Bøger af Howard Paar

Written by the Grammy-nominated Howard Paar, Once Upon a Time in LA is a dark, thrilling ride deep into the lives of a megalomaniac record label chairman, mob-related radio promotion men, and a young band that gets sucked into the vortex. The book's Sptify soundtrack available at http: //bit.ly/oncesnd. The unique 70-song soundtrack for this book includes songs by The Clash, Isaac Hayes, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Kraftwerk, The New York Dolls, Patsy Cline, Primal Scream, George Jones, and many more. Fine art photographer Mona Kuhn shot the cover and is creating a companion series of iconic images from the story. This rock 'n roll noir novel follows music exec James Dual as he battles ghosts of his past in watering holes from Hollywood to Nashville to Mexico. James finds himself quickly drawn into a web of blackmail, violence, and murder after he receives a cassette tape from a neo-noir femme fatale implicating him in a tragedy from 20 years ago. The story pulses with mythic songs and stories from when music defined reality and meant everything to those who gave their lives over to it. Howard Paar's work with a diverse range of artists and filmmakers including Larry Clark, Quentin Tarantino, Patty Jenkins, and Gregg Araki have earned Paar a reputation for independent vision and authenticity to character, time, and place and that voice comes through in his first novel, Once Upon a Time in LA.Advance Praise for Once Upon a Time in LA"My favorite mysteries don't just solve a murder, they introduce me to a new world. In Once Upon a Time in LA, veteran LA music insider and expat Brit Howard Paar takes us on a joyride through the vanished world of 1970s to 90s LA rock 'n roll. Authentic, fierce, gritty, and moving, with loads of local color and scenes along the Sunset Strip, Malibu, and Hollywood record offices and nightclubs, this is a welcome addition to LA's mystery literature and Paar is an author to watch." -- Denise Hamilton, LA crime writer and editor of the short story anthology Los Angeles Noir"Infused with an outsider's affection for LA, Howard Paar's lively noir is distinguished by the author's irrepressible love of music and an insider's savvy take on all the dark twisted corners of the record biz." -- Steve Erickson, author of Days Between Stations, Tours of The Black Clock, Zeroville, and These Dreams of You

It's the dawn of 1980 in Los Angeles and everything's changing.Punks, dopers and assorted miscreants play in the decaying homes of Hollywood golden era stars. The playfully decadent, diverse LA punk scene is under threat from the violent, misogynistic hardcore scene not to mention the suddenly cheap, high grade heroin that's tempting many who haven't managed to get their artistic careers in gear yet.James Dual wants no part of that and inspired by the racially integrated punky ska revival in England starts the ON Klub, a ska, soul, and reggae club at the rough and ready pre-gentrified Silver Lake end of Sunset Blvd. He and partner in crime, actor spawn Drea Dresden, try their best to make the transition out of the 70's in one piece.As the hole in the hillside dump of a joint successfully explodes there's no fighting on the ON Klub dance floor shared by young Jamaicans, sharp-dressed Asian American girls, South Central kids, London escapees, mods on scooters from Orange County, Latino kids from the neighborhood-all united by the inspiring vinyl they can't hear on the radio or anywhere else in the US. This is they only place these kids can go where everyone's welcome and they are treated equally so it becomes home to them.All this attention, not to mention over capacity crowds and under age kids leads to a visit from the soon to be notorious Rampart police division who threaten closure and worse. A journalist friend brings a mob related music man connected to Bob Marley to visit the club, who becomes obsessed with the charismatic young Jamaican singer Loraine Sulley, who is performing that night. He lures James with promises to bring in iconic ska and reggae artists to perform at the club if James convinces Loraine to sign to Marshall's planned new record label. In the meantime, James and Drea are threatened by two corrupt Sheriff's homicide detectives who are still trying to nail an innocent James for the death of a band that occurred soon after he first arrived in LA.James arranges to have Drea hide out in London until things cool down. While there she meets controversial new English band Vortex and subsequently joins them for their first US tour where they warn what things could get like if the unthinkable happens and washed up B movie star, US Republican Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan is elected.Capturing the spirit of LA in 1980, Top Rankin' is populated with real-life characters from the music world in Los Angeles, New York, and London, and leads readers on a tour of the dangers and importance of providing refuge on the precipice of major political upheaval.