Terrill Lee Lankford

Lankford's conclusion to the story he began in Earthquake Weather reads like a combination of Joe Lansdale and Charles Willeford, though not as over the top as Lansdale or as sociopathic as Willeford--which isn't to say it doesn't still fit both categories. If I were writing a cover blurb for this twisted tale of film making, it would be, "They exceeded their budget--for mayhem!"

Lankford throws everything he can think of into this one and it just gets wilder as it goes along. On the one hand, it is a primer on low-budget film making; on the other, it is a tale of a lot of dysfunctional people, with one or perhaps two exceptions, operating in an industry and a city where nothing is really ever real or what it seems. Along the way, Lankford drops a few names and observations about real people, such as Madeleine Stowe. All in all, it's a bit of a hodgepodge, but an enjoyable one nevertheless. The movie industry stuff seems very real, and one assumes it comes from Lankford's own experiences. If true, he can't be all that popular in Hollywood!

It's hard to fault an author who puts so much of himself between two covers for not knowing when to stop. If you enjoyed any of Lankford's other novels, you'll enjoy this one as well. And you might even learn a few things about the motion picture business and the people who work in it.… (altro)

Lankford tells a leisurely tale of murder in Hollywood, but this is more a well-informed character study of a few typical Hollywood types (e.g., Producer, Screenwriter, Failed Screenwriter, Crack Whore) combined with a guided tour of some of Southern California’s high and low spots. As always, Lankford writes very well, and while the resolution of the murder seems almost a sideshow thrown into the novel’s last few pages, the world he has portrayed (you can’t really say “created”) draws us in and we want to live in it a while longer. Luckily, his next novel, Blonde Lightning, seems to take off where this one leaves off.… (altro)

Angry Moon starts off with one of the most hard hitting, extreme first chapters I have ever read, and Lankford keeps us the pace for a while as the plot pits two assassins (the master and his apprentice) against each other with the murder of members of a mob-run drug operation as a backdrop. But along the way it morphs into a real horror story and, as a result, loses some of its impact. In his debut novel, Shooters, Lankford gave us a unlikable protagonist, but since he was clearly framed for a murder he didn't commit, his quest to find the truth drew us into a very dark web of mystery that made for a highly compelling story. In Angry Moon, however, while it is fascinating to watch as Ry Caulder tries to hunt down and kill his one-time friend and now nemesis, there isn't any great sense of mystery except for why the guy is so hard to kill. Along the way, Lankford throws in the solution to Jimmy Hoffa's murder and some references to the Kennedy assassination that, rather than contribute to the book, just act as distractions.

The prose is excellent throughout--Lankford certainly didn't lose his ability to write, although the exposition is a lot clumsier in this novel as he throws in facts here and there and occasionally shifts perspective. Shooters is a much more satisfying, real, and convincing work.… (altro)

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.… (altro)