The Silver Face

The Silver Face

by EdwardWright (Author)

Synopsis

John Ray Horn knows all about loss--and regret. He was once Sierra Lane, hero to countless youngsters in a series of cheap westerns. Now, after a spell in prison, he lives on the margins of 1940s Los Angeles. Blacklisted by the studios, he makes ends meet by collecting debts for his old Indian co-star, Joseph Mad Crow. One rain-soaked LA evening, a chance encounter brings Horn into contact with an old flame. Rose Galen played the female lead in his second movie. Young, beautiful, supremely talented, she had a shining quality to her. Now Rose is a shattered creature, drink-sodden and heavy with sadness. Something happened to her years ago, before Horn first knew her, something so terrible that it would eventually leave her broken. Hoping to uncover her long-held secret, Horn goes to visit Rose at her shabby rooming house. He discovers her strangled body. Aware of a debt to her that he never fully acknowledged, he sets out with the aid of Mad Crow to find her killer. His search takes him back into the Hollywood of the 1920s, to the Jazz Age, the era of the silent film, and a wild party attended by both movie celebrities and racketeers. On that night, a terrible act left a young woman dead and several people guarding a secret that would only begin to unravel after Rose Galen took her last tortured breath.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
Publisher: Orion
Published: 01 Jul 2004

ISBN 10: 0752852922
ISBN 13: 9780752852928
Book Overview: CLEA'S MOON won the CWA Debut Dagger Evocative and unusual late 40s LA setting and great series characters Fantastic Reviews for CLEA'S MOON: 'Excellent, exciting first novel, packed with period detail, written from the heart and suffused with rare feeling' Literary Review 'This is an impressive and confident debut. What's particularly impressive is the way that Wright recreates LA in the 1940s. The novel is heavy with the sights and sounds of the city: from the neon-lit piers to Central Avenue's jazz joints' Observer

Media Reviews
A very superior whodunit, rich in period detail and aching with the kind of nostalgia produced by that unique movie fusion of trash and true feeling. The research is thorough and well-digested. But the book's real triumph is one of sensibility. Deeply satisfying stuff; exciting, intelligent and tender where it most matters. LITERARY REVIEW An entertaining novel. Wright vividly recreates the atmosphere of decadence and superficial glamour of the 1940s - Susanna Yager THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 29 August The Silver Face confirms Wright's reputation as a significant talent. - Joan Smith SUNDAY TIMES (CULTURE), 19 December
Author Bio
Edward Wright grew up in Arkansas and has degrees from Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University. He was an officer in the U.S. Navy aboard destroyers for three years, training in anti-submarine warfare techniques. His major career has been journalism, and he has worked as an editor at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. He and his wife, Cathy, live in the Los Angeles area.