This Storm (2019) Signed First Edition Reference

This Storm is the second volume of the Second L.A. Quartet, published by Knopf in 2019. Set in 1942, the novel follows its predecessor’s characters through wartime Los Angeles as a massive rainstorm uncovers a body that launches an investigation connecting the LAPD, Japanese internment, fifth-column conspiracies, and the personal obsessions of Dudley Smith and his circle.

The Book

The novel continues Ellroy’s late-career project of building an interconnected fictional universe that spans four decades of Los Angeles history. The wartime setting allows Ellroy to explore racial politics (Japanese internment, Mexican-American discrimination, African-American migration), institutional corruption, and sexual intrigue against the backdrop of global conflict.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Knopf, New York Publication date: 2019 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $30–$80
• Inscribed copies: $50–$150
• Unsigned first edition: $8–$15

A continuation of Ellroy’s late-career epic, valued by completists and readers following the Second L.A. Quartet.