L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City (Audiobook)

from Hae-Yu

While the description makes the reader envision a book about cops and mobsters, this is really a history of LA and the LAPD using mobster Mickey Cohen as the primary antagonist. As a history of the LAPD, Buntin describes the long battle LAPD fought against corruption internally and externally. I ...

from hhornblower

Like the author says in the epilogue, my knowledge of Chief Parker was Parker Center in downtown and when I thought of corruption in America, I instantly thought of Chicago. This book is a good history of the seamy side of Los Angeles, in both the official and underworld side. I must say though, ...

from Unkletom

Although L.A. Noir focuses on the story of two men, mobster Mickey Cohen and Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker, it provides lots of insight into the mindset and machinations of the LAPD from the 1920s up through the 1960s. It ably describes the corruption that ran rampant through the depart...

from datrappert

This book is overlong and somewhat disorganized, and the attempt to frame it as the story of a rivalry between gangster Mickey Cohen and Police Chief William Parker is a bit of a stretch--both men had a lot more to worry about than each other--but it is never boring. Certainly Cohen comes across ...

from cjordan916

Couldn't get into it