This Storm Read online

  ALSO BY JAMES ELLROY

  Perfidia

  THE UNDERWORLD U.S.A. TRILOGY

  American Tabloid

  The Cold Six Thousand

  Blood’s A Rover

  THE L.A. QUARTET

  The Black Dahlia

  The Big Nowhere

  L.A. Confidential

  White Jazz

  MEMOIR

  My Dark Places

  The Hilliker Curse

  SHORT STORIES

  Hollywood Nocturnes

  JOURNALISM/SHORT FICTION

  Crime Wave

  Destination: Morgue!

  EARLY NOVELS

  Brown’s Requiem

  Clandestine

  Blood on the Moon

  Because the Night

  Suicide Hill

  Killer on the Road

  THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

  Copyright © 2019 by James Ellroy

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.

  www.aaknopf.com

  Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Ellroy, James, [date] author.

  Title: This storm : a novel / James Ellroy.

  Description: First United States Edition. | New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018048538 | ISBN 9780307957009 (hardback) | ISBN 9780525521730 (ebook) | ISBN 9781524711511 (open market)

  Subjects: LCSH: Murder—Investigation—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Literary. | FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Hard-Boiled. | FICTION / Historical. | GSAFD: War stories. | Historical Fiction. | Mystery fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3555.L6274 T47 2019 | DDC 813/.54—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2018048538

  Ebook ISBN 9780525521730

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover photograph: Hollywood, California. Old Visuals / Alamy

  Cover design by Chip Kidd

  Title pages and part opening pages: Rain over black background by sirtravelalot / Shutterstock

  v5.4

  ep

  Contents

  Cover

  Also by James Ellroy

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Reminiscenza

  The Thunderbolt Broadcast/Father Charles Coughlin/XERB Radio, Los Angeles. Bootleg transmitter: Tijuana, Mexico. Tuesday, December 30, 1941

  Part One: RAIN (December 31, 1941–January 23, 1942)

  Chapter 1: Elmer Jackson (Los Angeles, 9:30P.M., 12/31/41)

  Chapter 2: Dudley Smith (Los Angeles, 11:30P.M., 12/31/41)

  Chapter 3: Joan Conville (San Diego, 12:15 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 4: Hideo Ashida (Los Angeles, 2:30 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 5: (Los Angeles, 3:15 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 6: (Los Angeles, 4:45 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 7: (Los Angeles, 6:30 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 8: (Los Angeles, 7:45 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 9: (Los Angeles, 8:30 A.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 10: (Tijuana, 3:30 P.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 11: (Los Angeles, 8:30 P.M., 1/1/42)

  Chapter 12: (Los Angeles, 6:00 A.M., 1/2/42)

  Chapter 13: (Los Angeles, 8:45 A.M., 1/2/42)

  Chapter 14: (Ensenada, 8:00 A.M., 1/3/42)

  Chapter 15: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 1/3/42)

  Chapter 16: (Tijuana, 2:00 P.M., 1/3/42)

  Chapter 17: (Los Angeles, 10:00 P.M., 1/3/42)

  Chapter 18: (Ensenada, 9:15 A.M., 1/4/42)

  Chapter 19: (Los Angeles, 4:30 P.M., 1/4/42)

  Chapter 20: (Los Angeles, 10:15 A.M., 1/5/42)

  Chapter 21: (Los Angeles, 11:45 A.M., 1/5/42)

  Chapter 22: (Baja, 4:15 P.M., 1/5/42)

  Chapter 23: (Santa Barbara, 12:30 P.M., 1/6/42)

  Chapter 24: (Los Angeles, 9:30 A.M., 1/7/42)

  Chapter 25: (Los Angeles, 1:30 A.M., 1/8/42)

  Chapter 26: (Ensenada, 8:00 P.M., 1/8/42)

  Chapter 27: (Los Angeles, 1/9–1/23/42)

  Chapter 28: (Los Angeles, 1/9–1/23/42)

  Chapter 29: (Los Angeles, 1/9–1/23/42)

  Chapter 30: (Baja and Los Angeles, 1/9–1/23/42)

  Part Two: TERPINHYDRATE (January 24–February 25, 1942)

  Chapter 31: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 1/24/42)

  Chapter 32: (Los Angeles, 8:30 P.M., 1/24/42)

  Chapter 33: (Los Angeles, 11:00 P.M., 1/24/42)

  Chapter 34: (Los Angeles, 3:00 A.M., 1/25/42)

  Chapter 35: (Los Angeles, 9:30 P.M., 1/26/42)

  Chapter 36: (Los Angeles 12:00 P.M., 1/27/42)

  Chapter 37: (Los Angeles, 2:00 P.M., 1/27/42)

  Chapter 38: (Tijuana, 2:00 P.M., 1/28/42)

  Chapter 39: (Los Angeles, 7:00 P.M., 1/28/42)

  Chapter 40: (Los Angeles, 6:00 A.M., 1/29/42)

  Chapter 41: (Los Angeles, 11:00 A.M., 1/29/42)

  Chapter 42: (Ensenada, 12:30 P.M., 1/29/42)

  Chapter 43: (Los Angeles, 9:00 P.M., 1/29/42)

  Chapter 44: (Los Angeles, 10:30 P.M., 1/29/42)

  Chapter 45: (Los Angeles, 11:00 P.M., 1/29/42)

  Chapter 46: (Ensenada, 10:00 A.M., 1/30/42)

  Chapter 47: (Los Angeles, 8:00 A.M., 1/31/42)

  Chapter 48: (Los Angeles, 5:00 A.M., 2/1/42)

  Chapter 49: (Los Angeles, 10:00 A.M., 2/1/42)

  Chapter 50: (Los Angeles, 5:00 P.M., 2/1/42)

  Chapter 51: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 2/3/42)

  Chapter 52: (Los Angeles, 11:00 A.M., 2/3/42)

  Chapter 53: (Los Angeles, 2:30 P.M., 2/3/42)

  Chapter 54: (Los Angeles, 4:30 P.M., 2/3/42)

  Chapter 55: (Los Angeles, 9:30 A.M., 2/4/42)

  Chapter 56: (Tijuana, 5:30 P.M., 2/4/42)

  Chapter 57: (Los Angeles, 10:00 A.M., 2/5/42)

  Chapter 58: (Los Angeles, 10:00 A.M., 2/6/42)

  Chapter 59: (Los Angeles, 9:30 A.M., 2/7/42)

  Chapter 60: (Ensenada, 11:00 A.M., 2/8/42)

  Chapter 61: (Tijuana, 8:00 P.M., 2/8/42)

  Chapter 62: (Los Angeles, 9:30 A.M., 2/9/42)

  Chapter 63: (Los Angeles, 1:00 P.M., 2/9/42)

  Chapter 64: (Ensenada, 8:00 A.M., 2/10/42)

  Chapter 65: (San Diego, 12:00 P.M., 2/10/42)

  Chapter 66: (Los Angeles, 7:00 A.M., 2/11/42)

  Chapter 67: (Los Angeles, 2/12–2/25/42)

  Chapter 68: (Tijuana and Ensenada, 2/12–2/25/42)

  Chapter 69: (Los Angeles, 2/12–2/25/42)

  Chapter 70: (Los Angeles and Baja, 2/12�
�2/25/42)

  Chapter 71: (Los Angeles, 2:15 A.M., 2/25/42)

  Chapter 72: (Orange County, 5:00 A.M., 2/25/42)

  Chapter 73: (Los Angeles, 6:00 A.M., 2/25/42)

  Chapter 74: (Los Angeles, 10:30 A.M., 2/25/42)

  Chapter 75: (Los Angeles, 4:00 P.M., 2/25/42)

  Part Three: SINARQUISMO (February 28–March 25, 1942)

  Chapter 76: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 2/28/42)

  Chapter 77: (Los Angeles, 4:00 P.M., 2/28/42)

  Chapter 78: (Los Angeles, 10:00 P.M., 2/28/42)

  Chapter 79: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 3/1/42)

  Chapter 80: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 3/2/42)

  Chapter 81: (Los Angeles, 11:30 A.M., 3/2/42)

  Chapter 82: (Los Angeles, 3:30 P.M., 3/2/42)

  Chapter 83: (La Paz, 8:00 P.M., 3/3/42)

  Chapter 84: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 3/4/42)

  Chapter 85: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 3/5/42)

  Chapter 86: (Los Angeles, 11:00 A.M., 3/5/42)

  Chapter 87: (Ensenada, 4:00 P.M., 3/6/42)

  Chapter 88: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 7:00 A.M., 3/7/42)

  Chapter 89: (Ensenada, 10:00 P.M., 3/7/42)

  Chapter 90: (San Diego, 11:00 A.M., 3/8/42)

  Chapter 91: (Santo Tomas, 12:00 P.M., 3/9/42)

  Chapter 92: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 2:00 P.M., 3/9/42)

  Chapter 93: (Los Angeles, 3:00 P.M., 3/10/42)

  Chapter 94: (Los Angeles, 8:30 P.M., 3/10/42)

  Chapter 95: (Los Angeles, 11:00 P.M., 3/10/42)

  Chapter 96: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 11:30 P.M., 3/10/42)

  Chapter 97: (Los Angeles, 8:00 A.M., 3/11/42)

  Chapter 98: (Los Angeles, 11:00 A.M., 3/11/42)

  Chapter 99: (Los Angeles, 1:00 A.M., 3/12/42)

  Chapter 100: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 2:30 A.M., 3/12/42)

  Chapter 101: (Ensenada, 7:00 A.M., 3/12/42)

  Chapter 102: (Los Angeles, 3/12–3/25/42)

  Chapter 103: (Los Angeles and Baja, 3/12–3/25/42)

  Chapter 104: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles and Baja, 3/12–3/25/42)

  Part Four: MANZANAR (March 25–April 2, 1942)

  Chapter 105: (Los Angeles, 8:00 A.M., 3/25/42)

  Chapter 106: (Los Angeles, 9:30 P.M., 3/25/42)

  Chapter 107: (Tijuana, 9:00 A.M., 3/26/42)

  Chapter 108: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 8:00 P.M., 3/27/42)

  Chapter 109: (Manzanar, 9:00 A.M., 3/28/42)

  Chapter 110: (Los Angeles, 9:00 P.M., 3/28/42)

  Chapter 111: (La Paz, 10:00 A.M., 3/29/42)

  Chapter 112: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 3/30/42)

  Chapter 113: (Lone Pine, 2:00 P.M., 3/30/42)

  Chapter 114: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 3/31/42)

  Chapter 115: (Ensenada, 8:00 P.M., 4/1/42)

  Chapter 116: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 7:00 A.M., 4/2/42)

  Chapter 117: (Lone Pine, 4:00 P.M., 4/2/42)

  Part Five: REALPOLITIK (April 3–28, 1942)

  The El Lay Lowdown…

  Chapter 118: (Los Angeles, 2:00 P.M., 4/4/42)

  Chapter 119: (Ensenada, 5:00 P.M., 4/4/42)

  Chapter 120: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 1:00 P.M., 4/5/42)

  Chapter 121: (Lone Pine, 10:00 A.M., 4/6/42)

  Chapter 122: (Los Angeles, 4:00 P.M., 4/7/42)

  Chapter 123: (Ensenada, 3:00 P.M., 4/8/42)

  Chapter 124: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 7:00 P.M., 4/8/42)

  Chapter 125: (San Francisco, 10:00 A.M., 4/9/42)

  Chapter 126: (Los Angeles, 9:00 A.M., 4/10/42)

  Chapter 127: (La Paz, 9:00 A.M., 4/11/42)

  Chapter 128: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 8:00 A.M., 4/12/42)

  Chapter 129: (Los Angeles, 1:00 P.M., 4/12/42)

  Chapter 130: (Los Angeles, 4:00 P.M., 4/12/42)

  L.A. Herald Express…

  Chapter 131: (Los Angeles, 4/14–4/26/42)

  Chapter 132: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 8:00 A.M., 4/27/42)

  Chapter 133: (Los Angeles, 8:00 A.M., 4/28/42)

  Part Six: KAMERADEN (April 29–May 8, 1942)

  Chapter 134: Kay Lake’s Diary (Los Angeles, 4/29–5/8/42)

  Dramatis Personae

  A Note About the Author

  TO HELEN KNODE

  Blood alone moves the wheels of history.

  —Benito “Il Duce” Mussolini

  Reminiscenza.

  I remain spellbound. That then-to-now fever still consumes me. I am very old and the sole living witness. The Maestro willed me his piano and the score we smuggled from Russia. I retain faultless vision and memory. Long bouts of practice keep my hands strong.

  I compose at the keyboard. Improvisation spawns recollection. Words and music sustain me and forge my repudiation of death.

  The war.

  The rain.

  The gold.

  Los Angeles and Mexico, the Fifth Column.

  I will not die as long as I live this story.

  THE THUNDERBOLT BROADCAST/FATHER CHARLES COUGHLIN/XERB RADIO, LOS ANGELES. BOOTLEG TRANSMITTER: TIJUANA, MEXICO. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1941

  Good evening and bienvenidos, a belated Feliz Navidad, and let’s not forget próspero año y felicidad—which means “Happy New Year” in English and serves to introduce the Mexico-at-war theme of tonight’s broadcast. And at war we are, my fellow American listeners—even though we sure as shooting didn’t want to be in the first place.

  Let’s talk turkey here. Es la verdad, as our Mex cousins say. We’ve been in this Jew-inspired boondoggle a mere twenty-three days, and we’ve been forced to stand with the rape-happy Russian Reds against the more sincerely simpatico Nazis. That’s a shattering shame, but our Jew-pawn president, Franklin “Double-Cross” Rosenfeld, has deliriously decreed that we must fight der Führer, so fight that heroic jefe we regretfully must. It’s a ways off, though—because we’ve got our hands full with the Japs right now.

  So, let’s meander down Mexico way—where the señoritas sizzle and more HELL-bent jefes hold sway.

  Mexico connotes “PROUDLY CATHOLIC,” does it not, friends? Add THEOCRATIC REPUBLIC, ANTI-RED, and DUTIFULLY RELIGIOUS to that. It paints a picture, doesn’t it? Yes—but the picture is wholly inaccurate and sorrowfully seditious, dating back to the tempestuous ’20s and the repugnant Red reign of Presidente Plutarco Calles.

  Item: Calles instituted a Six-Year Plan for social and political reform, patterned after Red Russia’s Five-Year Plan.

  Item: Calles set out to eradicate the influence of the Catholic Church, barred religious festivals and processions, and created “workers’ collectives” to counter the alleged excesses of industrial capitalism and further secularize the Mexican body politic, despite the stubborn opposition of the CATHOLIC Mexican people.

  Item: Catholic bishops were forced to suspend public worship.

  Item: Calles’s “Redshirt” goon squads shuttered churches across Mexico.

  Item: priests were murdered, nuns were raped, bishops sought South American asylum, and the Holy Mass was performed as a secret sacrament.

  Item: cancerous Calles was succeeded by limp leftist Lázaro Cárdenas. He was a motley mollycoddler of a less malicious sort. His a
nticlerical policies bore a still Stalinist, but less overt stink. Priests were still murdered, nuns were still raped, provincial despots still shuttered churches and satanically forbade Mass.