The Big Nowhere

Los Angeles in 1950 is a city characterized by sleaze and sexism; racial, religious, and ethnic hatred; and corrupt, gangster-controlled police organizations. In this work, the LAPD and its competitor, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, are thrown together to combat the "Red scare": the Communist infiltration of Hollywood. Toss in a few perverse murder-mutilations, historic figures such as gangsters Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato, and playboy filmmaker Howard Hughes, and the listener is confronted with a semihistorical mystery novel that plumbs the depths of depravity. Although this is an engaging work of fiction, listeners will sincerely hope that the real 1950s L.A. wasn't that corrupt and that we've come a long way socially since then. The book is given a terrific reading by Jason Culp, whose characterizations add to some very interesting, sometimes scary characters.