Red Sheet by James Ellroy

Dive into Red Sheet, the unforgettable new historical crime thriller from bestselling, award-winning author James Ellroy, hailed as 'The neo-noir eminence of L.A. crime fiction.' This gritty, fast-paced novel is set against the tense backdrop of Los Angeles in late October 1962, immediately following the conclusion of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

When Attorney General Robert Kennedy fears communist reprisals, he orders an LAPD probe. Leading the investigation is Freddy Otash, a stone-cold criminal with a harrowing dope habit. Otash targets a red-front trade union, leading to a murder on Halloween night that may connect to ex-VP Richard Nixon and two unsolved communist snuffs from eight years prior. As Freddy juggles the official probe and a secret assignment from Nixon’s aides, L.A. spirals into chaos, involving figures like Tom Bradley campaigning for the Rumford Fair Housing Act and Hugh Hefner exploiting racial tensions.

• Gritty, fast-paced historical crime thriller set in 1962 Los Angeles.
• Features characters navigating the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• From James Ellroy, author celebrated for his 'fierce, brave, funny, scatological, beautiful, convoluted, and paranoid' writing.
• A daring, subversive work of fiction described as Ellroy’s 'most crazed kamikaze run.'

• Author: James Ellroy
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Print Length: 544 pages
• Publication Date: July 16, 2026
• ISBN-10: 1529152399
• ISBN-13: 978-1529152395
• Dimensions: 165 x 47 x 242mm
• Weight: 786 g

For fans of hard-boiled mystery and historical thrillers, Red Sheet delivers Ellroy’s signature forensic and incantatory style in a novel that captures the paranoia of the Cold War era.