Shorn of the pretense of fictionality, Ellroy's fetishization of the LAPD - including its racism and capacity for violence - emerges into the light.  In the world of noir we appreciate these traits at ironic arms length, in socially realistic literature we can explore them and disapprove, but here Ellroy wants to have it both ways. Crime, in this view, is an endless ocean of pain, highly racialized, and no one but a brutal, racist cop can even stand against the waves. "You might hate him but there's no other way" is the relentless attitude of Ellroy's prose. And without the fictional curtain it just doesn't work. 

The curation of the photos is truly excellent, though. It has just enough sleaze and violence, and just enough coldness and everydayness to feel real.