Los Angeles. August 4, 1962. The city broils through a mid-summer 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 tainted ex-cop, defrocked private eye, dope fiend, and freelance extortionist ... James Ellroy at his most crazed, brilliant, provocative, hilarious, and tender.