As gripping and twisted as a James Ellroy novel. - Ian Rankin A masterpiece of literary
biography. - David Peace The first critical biography of a titan of American crime fiction.
Love Me Fierce In Danger is the story of James Ellroy one of the most provocative and singular
figures in American literature. The so-called Demon Dog of Crime Fiction Ellroy enjoys a
celebrity status and notoriety that few authors can match. However traumas from the past have
shadowed his literary success. When Ellroy was ten years old his mother was brutally murdered.
The crime went unsolved and her death marked the start of a long and turbulent road for Ellroy
that has included struggles with alcoholism drug addiction homelessness and jail time. In
tracing his life and career Steven Powell reveals how Ellroy's upbringing in LA always on the
periphery of Hollywood had a profound and dark influence on his work as a novelist. Using new
sources Powell also uncovers Ellroy's family secrets including the mysterious first marriage
of his mother Jean Ellroy eighteen years before her murder. At its heart Love Me Fierce in
Danger is the story of how Ellroy overcame his demons to become the bestselling and celebrated
author of such classics as The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential. Informed by interviews with
friends family peers and literary and Hollywood collaborators as well as extensive
conversations with Ellroy himself Love Me Fierce In Danger pulls back the curtain on an
enigmatic figure who has courted acclaim and controversy with equal zealotry.
