City of devils

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City of Devils (English original title: LA Confidential ) is a crime novel published in 1990 by James Ellroy in the style of the " hardboiled detective novels" by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett . The novel forms the third volume of the “LA Quartet”, in which Ellroy links fictional and real criminal cases from Los Angeles with a description of the social development of the USA after the Second World War. The book was used as the basis for the film LA Confidential (1997) by Curtis Hanson, with Russell Crowe , Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito . Kim Basinger received an Oscar for best supporting role. There were a total of seven nominations. The film focuses on one storyline.

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The action takes place in Los Angeles between 1950 and 1958 and is divided into five parts and the prologue. Again and again the happening is represented by magazine and newspaper articles.

Part One - Bloody Christmas (1951–1953)

During the Christmas party at the Los Angeles Police Department, a group of drunk cops storms the cell block and beats up Mexican inmates who were responsible for an attack on two police officers at the station. The public, above all the gossip magazine Hush-Hush , is demanding a quick clarification, while the leadership of the LAPD wants to try to sweep the "Bloody Christmas", as the incident is called, under the carpet. Edmund Exley, who was in charge that evening and had tried unsuccessfully to stop his colleagues, makes a deal with the prosecutor and the investigating superiors: he testifies in court against some of the police officers involved in order to sacrifice them and the rest of the LAPD to protect. These are the troublemaker of that night Richard "Dick" Stensland, his partner and thug Wendell "Bud" White and some colleagues with pension rights. For this he receives a promotion to lieutenant. Jack Vincennes, who was involved in the brawl, also testifies in court. He is promoted to customs by the drug squad. Other police officers, including White himself, refuse to cooperate and incriminate colleagues. Stensland resigns from the police force and is convicted. Bud White escapes conviction because none of the inmates want to testify against him and is transferred to Lieutenant Dudley Smith's department. Both White and Stensland see Exley as a traitor.

Part Two - The Nite Owl Massacre (1953–1957)

In the “Nite Owl” café, three employees and three guests are shot and robbed. Three colored people are quickly suspected. You do not confess, but you can clearly be prosecuted for kidnapping and raping a Mexican woman. The weapons and the escape vehicle are found. Before the suspects can be forced to confess, they flee and are tracked down and uncompromisingly shot by Ed Exley. This seems to end the case, but not all investigators believe the three blacks are guilty of the Nite Owl case. Exley is widely recognized for his work and promoted again.

Jack Vincennes is working on a case of producing and distributing high quality porn at Custom. He investigates on his own and without the knowledge of his superiors and finds Pierce Patchett and his hookers, dressed up like movie stars.

Bud White is mainly used by Dudley Smith to intimidate criminals. He is charged with checking the guests who have been shot. The victims are an ex-police officer and a small crook and a young woman. He discovers that the crook was planning to distribute porn and, through his prostitute, comes across Pierce Patchett and Lynn Bracken, the Veronica Lake copy with whom he begins an affair.

Sid Hudgens of Hush Hush magazine blackmailed Vincennes with his past so that he would leave Patchett alone. Hudgens is murdered shortly afterwards. Jack Vincennes is looking for evidence against him in Hudgens' possession. But these are already at Pierce Patchett. Jack agrees with Lynn Bracken as Patchett's deputy not to disclose the other case.

After serving his sentence, Richard Dick Stensland is increasingly exposed to alcohol and criminals. After killing two men in a robbery, he is arrested and sentenced to death. White and Exley attend his execution.

Third part - Internal Affairs (1957-1958)

Ed Exley becomes captain and takes over the internal affairs department. He happens to come across inconsistencies in Jack Vincennes' work reports during the time he was investigating the pornography. Jack tells him to shadow Bud White for Dudley Smith. Exley learns of Lynn Bracken and White's investigation into the Nite Owl case.

Bud White is promoted to sergeant due to professional development and better behavior. On his own, he is investigating a nationwide series of prostitute murders that he came across through his Nite Owl research.

Fourth part - final stop morgue (1958)

The Nite Owl case is reopened due to media pressure. To keep him out, Dudley Smith has been given the lead of the investigation instead of Exley. Smith immediately goes looking for colored people. Ed insists on his own investigation and brings Vincennes and White into the team. Exley learns from Jack that Patchett traded the porn. He also wants all the information from White, but he keeps a low profile and waits for his chance for revenge.

Exley goes around Patchett and learns of prostitution, blackmailing customers with photos taken by Sid Hudgens, and the heroin trade. Patchett is murdered before he can be questioned.

Bud White continues to investigate the killings of prostitutes. The distribution across the country coincides with the tour schedule of a band. He learns who is responsible for the murders and tries to find out the whereabouts through his informants. He suspects from the conversation that his informants are involved in the Nite Owl case together with the murderer, if not even shot. As soon as they are alone, the informants try to contact Dudley Smith.

White is now working with Exley and Vincennes. Together they come to the conclusion that after the imprisonment of gang boss Mickey Cohen, Smith wanted to take over his business. He intimidated or murdered competitors, tried to kill Mickey Cohen and also found out about the porn trade of the small crook from the Nite Owl. He had it eliminated in a spectacular manner, which was also intended as a warning to Pierce Patchett. The series of murders against the prostitute is not related to this, but is the act of an individual.

In several shootings, all Nite Owl shooters and Jack Vincennes are killed and Bud White is seriously injured. Sid Hudgens' confidential files, held by Pierce Patchett, do not provide any evidence against Dudley Smith. The Nite Owl murders have been solved, but Smith cannot be prosecuted.

Part Five - After Farewell (1958)

Ed Exley is named deputy chief. He resolves to stay tuned to Smith. Bud White survived and moves to Arizona with Lynn. He and Exley break up as friends.

Protagonists

Edmund "Ed" J. Exley is 29 years old at the beginning of the novel. He is shaped by his father, who is a successful police officer and businessman and always preferred Ed's brother Thomas. Ed wants to prove to his father that he can go further than his dead brother. During the war, he had already draped dead Japanese people in such a way that it looked like he had killed them all. He has been awarded for this. He is obsessed with ambition and the thought of a steep career. He is extremely smart and convinced that it can go further than Bud White with brute force. As the story progresses, he learns to appreciate Bud's methods just as he does his. He was raised by his father with the idea of ​​protecting and advocating justice, but he has to find that this is not always compatible with his career. He is too cowardly to choose between wanting to impress his father and seeking justice. His own double standard pains him. He is jealous of Bud White, who is a thug but never makes a secret of how and what he fights for. Towards the end of the story, Exley decides for his conscience, at the risk of losing his career and his hero, his father.

Wendell "Bud" White is 33 years old and also a cop. At the age of 16, his alcoholic father chained him to the heater and watched him kill his mother. He has since hatred men who beat their wives and has used his position as a patrolman to persecute them. He is extremely loyal, direct and does not shy away from violence. He resents Edmund Exley for having whistled on Stensland and blames him for his decline and, ultimately, his death. His hatred of Edmund Exley and the fact that he is tired of being the underrated thug lead him to continue training in order to be able to harm his opponent with strategy and wisdom instead of violence and maybe even to solve the case before him.

Jack "Trashcan" Vincennes is a long-serving LAPD member. In 1947 he shot two innocent people under the influence of alcohol and other drugs , which was covered up by his superiors. Since then he has tried to stay clean and has dedicated himself to the drug search. Like the role model for this character, the highly decorated LAPD Officer Marty Wynn, Jack works as a consultant for a crime series called Badge of Honor , in which real-life cases are re-enacted. This earns him some respect from his colleagues and contacts in the film industry. At the same time, he works with Sid Hudgens, the editor of Hush-Hush , to expose the misconduct of celebrities in the media. He definitely has a conscience, but repeatedly proves unscrupulousness when it is of use to him. He likes to be celebrated as a hero and tries hard to maintain this image of himself.

Dudley L. Smith Smith appears in the previous LAQuartet novels . Already there he is introduced as an anti-communist, racist police officer. He tries to harness White for himself and further anger him against Exley.

Style and language

The story is told by an omniscient narrator.

Staccato - that best describes his style. Ellroy is economical, does not waste any unnecessary words and describes the scenes in an uncompromisingly realistic manner. Ellroy's style was very much influenced by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett .

Awards

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