Books like The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy

"The Cold Six Thousand" opens on the night of November 22, 1963, in Dallas, where the assassination of President Kennedy sets off a chain of intrigue that reverberates across the nation. A young Las Vegas policeman, Wayne Tedrow Jr., is assigned a case that costs him everything: a briefcase of cash, a web of corruption, and a dangerous path that leads him from the streets of Dallas to the corridors of power in Las Vegas, the Mob, Howard Hughes, the KKK, J. Edgar Hoover, and even Vietnam. Over five tense years, Tedrow becomes a witness to the underbelly of public policy, confronting assassination plots, political conspiracies, and the moral decay of a country in turmoil. Set against the vivid backdrop of the 1960s, the novel weaves together real and imagined events, placing its protagonist at the center of America’s most notorious scandals. Ellroy’s narrative is fast‑paced and sharply detailed, drawing readers into a cold, gritty reality where crime, politics, and history intersect. The story serves as a ground‑zero snapshot of a nation grappling with the aftermath of a broken dream, portrayed through the eyes of a cop thrust into the heart of an impossible conspiracy.

First publish date: 2001