This is an astoundingly good novel. What is most striking about it is James Ellroy's buckshot prose, which he has taken to a new level, even for him. It scans almost like beat poetry.
Virtually every page (of 700 odd) is studded with short (and I mean *really* short, even by Ellroy's standards), staccato sentences repeating phrases in groups of three: "Frank was a doctor. Frank had bad habits. Frank made bad friends."; "Wayne yawned. Wayne pulled carbons. The fine print blurred."

I can see that this could, quite reasonably, prove extremely irritating, but I found that it gave the novel a real rhythm, like a Bo Diddley jungle beat. That sounds pretentious, I know, but if you read it (and buy into it) you'll see what I mean. And it is used to extremely good, often comic effect.

As is the case with all Ellroy's novels, life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and (for the most part) short, although it must be said the principal protagonists do, by comparison, seem blessed with unfeasible longevity, and the plot is so Byzantine as to make Constantinople look like a one horse town: Cuba, Vietnam, Howard Hughes, the Vegas mafia, JFK's assassination, RFK's assassination, the Klan, Martin Luther King's assassination - it's all here, and in Ellroy's universe it's all inextricably linked.

I doubt it has any value as history (whether or not it is, Ellroy is clearly steeped in the history of the era), but it's such an exhilarating read, it really doesn't matter. ( )

This book is so good I wonder more people haven't read it. Its predecessor "American Tabloid" was terrific as well. I think people are put off by Ellroy's clipped style of writing but I think it goes perfectly with the story. The humor is dark, the anti-heroes brutal and human. This book is for advanced readers because of its complexities. But if you can give it a go you will realize that Ellroy is a genius. ( )

The Cold Six Thousand is the second in James Ellroy's latest trilogy of novels. If you've not yet read the first in the series "American Tabloid" then I suggest that you read that first as the themes and characters carry through to this novel. You will not get as much enjoyment out of this book if you haven't read the first part of the trilogy. I also consider "American Tabloid" to be Ellroy's finest piece of writing beating "L.A. Confidential", "White Jazz", and "The Black Dahalia".

"The Cold Six Thousand" starts off in Dallas on 11/22/63 with the John F. Kennedy assassination and continues at a tremendous pace to 06/09/68 ending with the Bobby Kennedy assassination. The format is as per "American Tabloid" with the three major characters each getting a chapter apiece and then rotating in further chapters. In chapter one we meet Wayne Tedrow Jr a young Las Vegas cop sent to Dallas to kill a pimp called Wendell Durfee. In chapter two it's Ward J. Littell a mob lawyer whose clients include Howard Hughes and Jimmy Hoffa, and with links to J. Edgar Hoover. In chapter three it's Pete Bondurant, a muscle man tied to the mob because of his former actions who has plenty of links to Ward J Littell from the previous book.

From Dallas we're off and running at a furious pace heading to a variety of different locations experiencing conspiracy, bugging, dirt digging, money laundering, drug and gun running, and murder. The characters team up and fight against each other as they try to survive the sixties with their minds and bodies intact.

In a direct comparison with "American Tabloid", the writing is as crisp and hard boiled as ever, the violence is bleak and horrific, and the plotting is extremely clever and complex. The mixing of real life and fictional characters is as engrossing as before, but something made this not quite as satisfying a read. The main reason for this is I think that "American Tabloid" was such a great piece of writing, that it was always going to be very difficult to live up to its high standard.

In any respect, this is another quality book from James Ellroy and is worthy of your attention.

(A version of this review was originally published on Epinions in 2001) ( )

This novel is excellent. It's intricately plotted, exciting and repellent at the same time. I admire the way Ellroy can write about morally repugnant people but make you care about them as human beings. That's rare. I found the novel so impressive I read it again straight away: that doesn't happen very often. Not easy to read and not a quick read but I would strongly recommend it. ( )