James Ellroy

James Ellroy was born in 1948 in Los Angeles, the permanent setting for his novels. Marked by a traumatic personal experience as a child (he found his mother brutally murdered by unknown assailants), Ellroy showed an early inclination towards writing. His "L.A. Quartet" - "The Black Dahlia," "The Big Nowhere," "L.A. Confidential," "White Jazz" (all published by Agra) - established him internationally as the leading voice in noir fiction. All his books received critical acclaim and recognition upon release. The novel "American Tabloid," the first part of the "Underworld USA Trilogy," was selected by "Time" magazine as the Novel of the Year for 1995. This novel was set in the years 1958-1963, ending with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was followed by the second part of the Trilogy, "The Cold Six Thousand" in 2001, which was set in the years 1963-1968, concluding with the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. With "Blood's a Rover," deemed the Book of the Year for 2009 in the USA, the modern epic of America during these years is completed. He resides in Kansas City.