By far the best L.A. murder mystery I have ever read. Every word was a treat. ( )

Not entirely sure that I really liked this book - I wonder if it wanted to shock when it came out in the 70's, with its partially crude language, but more importantly with the connections between a corrupt police force, a Catholic church dominated by Irish who exclude anyone other in very racist ways, and corrupt businessmen/criminals. ( )

(14) I read this because of my recent reading of Joan Didion's 'The Year of Magical Thinking.' I had never read anything by Didion's husband whose death she so heart-renderingly narrates. So this is by her late husband and I think perhaps was made into a movie. The Introduction makes reference to the fact that this was a predecessor of the modern day gritty homicide police narratives. This is about two Irish Catholic brothers in LA in the 1980's - one a cop and one a priest (no surprise there) and a grisly murder of a young girl sawed in two that tangles both of them in a web of damaging revelations.

The overt sardonic Catholic religiosity resonates with me having grown up in a heavily Italian and Irish Catholic suburb of Boston in the 1980's but I imagine it would grate on other readers. All the characters have some serious flaws and the mentality/personality of being able to probe an individuals weakness and use it against them in a subtle - did he just threaten me? - manner was masterful and again resonates with me due to the culture that pervaded my own upbringing.

The plot was also quite good though I felt much too much time was spent on cryptic conversations that I guess served to develop character and less on good story-telling. It felt random at times and the narrative arc seemed to stall out. I also would have actually preferred to hear more about Des prior to the priesthood. I think that would have helped make his character more robust and less like a cipher.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Some of the blunt dialogue seemed a bit redundant at times - How many "Jesus, Mary and Joseph's!" can you read but it was entertaining with rich believable flawed characters. Weird though, not the type of book I thought this man would write based on what I gleaned form Didion's memoir. I expected something a bit more highfalutin and refined. ( )

One of the best of John Gregory Dunne's novels. Was made into a good film with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall ( )

One of the best books I've read and re-read. Read it so much that the cover fell off the paperback and I had to go find a hardback in a used book store. And when you are done reading it do NOT miss the move. Robert Duvall, Robert DeNero. Los Angeles back in the day. Noir. The politics of the catholic church, the corrruption of church and state, brothers, politics, scandals. It's got it all. ( )