Wow. This book grabs you at page one with its style and intensity and doesn't let go until it drags you through hell and spits you out battered on the other side. It is the story of a photographer, with a past he is trying to hide, who finds himself framed for a murder. Naturally, as characters in this type of novel do, he sets out to unravel the mystery himself, fearing that if he doesn't, his sordid past will lead to a conviction, whether he is innocent or not. Lankford is a fabulous writer, and in this book, the vulgarities and explicit scenes are an integral part of the plot as the photographer drifts from Hollywood party to photo shoots to porn warehouses to strip clubs to...well, you get the idea. In the background, meanwhile, LA is burning from a series of fires, which are drawing closer and closer to the photographer's own home on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

There really aren't enough superlatives for how well this story is told (in the first person). I will definitely seek out more of Lankford's work.

Note: This 2011 edition restores a lot of the period flavor (of October 1993) that the original publisher removed. Given how important that background is to the overall impact of the book, anyone who enjoyed the earlier version may want to check this one out as well. ( )