The Enchanters

A novel

By: James Ellroy

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • James Ellroy—Demon Dog of American Letters—goes straight to the tragic heart of 1962 Hollywood with a wild riff on the Marilyn Monroe death myth in an astonishing, behind-the-headlines crime epic.

Los Angeles, August 4, 1962. The city broils through a midsummer heat wave. Marilyn Monroe ODs. A B-movie starlet is kidnapped. The overhyped LAPD overreacts. Chief Bill Parker’s looking for some getback. The Monroe deal looks like a moneymaker. He calls in Freddy Otash.

The freewheeling Freddy O: tainted ex-cop, defrocked private eye, dope fiend, and freelance extortionist. A man who lives by the maxim “Opportunity is love.” Freddy gets to work. He dimly perceives Marilyn Monroe’s death and the kidnapped starlet to be a poisonous riddle that only he has the guts and the brains to untangle. We are with him as he tears through all those who block his path to the truth. We are with him as he penetrates the faux-sunshine of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and the shuck of Camelot. We are with him as he falters, and grasps for love beyond opportunity. We are with him as he tracks Marilyn Monroe’s horrific last charade through a nightmare L.A. that he served to create — and as he confronts his complicity and his own raging madness.

It’s the Summer of ’62, baby. Freddy O’s got a hot date with history. The savage Sixties are ready to pop. It’s just a shot away.

The Enchanters is a transcendent work of American popular fiction. It is James Ellroy at his most crazed, brilliant, provocative, profanely hilarious, and stop-your-heart tender. It is a luminous psychological drama and an unparalleled thrill ride. It is, resoundingly, the great American crime novel.

Most enjoyable Ellroy novel in years

The Enchanters is a welcome break from the DOURNESS of Perfidia and This Storm. Despite what he says in interviews about Fred Otash (a real-life figure), it's clear Ellroy has found a character he likes to write for. Frankly, I needed a break from Dudley Smith anyway.

Craig Wasson's brand of mannered over-acting, which might derail another author's work, continues to be a perfect fit for Ellroy. I wish they'd re-release all of Ellroy's essential titles (especially White Jazz) with Wasson behind the microphone.

The Book I've Been Waiting For

The early 60s is my favorite decade because the cast of characters in those years was unequaled. Ellroy skillfully interlaced history, conjecture, favorite names and the unbridled LAPD of the era, as only he can do. If this time period is of interest, it's definitely worth listening to. With that being said, I think it could have been a shorter book, as I found a lot of repetition starting to mount about 3/4 through, and I began to lose a little interest. I stayed with it, though, and glad I did, because the glossary of characters and terms at the end was helpful. The narrator, Craig Wasson, was absolutely amazing! I still remember him from the haunting film Body Double. His ability with accents is a joy to listen to.

Epic and electric

James Ellroy's electric prose rendered with verve and gusto by Craig Wasson. An epic vision of early 60s LA in all its pulp glory. Ellroy is the master crime novelist. Loved it!

Great to have Wasson back!

The 2nd book in the series is just okay with a fantastic backdrop. It just never quite got there for me. Solid just not quite great. first book was better.

the old mastard still has it

like an old boxer waiting in the shadows he steps into the ring and delivers a masterpiece of chaos. For those James Ellroy loyalists it's Christmas morning.