L.A. NOIR: BLOOD ON THE MOON, BECAUSE THE NIGHT, SUICIDE HILL

New York City, NY: The Mysterious Press, 1998. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: The Mysterious Press, 1998. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 644 pages. Omnibus Edition of the author's "Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins Novel of Suspense" trilogy. The "turning point" novels in the arc of Ellroy's literary achievement. The First Omnibus Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents James Ellroy's "L. A. Noir". Three novels in one affordable yet elegant volume: "Blood On The Moon" (1984), "Because The Night" (1985), and "Suicide Hill" (1986). He acknowledges the subsequent influence of Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon" (1981) as the foundational novel of the "serial killer" sub-genre, which now completely dominates the crime thriller genre - in books, on film, and in streaming series from all over the globe. Serial killers everywhere. It was Harris who mined the psychopathology of the serial killer better than any writer before him, including Ellroy, and better than anyone else after. The achievement of "L. A. Noir" is literary: Ellroy has permanently made Los Angeles THE "noir" genre of our time (not Chicago or New York, for instance). His anti-hero, Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins, who can be as mean and fatally flawed as the villains he pursues, is a genuine literary character, the "antidote to the sensitive, candy-assed philosophizing private eye" of yore. James Ellroy is THE crime writer of Los Angeles of our time: His work isn't just about LA; he encompasses and embodies it; he is LA Incarnate. An absolute "must-have" title for James Ellroy collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed (initialled/"scrawled") in black ink-pen on the title page by James Ellroy. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great collection. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Omnibus Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JAMES ELLROY TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0892966866.