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Widespread Panic

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Freddy is an ex-L.A. cop on the skids. He snuffed a cop killer in cold blood - and it got to him bad. Now he's a sleazoid private eye, a shakedown artist, a pimp - and, most notably, the head strongarm goon for Confidential magazine.

Welcome to the world of the malevolent monarch of the Hollywood underground - a tale of pervasive paranoia teeming with communist conspiracies, FBI finks, celebrity smut films and strange bedfellows.

In Widespread Panic, we traverse the depths of '50s L.A. and dig on the inner workings of Confidential. You'll go to Burt Lancaster's lushly appointed torture den; you'll groove overhyped legend James Dean as Freddy's chief stooge; you'll be there for Freddy's ring-a-ding rendezvous with Liz Taylor; you'll be front and centre as Freddy anoints himself the 'Tattle Tyrant Who Held Hollywood Hostage'.

'Purgatory is rarely this much fun.' - Financial Times

© James Ellroy 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Police Procedurals Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Funny

Critic reviews

Unfolds in shimmering Ellroyvision (Tom Nolan)
Purgatory is rarely this much fun
Like drinking a pint of espresso (Sam Leith)
Extraordinary... Ellroy's legion of fans will love it (Mark Sanderson)
James Ellroy is the king of macho noir (Laura Wilson)
A characteristically vigorous tour of his established territory ... Like drinking a pint of espresso (Sam Leith)
His most compelling novel in ages (Jake Kerridge)
I thought it was brilliant
Great fun
Very definitely one for Ellroy fans to lap up like warm milk
All stars
Most relevant
if there there is a more daring or stylish or brilliant prose writer in the English language she is well hidden. This is classic James Ellroy, taking is craft to extremes as always, with the familiar labyrinthine, Byzantine tale of amorality, vice and corruption in the mid-twentieth century, told from the perspective of Freddy Otash, former LA cop and now reporter for “Confidential” magazine. as such Widespread Panic is written in a buckshot alliterative style (think cold six thousand, only alliterating)which could be a disaster but in Ellroy's extraordinary hands, becomes a rhythmic, hysterical, riot. I can't pretend to have followed everything that was going on, but it was presented with such energy and brio that it really didn't matter. This is epic poetry for the 21st century.

A shout-out to reader Craig Wasson, who was clearly having as much fun narrating as Ellroy did writing it. He nails the tone. Unmissable.

Virtuoso at top of game , brilliantly narrated

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The story and the narrator are great. It takes you to then in the now.

Fabulous

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Annoying alliteration intensely irritates loyal listener. Overworked shadow of previous offerings from Ellroy. A pity.

Annoying alliteration

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