From the author of The Ice Harvest comes a provocatively entertaining crime saga set in the early days of the film industry.
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'Phillips is dark, dangerous, and important . . . Crime fiction at its best.' Michael Connelly
'Phillips always adopts a wonderfully deadpan air, but beneath his black humor is a steely emotional core. The Devil Raises His Own is a romp, but it's also a poignant exploration of chosen families, broken homes and desperate dreams.' Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review
This dark historical adventure captures the beginnings of the Hollywood studio system and the 'blue movie' industry that grows up alongside it.
Los Angeles, 1916: Photographer Bill Ogden has opened a portrait studio in seedy Hollywood, where he is joined by his granddaughter, Flavia — a woman in need of a fresh start after bludgeoning her drunken, abusive husband to death. Though his business is mainly legit, Bill finds himself brushing up against the porn industry growing in the shadows of the motion picture mainstream.
When a series of grisly murders take place across the city, Bill and his granddaughter are pulled into events as tricky and tangled as anything this side of The Big Sleep. We meet a cast of unforgettable characters living on the margins looking to make a quick buck, launch a career, or just keep their family together. The Devil Raises His Own is a stripped-down noir thriller and a panoramic look at Los Angeles at the beginning of motion pictures — a Boogie Nights set in the era of D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin from one of the best crime novelists working today.
