1950s Los Angeles: The City of Angels has become the city of the Angel of Death. Communist witch-hunts and insanely violent killings are terrorising the community. Three men are plunged into a maelstrom of violence and deceit when their lives become inextricably linked as each one confronts his own personal darkness.

Told with Ellroy's characteristically forceful and relentless style, The Big Nowhere is the link between The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential in his masterwork, The LA Quartet. It is as powerful and thrilling as crime fiction gets.