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American Tabloid

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American Tabloid

By: James Ellroy
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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About this listen

It's 1958. America is about to emerge into a bright new age - an age that will last until the 1,000 days of John F. Kennedy’s presidency.

Three men move beneath the glossy surface of power, men allied to the makers and shakers of the era.

Peter Bondurant, Howard Hughes’ right-hand man, Jimmy Hoffa’s hit man. Kemper Boyd, employed by J. Edgar Hoover to infiltrate the Kennedy clan. Ward Littell, a man seeking redemption in Bobby Kennedy’s drive against organised crime.

The festering discontent of the age that burns brightly in these men’s hearts will go into supernova as the Bay of Pigs ends in calamity, the mob clamours for payback, and 1,000 days end in brutal quietus in 1963.

©1995 James Ellroy (P)2015 Isis Publishing Ltd
Crime Fiction Crime Thrillers Historical Mystery Political Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Espionage Fiction Crime Thriller Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Suspense
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I found this thrilling most of the time, and exhausting some of the time. It was frustrating a little of the time.

I think the narrator does a good job with some tricky prose, and I generally liked the voices he did (there are a lot of characters)… with one exception. He talks so quietly whenever he voices J. Edgar Hoover. I get the man’s shady and might well have talked like that, but it was annoying how I had to turn up the volume every time he had dialogue.

Mostly good story and a mostly good narration.

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This is an impressive and important work by one of America's great contempory authors. Jeff Hardings performance perfectly suits the subject.

Hard boiled and cold blooded

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A fine narration of a difficult style of storytelling. Thrilling acting, clear voices and it does justice to a spectacular story.

Really very good

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