Ticket 2 Ride

I’m not a big fan of historical fiction, and Red Sheet is a great example why. Red Sheet is the latest book by James Ellroy, who gave us L.A. Confidential more than 30 years ago.

Ellroy uses real life people as his cast of drug using, twisted, morally challenged characters in his books. Those people who are alive, including his friends, must sign off on having their names used. In the case of the deceased – they are fair game. That’s why Richard Nixon is portrayed as a night crawler, drinking drug-fueled milkshakes.

Nixon said, “We’ve been drinking and popping Haitian herbs. I’ve been hallucinating on and off. It’s the Laurette Bowen Memorial Pub Crawl. We were phone chums for fourteen years, but I maintained my marriage vows.”

Many famous people, and some not so famous people, become intertwined in communist party, drugs, murder, blackmail, revenge and very kinky goings on in 1962 Los Angeles. The Hat Squad is operational, doing the heavy lifting and off the books dirty work of the LAPD. Such luminaries as Richard Nixon, who was running for governor of California at the time, Robert F. Kennedy, the United States Attorney General who is still pursuing communists, Daryl Gates is sharpening the skills he will use as future LAPD Chief, Tom Bradley is just beginning his political career, Hugh Hefner is building his Playboy brand, actress and Miss November Playmate Joan Staley is knee-deep in naughtiness, and a cast of other no-longer-living names are pawns in Ellroy’s fantastic tale of sex, dope, debauchery, politics and even love. Even Charles Lindbergh makes an appearance. One feels like the need for a shower after an Ellroy chapter.

Fred Otash is a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office investigator, who is tasked by AG Robert Kennedy to destroy communist cells operating among L.A.’s film industry. The Cuban Missiles Crisis has just ended, Marilyn Monroe is dead and Hefner has designs on expanding his brand in L.A. Like many other characters, Otash was a real person, a cop pushed out of the department, a P.I., a fixer for organized crime and otherwise a very colorful character. In Red Sheet, he is the go-to tough guy for the RFK, Chief Parker and Nixon’s handlers, operating on both sides of the law, he operates by booze, pills, smokes, violence and sex – the order and excess level is variable.

At over 500 pages, Red Sheet (2026, Alfred A. Knopf) is the first Ellroy book of fiction I’ve successfully read. If you aren’t familiar with Ellroy’s style, he’s famous for his rhythmic, machine-gun paced writing style. It’s a rapid-fire barrage on jagged, disjointed phrasing. His hepcat choice of description is filled with slang and unrecognizable wording. To read his paragraphs are to read them several times for clarity. It’s a style you are captivated by, or give up on, quickly. It has stumped me in the past, but I succeeded with Red Sheet.

Red Sheet doesn’t hold back. It might be even too dark and violent for many noir readers.

I kicked them in the balls and flipped them over. I smashed their faces on wet grass and gouged them deep on sprinkler heads. I I needed forensic proof. I grabbed their hair and flipped them back over. I gave them a good look at me. I needed plastic-surgery proof. I dipped low and bit their noses off.

The action moves swiftly and you find yourself chest-deep in characters and events that are unclear and uncomfortable. Ellroy wants you off-balance and eager to get your bearings, but Red Sheet will keep you guessing.

How does Red Sheet compare with other Ellroy books? Great question, but I haven’t yet made it through any other of his novels – yet. I’m working on another one right now.