In 1930's Los Angeles, someone desperately wants to know who Danny Landon is. That someone is Danny Landon himself. All the young man really knows about himself is that some terrible incident has erased his memory. Danny's boss is a mobster named Bud Seitz; a vicious, sadistic killer who's been given the nickname "The Kind One." According to Seitz, Danny's amnesia is the result of being hit in the head with a lead pipe. But Danny's not sure of anything. How can he be a gangster when he doesn't feel like one? It's not easy being the right-hand man to a big criminal, and it gets harder when Danny's ordered to keep an eye on Bud's lovely young girlfriend, Darla. Danny can't help but fall in love with her. To make matters worse, Danny's life at his bungalow-court apartment is no picnic as he's constantly having to rescue his 11-year-old neighbour Sophie from an abusive home life. It seems that only the kindly Dulwich, a lonely neighbour with his own mysterious history, can bring Danny any peace, offering him tea and sympathy at the end of a hard day.
As Danny manoeuvres through the corrupt, sun-drenched city, he uncovers terrible secrets and finds himself on a mission to liberate those he cares about. Only by following this gripping noir thriller to its violent, shocking climax will the reader discover who Danny really is and if he has it in him to save his friends - and himself.
"What's memorable about Epperson's take on the '30s is its balance of brutality and optimism. He portrays Los Angeles as the last outpost of the Wild West...but he's even more adept at portraying the eternal hopefulness of a more innocent America." -- San Francisco Chronicle
