Overview

Late-seventies Los Angeles was rampant with killers and shady characters, but all the go-getters at Space Matters saw was possibility. Richard Kasparov was handsome and charismatic; his younger associate, Jerry Schneiderman, brilliant and nerdy. When the pair hired a veteran contractor to oversee construction, the space planning firm they operated out of a hip mansion in LA's Miracle Mile district appeared poised to transform the boundless skyline into their jackpot. After the promising team imploded, however, the orderly lines on their blueprints succumbed to treachery and secrets. To get even, one of the ex-partners launched a murder-for-profit corporation using, among other peculiar sorts, a bantam-sized epileptic with a deadeye shot and a cross-dressing sidekick. The hapless criminals required a comical number of attempts to execute their first target. Once they did, on a rainy night in the San Fernando Valley, the surviving founder of Space Matters was thrown into a pressure cooker existence out of a Coen Brothers movie. Threatened for money he didn't have, he donned a disguise, survived a heart-pounding encounter at the La Brea Tar Pits, and relied on an ex-Israeli mercenary for protection. In the end, he had to outfox a glowering murderer, while asking if you can ever really know anyone in a town where dirty deals send men to their graves. In The Darkest Glare, Chip Jacobs recounts a spectacular, noir-ish, true-crime saga from one of the deadliest eras in American history. You'll never gaze out windows into the dark again. Included as a bonus is an original true crime short from the same unhinged era. In ""Paul & Chuck,"" a flashy, crusading attorney wages war against the messianic leader of a bloodthirsty cult determined to teach the world to stay away.

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9781644281918

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Reviews

Praise for Arroyo Southern California Independent Booksellers Association bestseller Vroman's No. 1 bestseller A beautiful ode to the fascinating city of Pasadena and to Southern California as a whole. --Bookbub A promising and ambitious effort... --Library Journal Jacobs' thoroughly researched debut novel excavates the buried history of Pasadena--a riveting and enjoyable look at how local myths are constructed, and a vivid depiction of a time and a place that felt full of possibilities --Booklist A completely original and genre-defying work--both historical novel and metaphysical noir... The author has caught the brass ring and given it to us as pure gold...the ending that pulls together all the elements of this ambitious novel is a satisfying tour de force --Tristine Rainer, author Apprenticed to Venus, My Years with Anais Nin Arroyo is unrelentingly bizarre, perversely funny, and absurdly true--mostly. Pure jazz! --Ron Franscell, bestselling author of The Darkest Night Chip Jacobs combines the historical deep-dives of Erik Larson and Caleb Carr with the sweep and grandeur of E. L. Doctorow's best work, albeit with a sense of...whimsy...the result is sublime. --David Kukoff, editor of the bestselling Los Angeles in the 1970s [An] amazing history...Jacobs is one of the best wordsmiths I know...guaranteed to bring you a lot of laughs, a few tears and a very real knowledge of Old Pasadena... A delightful read, highly recommended. --Steve Hodel, bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger Edgy and satirical, yet rooted in fact, Arroyo is a fact-paced technicolor timepiece --Mike Consol, author of Hardwood A CrimeReads 2019 most anticipated/best book PRAISE FOR CHIP JACOBS Smogtown (A) remarkably entertaining and informative chronicle of the birth and--so far--inexorable evolution of smog...This book is just amazing, a gripping story well told --Booklist (starred review and one of the top environmental books of the year) Style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation... the history of smog has never been so sexy --Los Angeles Times (An) environmental page-turner... --Kirkus The People's Republic of Chemicals (The authors) do an outstanding job of showing the causes and effects of the interdependency between American consumers and Chinese manufacturers. The result is a well-rounded portrait. --Foreword (five-star review and among best climate change solution books) The Smogtown authors return with a look at China's air pollution problem, and it is a doozy... The prose is sharp, vivid, and direct, leading readers through hard-hitting chapters ... a surprisingly enjoyable read. --Booklist (starred review and one of the top sustainability books of the year) Strange As It Seems Jacobs... is an exceptional storyteller, and his lively look at the extraordinary career of Gordon Zahler... is a peculiar page-turner. Zahler... achieved success on the margins of show business despite a spinal injury ... Jacobs ... craft(s) an imaginative biography about this unusual figure, who carved out a distinct place in post-WWII Hollywood. --Publishers Weekly This amazing book is all heart... Chip Jacobs blends the skills of an investigative journalist, the glitz of Hollywood, and the smooth storytelling of fiction to weave a profile of his larger-than-life uncle that will leave you crying, laughing and gasping in wonder, often on the same page. Bravo! --Denise Hamilton, bestselling author of The Jasmine Trade The Ascension of Jerry This is not just another Hollywood Whodunit. In the end we find it is really about one man's search and struggle to find his own personal truths and redemption. Well written and highly recommended. --Steve Hodel, bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger A terrific book--I couldn't put it down. --Stephen Jay Schwartz, bestselling author of Boulevard

Author Information

Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His novel, Arroyo, about Pasadena, California's mysterious Colorado Street Bridge, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller, CrimeReads most anticipated book. His other books include Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler, the bestselling Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution and its sequel about China, The People's Republic of Chemicals, the latter two with William J. Kelly. His writing and subjects have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Marketplace, Slate, C-SPAN, LA Weekly, CNN, and elsewhere. Jacobs, a graduate of the University of Southern California, is at work on his follow up novel, and several non-fiction projects.

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