, and his word emphasis helps with following Ellroys typically labyrinthine plot. But his accents, especially Chinese, Japanese and Irish are borderline stereotypical.

1 person found this helpful

Outstanding

You simply cannot go wrong with James Ellroy narrated by Craig Wasson. I would never have imagined that a novel about Los Angeles immediately after Pearl Harbor could be so fascinating.

1 person found this helpful

Spot on reader!

Mr. Wasson perfectly captured the vocals. 1941 Los Angeles history was captivating for me. I look forward to the next in the trilogy.

1 person found this helpful

Strong performance. Poor ending

Great reading.

Originally - throughout the first 2/3 of the book I was really impressed how Elroy could write a prequel to some of his other books light the Black Dahlia and LA Confidential and actually add to the characters' depth. But the last 1/4 of the book pretty much falls apart and we're left with a preposterous ending.

Too bad. I like Elroy's writing style, but it feels like he paints himself into a plot corner and uses dumb plot ideas to resolve.

1 person found this helpful

hope it gets better

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

not sure who would enjoy the first 20 chapters that I've read so far. Maybe someone who enjoys the uncertainty and confusion of a funhouse hall of mirrors. Too many characters with no exposition or relatively little. Can't tell which of the many characters is talking most of the time. Very abrupt and ambiguous transitions from narration to narration. Instead of being shadowy and gritty and LA Confidential like which is what it seems to be aspiring to be, it's just dark and confusing.

Would you ever listen to anything by James Ellroy again?

Absolutely not.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Craig Wasson?

Probably. He has a good range of vocal tones and shading which was useful since it's the only way I've been able to determine which character is which. Character interpretations are pretty good. Narrative tone between dialogue is a bit slow and draggy rather than being dramatic and interesting.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was free.

Any additional comments?

i repeat - Hope it gets better.

2 people found this helpful

Ellroy at his best

James Ellroy is not for everyone. He is a difficult read to the average reader who needs to be spoonfed information. This book is dense in all the ways contemporary Ellroy has become since he wrote LA Confidential.

This book feels like a reward to all the readers who have stuck with Ellroy since the beginning. It has all the juice of his early work, the moral depravity, the revolving cast of characters, and the broken white men who are somehow racist and moral to their core. The story is a true labyrinth of broken people trying to make their way with corruption and brutality. Dudley Smith is a main character, after several books of him as an ephemeral antagonist in the LA quartet. You see inside his mind and learn some of what makes him tick. It doesn't make his acts any less depraved but you do root for him as he kills his way through December 1941 LA. I feared for Hideo Ashida as he twisted between the stalwart Bill Parker and the deadly Dudley Smith. Ashida is a Japanese man on the LAPD payroll in the days after the Pearl Harbor attack. He is at the mercy of a society that is interning all Japanese to address the tragedy. Ashida is a brilliant man who was born in the wrong century and he pays for it. Then there is Kay Lake, a character last seen in the Black Dahlia, now she is here in the form of diary entries that get a little frustrating due to how they break up the action, but still, tell important parts of the narrative.

It is hard to describe the book without weaving the complex tale that took 700 pages, and 120 chapters for Ellroy to stitch. It is a prototypical complex puzzle box noir with a grand sweep, that always starts with an unsolved murder. It is a most rewarding read that challenges you to remember 100 names of characters as you try to understand the details of the crime. The narrator of this audio book Carl Wasson is engrossing. His tone rises and falls, and accents and brogues through this tale with aplomb. I loved listening and was enthralled throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it made me go back into my old copies of Ellroy's catalog to read them again with this new information about Dudley and Parker, Bruening, and Carlisle, and Lee Blanchard.

P.S. Like all Ellroy books this tome is virulently racist and may offend readers who are unaccustomed to this level of racial animus. I have been reading Ellroy for 20 years and forget how dark he can be. Ancient racist insults are peppered through this work. Ellroy does not paint racists in a very pretty light and seems to make it one of the many vices employed by his sordid characters. No one is a nice person in Ellroy's world. If this offends you, then leave this one on the shelf. If you can stomach it, you should find more than enough other aspects to enjoy in this rich story.