Early reports in the Los Angeles media described the book as "an atmospheric look at post-World War II L.A. that unfolds in Chavez Ravine and Venice, Santa Monica and Bunker Hill."[4] and compared the style to "the Beats and Noir", with "musicians, streetwalkers and other hard-nosed denizens cruising through the madness of our city."[5] San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Jonah Raskin said, "Cooder fans will enjoy the upbeat mix of music and murder. Aficionados of noir fiction will love the characters . . . ."[1] Mother Jones critic Tim McDonnell called it "a requiem to a city wherein the world's tides swept together an impossibly diverse culture that was quickly squandered and homogenized by Hollywood and hit-hungry record executives" and "a deeply humane history of the time before instant pop hits and sprawling superhighways."[6]
