The first hardcover edition of the author's second novel; a standalone Los Angeles Police Department crime thriller, featuring characters who would appear in the LA Quartet and before he moved to his epic series of novels; inscribed twice by the author, the first is the familiar 'Dear Reader, the early 1950s – Be-Bop, Fast Women, Bad Taste, Death', the second, personal inscription, 'This book will ignite your most hideous fantasies', to Bob Carr.
