In James Ellroy's riveting second novel, an ambitious beat cop is hot on the trail of a serial killer who frequents L.A. dive bars and preys on the fallen women he finds there.

Los Angeles, 1951. For Officer Fred Underhill, the job is all about the wonder, an elusive quality he finds while dealing with the city s drunks, hopheads, gunsels, and burglars. When he s not reveling in the glory of cleaning up the streets, he s on the green or scoring women. But Underhill s ambition and allegia ...