Review: In L.A, everything is always complicated.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 27, 2013
I'm not usually big on anthologies, but I had a good time with that one. It was short, action packed and the stories were highly cohesive with one another. It's always a thing for me, to keep things in a coherent universe. L.A NOIRE : THE COLLECTED STORIES is about the broken soul, attracted by the seductive ghost of post-war riches in the land of perdition. Traumatized veterans, opportunistic mobsters and, of course, the broken girl. She'll always remain an object of fascination, will she?Megan Abbott and Lawrence Block wrote two powerhouses that are difficult to top, right at the start. Block's story was particularly gut wrenching, written in old-timer vernacular and all. Joyce Carol Oates' take on The Black Dahlia and Duane Swierczynski's James Ellroy insipired piece also grabbed me imagination. Andrew Vachss also closed the door in beauty with POSTWAR BOOM, the fan favorite. Los Angeles lives inside the heart of every American. That, Rockstar Games understood and got their best chronicler to give this mystifying city a proper literary treatment.