First curveball

This first novel by James Ellroy already contains all his talent to construct sprawling plot, create characters and troubling as charismatic and attractive disgust that relationship it has with Los Angeles. A curveball through the eyes of his hero, Fritz Brown, ex-cop and former alcoholic turned into a small shabby private eye.
Eking out a living by collecting cars whose owners can no longer afford to pay the bills of credit, he was hired by a golf caddy to monitor the sister of it. Soft grip, pale and pitiful character besides the world of golf, there have been more glamorous pitch. But therein lies the enormous talent of James Ellroy to weave a thrilling plot by revealing the back of a seemingly banal scene at first sight. Poor Fritz Brown finds himself mixed up in spite of himself quickly in a cascade of events all more shabby than each other. Corruption, blackmail, extortion, antisemitism, sexual excesses, various psychotic behavior, a descent into the depths and unimaginable squalor of a city whose gigantism allows all. Detective already having trouble managing his own life and his own, but through whose honor is still intact must see through the responsibilities of this shambles. Like a mad dog of Justice, it tries to manage its renascent alcoholism and disappointments in love while trying to disentangle a bunch of depressing stories. A imbroglio allowing him to feel alive again. The requiem is expected out of date.
The discovery of the plot and its challenges at the same time that the hero makes Brown's Requiem completely addictive. A conditioning remarkable drive for a first novel. James Ellroy built around an exciting suspense personal memories (he himself was a caddy and alcoholic). By choosing the dark side of the thriller, it stands out immediately from pulp fiction to phoned intrigues and without issue.