The Cold Six Thousand

By: James Ellroy

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz, American Tabloid....

James Ellroy's high-velocity, best-selling novels have redefined noir for our age, propelling us within inches of the dark realities of America's recent history. In The Cold Six Thousand, his most ambitious and explosive novel yet, he puts the whole of the 1960s under his blistering lens. The result is a work of fierce, epic fiction, a speedball through our most tumultuous time.

It begins in Dallas. November 22, 1963. The heart of the American Dream detonated.

Wayne Tedrow Jr., a young Vegas cop, arrives with a loathsome job to do. He's got $6,000 in cash and no idea that he is about to plunge into the cover-up conspiracy already brewing around Kennedy's assassination, no idea that this will mark the beginning of a hellish five-year ride through the private underbelly of public policy.

Ellroy's furiously paced narrative tracks Tedrow's ride: Dallas back to Vegas, with the Mob and Howard Hughes, south with the Klan and J. Edgar Hoover, shipping out to Vietnam and returning home, the bearer of white powder, plotting new deaths as 1968 approaches....

Tedrow stands witness, as the icons of an iconic era mingle with cops, killers, hoods, and provocateurs. His story is ground zero in Ellroy's stunning vision: historical confluence as American nightmare.

The Cold Six Thousand is a masterpiece.

Please note: This 2001 recording represents the technology of the time when it was produced. This is currently the best available source audio from the publisher.

©2001 James Ellroy (P)2001 Random House, Inc. Random House AudioBooks, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Excellent Follow-up to American Tabloid

This book is part two of a trilogy, beginning at around noon on November 22, 1963. This book continues the story of several fascinating police, mafia, FBI, CIA, and assorted oddballs involved in the JFK assassination and wide-scale crime (primarily in Las Vegas and Vietnam). As I wrote in my American Tabloid review, the book is violent, profane, and probably not for everyone, but I think it's another excellent piece of work by Ellroy.

Ellroy's writing style is fantastic

I listened to this a few months ago and am still thinking about it. Gritty, harsh, and dark, but riveting...You'll either love or hate his writing style, so listen to the sample.

a rip-snortin' conspiracy bunker-buster

...and one of the best books on Audible. Brilliantly narrated -- and this is a difficult book to get all brilliant with, trust me -- The Cold Six Thousand will rearrange your sense of second-half 20th century American history. James Ellroy writes like an avenging angel on meth. And in this case, that's a good thing. Can't recommend this one highly enough.

snap shots from the pages of history.

you can't unlearn what you learn. you can't unsee what you saw. you'll go there and will want to run away. your illusions will be crushed.

Nice title

Is really a nice title, very happy to listen and feel everyone can enjoy this book.

All over the place

I Struggled to finish this book and I have listened to every James Ellroy audiobook book except Bloods a Rover. I liked American Tabloid but this book just felt like a lot of jazzed up filler, the first half was okay but by the 2nd half I just didn't care anymore. Even James Ellroy's ex wife and current girlfriend is a critic of this book. They really should have got the same guy that read American Tabloid to read this book, it would have added some continuity and made the book a little better, it's WARD LITTLE! I don't care how it's spelled.

Recommend

Initially concerned about the recording quality but the narration is excellent. Another great story by Ellroy. Enjoy his writing style.

Wasson and Ellroy -- An Elite Duo!

Wasson really "gets" Ellroy. And that's a good thing because this is a tough book to plod through on one's own. Wasson serves as the perfect tour guide, allowing you to more easily process Ellroy's dense prose, to understand the intended tone, style and humor, and become completely immersed in Ellroy's intricate plotting and brooding atmosphere.

Wasson also does a bang up job with giving distinct and convincing voices to a multitude of characters. In sum, Wasson is truly an elite talent and one of the few worthy of Ellroy's genius. Give this man a raise!

Mesmerizing Ellroy & Wasson. Great Duo!

The Cold Six Thousand is a slow burner in the best sense. Ellroy's Telegraphic Jazz word play style is at its peak. Wasson was born for this. He keeps you glued. American Tabloid is a Masterpiece and my favorite Ellroy Book. The Cold Six Thousand is a wonderful follow up.

World Class Narrator...Terrible Story

Elroy is smart, no argument, and a great writer. Among the best, but why do this. I really liked American Tabloid. Great story, superlatively written. Cold Six Thousand is a story about psychopaths, sociopaths and losers...not a redeeming character in the book. ..and the writing is brutal... 'Wayne looked. Wayne walked. Wayne stopped. Wayne bent down.'...repeated 20 or 30 times. Boring, unnecessary, a waste of time, money and mental effort...and thoroughly depressing. ...Except for Craig Wasson....he is just very talented and executes this repetitious and unexciting story tirelessly and flawlessly. He deserves a medal. I would buy a book just to hear him. He really conveys the story and the characters better than any other I have heard.
Elroy writes fiction, but sometimes claims to be a historian. He says his books are more accurate than the actual histories of the events he writes about. Maybe, but he makes it pretty tough to stay with.
Sorry, but give me 'The Searchers', 'Empire of the Summer Moon', or Thomas Fleming anytime. Elroy's genius comes through in this book, as in most of his others. He is undoubtedly a great writer, but he is wasting himself on such unreedeeming works as this. It's about as interesting and exciting as a multi-year saga of a homeless encampment.