As I said in my review of Ellroy's latest novel (the disappointing, overcooked but compulsively readable WIDESPREAD PANIC), I'm a huge fan of his work. His fiction reveals more of who he is than almost any of his public statements. Powell understands this, and the time he spends critically examining Ellroy's major books is some of the biography's best material. (The look into the UNDERWORLD USA books is particularly insightful.) When Ellroy was just ten years old, his mother brutally murdered. The crime went unsolved, and her death marked the start of a long and turbulent road for Ellroy that included struggles with alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness, and jail time. As Powell reveals, Ellroy’s mother’s murder and his upbringing in 1950s Los Angeles, always on the periphery of Hollywood, had a substantial influence on his writing. Powell plumbs the history of Ellroy’s life and family, including his mother’s mysterious first marriage eighteen years before her murder.

A highly enjoyable read… shrewd in its critiques of the work and jargon-free– an academic biography in the best sense. I suspect it will spoil the genre of literary biography for me for a while: can the life of any other living writer be anywhere near as horribly gripping?”—Jake Kerridge, The Daily TelegraphContributes a wealth of material and insight into Ellroy's private life and personal struggles. . . . Love Me Fierce In Danger is a substantial work of literary scholarship. . . . A must read for fans and scholars of contemporary American crime fiction.”— Pulp Curry

Here is 'the skinny' (as the subject himself might put it) on one of the most charismatic and complex crime writers on the planet, affording insights into both the man and his craft. It's every bit as gripping and twisted as a James Ellroy novel. Dig it, cats. Here is 'the skinny' (as the subject himself might put it) on one of the most charismatic and complex crime writers on the planet, affording insights into both the man and his craft. It's every bit as gripping and twisted as a James Ellroy novel. Dig it, cats." Steven Powell's brilliant, unflinching biography reveals how the novelist's obsessions have their roots in the extraordinary experiences of his childhood and early years … Powell scrupulously chronicles Ellroy's hectic career: his compulsive womanising; lapses in sobriety; near nervous breakdowns; and attention grabbing performances as the self-styled 'Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction'… According to his ex-wife, Helen Knode: 'James lives life like he was shot out of a cannon.' This gripping, illuminating biography not only throws light on just what she meant by that. It also reveals why he does so.I knew Ellroy's mother was murdered when he was a young boy. I never knew though how troubled and, let's face it, terrible his life has been. He has been labeled a womanizer, drug addict, alcoholic, and tempered person. After reading this, I can say that's all true. Plus he is one of the best crime writers out there. I never knew he wrote historical fiction crime books, which I love to read. I learned a ton from reading this book. Ugaz’s case is all too familiar in Peru, where powerful groups regularly use the courts to silence journalists by fabricating criminal allegations against them.’ One can imagine that, in the future, somebody will draw on the material Powell has accumulated to produce a crazier, more poetic, more Ellroy-esque portrait, but this book is a highly enjoyable read in its own right, shrewd in its critiques of the work and jargon-free – an academic biography in the best sense. I suspect it will spoil the genre of literary biography for me for a while: can the life of any other living writer be anywhere near as horribly gripping? Steven Powell also gives us candid and insightful analysis into the origins and progression of both Ellroy’s well-hashed outrageous public persona, and the Demon Dog’s monastically Beethovian private life, with all the idiosyncrasies, private insecurities, coping mechanisms, and solitary circumspection that bind these two extreme polarities for James Ellroy just like everyone else.