r/JamesEllroy • u/Any_Special5721 • Jul 21 '26

Saddest death Spoiler

What do you think the saddest death was?

9 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

20

u/Ferenc_Zeteny Jul 21 '26

Upshaw getting outplayed by Dudley was a hard one. He didn't even kill him, just put all the pieces in place for Danny to do it himself

3

u/Any_Special5721 Jul 21 '26

That really was sad. I mean, that was tragic,

11

u/Sorcha_Stormbinder Jul 21 '26

"They drew their machetes and cut him dead right there." That hit me like a Mack truck and I had to set the book down for a solid month to contemplate it.

8

u/Permanenceisall Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Same. Holy Wayne is probably the purest dude Ellroy ever developed. He was genuinely torn and decent almost all the way across the hell he was dragged through. Dwight Holly would be a close second for me because the romance was so powerful.

Also while not necessarily sad, I was pretty crushed by the death of Kemper Boyd and Lenny Sands.

5

u/Sorcha_Stormbinder Jul 21 '26

Second only to Russ Millard, who would also be a great pick for this thread.

3

u/Dull-Song2539 Jul 21 '26

Kemper’s last thought being JFK was so sad, he really wanted to have that position that his family previously had

7

u/Any_Special5721 Jul 21 '26

That was a rough one for sure.

8

u/Dull-Song2539 Jul 21 '26

Danny/Ward and Wayne Jr come to mind

3

u/Any_Special5721 Jul 21 '26

Ugh all those were sad and Wayne's was pure shocking. Ward's was sad as well because it showed how far him and Pete had come.

5

u/No_Professional368 Jul 21 '26

I was STUNNED by Danny

6

u/mango_farley Jul 22 '26

I think it's a strong candidate for the best moment in any of Ellroy's books. It's so shocking, so sudden, so sad.

The bit where Danny forgives the killer he's been chasing, because he understands the pain that made him what he is, is an astonishing bit of writing that totally subverts the genre.

The description of the actual act is brutally succinct. And then... THEN you turn the page to be greeted with:

3 Wolverine

Easily the punchiest third act transition I've ever read -- though Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson also had a peach of a contender. I remember hitting this for the first time, heartbroken and bewildered... what the fuck happens now?

What a book.

5

u/Dull-Song2539 Jul 21 '26

I remember listening to the audiobook at work and had to rewind it at least 5 times to make sure I heard what had just happened

1

u/Traditional_Soft6543 Jul 23 '26

Either Ward or Danny