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Book Review By Daniel Staebler
Brown's Requiem by James Ellroy

BROWN'S REQUIEM is the first novel, published in 1981, of the american writer James Ellroy.

Fritz Brown is a private detective. Until now, his life has been a mess : excluded from the Los Angeles Police Department, a former drug and alcohol addict, he works in his spare time for Cal Myers, a car seller, and tries to bring back to his boss cars that haven't been completely paid.

One day, a fat golf caddy pays him to spy on his sister and her old mentor Sol Kupferman. Then begins for Fritz Brown a redemptive trip that will lead him to Mexico and deep into a corrupted Los Angeles.

Recommended.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story -
How difficult to spot villain? - Somewhat obvious
Time/era of story:
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Special suspect? - chronically deranged person
Murder of certain profession?
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - drug dealers - finding a known killer

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - radical right wingers
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - Mexico
Desert? Yes
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts - descript. of other female areas
Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets - perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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