Give them horror or give them heartstrings. Nothing else sticks.
Jordan Harper is one of the best crime writers today and in his latest novel, he’s tackling the underbelly of the City of Angels.
Jordan Harper’s Los Angeles is a place of secrets, black bag PR, sponcons, money and celebrity in excess; a world filled with “noise to hide the whispers” and corruption so widespread that it’s a wonder anything ever gets done. You can feel the love/hate relationship with the city here, with a condemnation of the town so scathing that it could only come from when you love a place.
His two main characters, Mae Pruett and Chris Tamburro, are two people haunted by what they have done for the PR beast and desperate to somehow make things right and regain whatever decency they have left.
It’s a powerful novel, which is not a surprise given how great Harper’s writing here. It reads like something James Ellroy would write if he stepped into 2022. Harper’s writing even evolves into something akin to the Ellroy, with muscular and punchy prose that hits hard and fast. Harper does an amazing job with character here, navigating the emotion maturely and riding that line of sentimentality perfectly.
It’s still early in Harper’s career so it’s exciting to imagine what he has in store next.
“It’s like I’m in this backward purgatory. Like maybe if I commit enough sins, I’ll be able to get free.”
GRADE: A-
