The Demon Dog of Crime Fiction is back, and this time around it’s more boocoo bad business, crooked cops, pervs, prowlers, and putzo politicians than ever, and that’s saying a lot.
An ex-cop who became a private investigator and then quickly morphed into the beating heart of Confidential magazine, Otash had Hollywood in his pocket and was involved in secrets, rackets, and blackmail with everyone from James Dean — who worked for him for a while — to Senator John F.
Confidential was the premier scandalous rag of its time, and appearing on its pages was a nightmare for many celebrities and politicians.
“Baby, it’s time to CONFESS.” Thus begins Otash’s recount of his time with Confidential and the series of people he interacted with, knew dark secrets about, protected, and blackmailed, and it’s an impressive list: Paul Newman, Ava Gardner, Marlon Brando, Senator John F.
Fast, snappy, and with a level of alliteration that dances between the brilliant and the ridiculous, Otash’s voice is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction.
“It’s the egalitarian epicenter of postwar America.
He’s constantly looking for dirt on everyone and setting up bugs in houses and motel rooms across LA, but in his mind, he’s a legend, he’s Freon Freddy, the Shaman of Shakedown, the Tattle Tyrant Who Holds Hollywood Hostage, the Freewheeling Freedy O.
However, Ellroy makes it feel fresh, and as Freddy O va-va-vooms on the hot-prowl downing Dexedrine and gulping Old Crow for breakfast, buckling up and reading on becomes the only option.
The “foul owl with the death growl,” as Ellroy calls himself, embodies Freddy Otash so well that this reads like a real confession, and it’s more scandalous than anything ever printed in the lurid pages of Confidential.