Goodbye L.A.

Book excerpt: A screenwriter stage dives into L.A.’s punk rock scene to find a missing reporter as Sinclair mixes “hard-edged realism . . . [and] humor” in a “fine” novel (Gerald Petievich, author of To Live and Die in L.A.). Four years ago, when Capt. George Steifer charged screenwriter Ben Crandel with murder, it didn’t look like the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But Hollywood makes strange bedfellows, and now the cop has come to his writer pal for help. A Los Angeles Times reporter named Elise Reilly disappeared two weeks ago while investigating a story on the punk rock scene. Steifer has been trying to find her with the help of a spiky-haired informant who just ended up shot point-blank in the bathroom of a punk club—and now the cop is losing it. It turns out he buried the lead: He’s in love with Elise. Ben has lost his own loved one to the punk scene, in a way. His now fifteen-year-old adopted son, Petey, is the lead singer in a group called Claustrophobic—and apparently that’s how he felt about living at home. But at least Petey left a note: He’s off to pursue his punk pipe dream and Ben’s left with his basset hound, Stanley, for company. In pursuit of Elise, Ben and Steifer rush headlong into a veritable mosh pit of neo-Nazis and religious fanatics, where one wrong move could get them trampled. As they uncover a stockpile of weapons and an assassination plot, they frantically search for a connection to the reporter’s whereabouts . . . “Sinclair has the unique ability to dish out hard-edged realism with—believe it or not—a touch of humor. Goodbye L.A. is a fine piece.” —Gerald Petievich, author of To Live and Die in L.A.