L.A. Confidential

By: James Ellroy

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

Christmas 1951, Los Angeles: a city where the police are as corrupt as the criminals.

Six prisoners are beaten senseless in their cells by cops crazed on alcohol. For the three L. A. P. D. detectives involved, it will expose the guilty secrets on which they have built their corrupt and violent careers.

Critic reviews

“Faster than a stray bullet. . . . Ellroy spares no sensibilities.” —Los Angeles Times

“You can get sliced just turning the pages.” —The Village Voice

“Brutal and at the same time believable.” —The New York Times

“Ellroy will soon be as well-known as Hammett and Chandler, and L.A. Confidential will be the book that puts him over the top.” —San Diego Union-Tribune

twistier than movie!

Plot is more intricate and twistier than movie. Wasson gives a top notch performance as usual!

LA Confidential

A thrilling and gripping story. Violent, intense and intriguing. The story stalls out slightly in and around part 3 but accelerates towards an exciting and shocking ending. Craig Wasson is brilliant as the reader.

Wow! Author, author! Amazing!

This just blew me away! From the text to the reading. A 1 performance! Bravo!

great book live the story well read

I know that it's clichéd but the book is way better than the movie well performed well read definitely worth your time

A modern pulp crime classic

For newcomers and anyone already familiar with Ellroy's classic sprawling crime novel, this audio version of L.A. Confidential is worth a listen. Wasson tackles author's curt, biting style expertly in narration and highlights the three main characters' complexities in a way the movie doesn't come close to touching. Some of his characters come across as stereotypical voices - Inez Soto - for instance, while others lapse into unintentional comedy: see Yorkin and Jack Vincennes as Jack Nicholson's The Joker, Sid Hudgins as Snaglepuss smoking a pack a minute and the Lucky Charms leprechaun appearing as Dudley Smith. Still, Wasson does a good job of helping Ellroy's sometimes too-fast moving riffs come across as plot development. Audible should consider changing the thumbnail for this title - I can only imagine how much better the original version narration by film actor David Strathairn, who originally played Pierce Patchett, is comparatively.