After reading the excellent THE BLACK DAHLIA, I had expected something better from James Ellroy. Instead, I was subjected to a brutal (which didn't bother me) and very confusing story about three cops and their involvement with a massacre at a small L.A. diner. The more I delved into the story, the more I became confused. Ellroy had stuffed too many characters and too many storylines into what could have been a compact, yet compelling novel.