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A Violent Masterpiece
Not yet published
Expected 28 Apr 26This epic crime novel tells a story of Los Angeles power brokers and those at the edge—and a single shattering incident that threatens to bring it all crashing down.
Los Angeles, right now. America with its back up against the wall. This Frankenstein's monster of crimes and lurid dreams sewn together into something like a city.
A city ready to explode: A Hollywood pedophile is arrested, and is ready to tear down the city to get his freedom. A young woman goes missing -- and men in black rubber gloves who look like cops clean out her apartment in the middle of the night. And the serial killer known as the LA Ripper is on the loose, leaving tragic/graphic/brutal crime scenes in his wake. Three people trying to keep their heads above the dirty water will find themselves coming together to unite these strands into one enormous, unspeakable crime ...
JAKE DEAL is a gonzo live-streaming nightcrawler, beaming the city's chaos straight to his audience of blood-hungry subscribers, giving them the view from the top of the mushroom cloud -- until a job he can't refuse drags him back into his old life of Hollywood glamour, drugs, sex and sleaze. Armed with cameras and hidden mics, he'll infiltrate private clubs, gather high-class dirt -- and stumble onto a conspiracy woven into the center of LA's most powerful men, who call themselves "The Kids in the Candy Store."
DOUG GIBSON is a street lawyer, who fights for his clients against the army of cops, prosecutors and judges - he is the knife they bring to the gunfight. But when he's hired by a Hollywood pedophile ready to sell out his friends for a chance for freedom, he'll take on a fight bigger than he could have imagined. And when his client "commits suicide" in prison, Gibson will have to stop being a weapon - and become a warrior.
KARA DELGADO works for an underground private concierge company - a make-a-wish foundation for the terminally rich. She scores drugs, makes connections, and plans multi-million dollar sex parties. She has learned the secret truth of this world: there are no rules, only prices. Her best friend Phoebe has gone missing, and Kara's the only person who knows that Phoebe's place was wiped clean of evidence by men in black rubber gloves. But when she begins to unravel the mystery of what happened to Phoebe, and its connection to the killer known as the LA Ripper, it will drag her into the dark heart of the city.
As Jake, Doug and Kara all investigate these crimes, they'll encounter ketamine-addled sitcom stars, bloody riots, homeless gangsters, a killer cop on death row, secret vaults in Beverly Hills, tech-bro orgies, medical cannibals, true crime junkies, private security wet-work teams, reality shows, street takeovers, car chases, coyotes, a sadistic Tarzan, and a three day, fifty million dollar wedding, before everything is revealed and they must each make their choice about how to fight back in this violent world before the bloody, blazing conclusion.
Los Angeles, right now. America with its back up against the wall. This Frankenstein's monster of crimes and lurid dreams sewn together into something like a city.
A city ready to explode: A Hollywood pedophile is arrested, and is ready to tear down the city to get his freedom. A young woman goes missing -- and men in black rubber gloves who look like cops clean out her apartment in the middle of the night. And the serial killer known as the LA Ripper is on the loose, leaving tragic/graphic/brutal crime scenes in his wake. Three people trying to keep their heads above the dirty water will find themselves coming together to unite these strands into one enormous, unspeakable crime ...
JAKE DEAL is a gonzo live-streaming nightcrawler, beaming the city's chaos straight to his audience of blood-hungry subscribers, giving them the view from the top of the mushroom cloud -- until a job he can't refuse drags him back into his old life of Hollywood glamour, drugs, sex and sleaze. Armed with cameras and hidden mics, he'll infiltrate private clubs, gather high-class dirt -- and stumble onto a conspiracy woven into the center of LA's most powerful men, who call themselves "The Kids in the Candy Store."
DOUG GIBSON is a street lawyer, who fights for his clients against the army of cops, prosecutors and judges - he is the knife they bring to the gunfight. But when he's hired by a Hollywood pedophile ready to sell out his friends for a chance for freedom, he'll take on a fight bigger than he could have imagined. And when his client "commits suicide" in prison, Gibson will have to stop being a weapon - and become a warrior.
KARA DELGADO works for an underground private concierge company - a make-a-wish foundation for the terminally rich. She scores drugs, makes connections, and plans multi-million dollar sex parties. She has learned the secret truth of this world: there are no rules, only prices. Her best friend Phoebe has gone missing, and Kara's the only person who knows that Phoebe's place was wiped clean of evidence by men in black rubber gloves. But when she begins to unravel the mystery of what happened to Phoebe, and its connection to the killer known as the LA Ripper, it will drag her into the dark heart of the city.
As Jake, Doug and Kara all investigate these crimes, they'll encounter ketamine-addled sitcom stars, bloody riots, homeless gangsters, a killer cop on death row, secret vaults in Beverly Hills, tech-bro orgies, medical cannibals, true crime junkies, private security wet-work teams, reality shows, street takeovers, car chases, coyotes, a sadistic Tarzan, and a three day, fifty million dollar wedding, before everything is revealed and they must each make their choice about how to fight back in this violent world before the bloody, blazing conclusion.
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication April 28, 2026
8335 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Harper
25 books1,048 followersJordan Harper is the Edgar-Award winning author of SHE RIDES SHOTGUN, THE LAST KING OF CALIFORNIA, EVERYBODY KNOWS and the short story collection LOVE AND OTHER WOUNDS. He lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a writer and producer for television.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
November 9, 2025
Wow! A contemporary noir masterpiece. Adrenaline-filled pacing that cranks up and up and up and never stops. Almost every sentence is a gut punch. It’s brutal, disgusting, violent, and filled with nasty people. Put it all in a blender and mix in some Epstein-like characters with Armie Hammer’s scandal , TMZ and a bit of Silicon Valley sociopaths and you’ll get the plot. If you’ve ever needed a content warning on a piece of writing, this book is not for you.
Harper is an immediate buy author for me. He gets better and better with each book. I was lucky to get an early look at this one from NetGalley and Mulholland Books.
Harper is an immediate buy author for me. He gets better and better with each book. I was lucky to get an early look at this one from NetGalley and Mulholland Books.
January 12, 2026
I am a fan of Jordan Harper because his books are gritty, emotional, and intense. I did not read the synopsis of the book going into it. This book started out as a real chore for me with getting introduced to the characters and the story. Each evolving chapter is titled by character who tells their part of the story. Early into it, my progress % was creeping as usually one or two chapters was enough for me. The cover and title were very intriguing to me and the book takes place in one of my favorite places to visit: southern California. I will say that it then started to click for me whereby I really savored each intense chapter. By the end, I wanted to know how this wild ride was going to end and wrap up. I definitely feel some readers won’t like it nearly as much as me but I now can’t wait for whatever comes next from him.
Note: This book does have graphic scenes.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Note: This book does have graphic scenes.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
September 26, 2025
If it were any other author, I'd say a book titled "A Violent Masterpiece" is a sign of hubris. But this is Jordan Harper, who writes on a level that most authors simply cannot touch on their best days.
Think about this: An Edgar Award for Best First Novel for She Rides Shotgun. He followed that with The Last King of California, which up until now was his finest work. Then there was Everybody Knows, a more accessible novel detailing the seamier side of a black-bag Hollywood PR agency. In A Violent Masterpiece, the styles of Last King and Everybody Knows meld together in what may be a perfect book.
The setting? Los Angeles in all its lurid glory, put on the page in a way we've rarely seen. This isn't your sanitized LA that Michael Connelly writes about — no disrespect to him — but instead it is a guided gutter tour behind the scenes of Hollywood elite. No one wants to see "where the sausage is made," but you can't look away when Harper takes you by the hand and says, essentially, "Hey, wanna see some fucked up shit?"
The answer is yes, of course you do.
The crimes? Outlandish serial killer shit. Cannibalism. Abductions and assaults. A dead woman no one can find. Drugs and dregs and the rotten bloated underbelly of the entertainment industry ripped open for you to observe. A true garden of earthly delights.
The characters? A streamer who makes his living driving the surface streets of LA after dark, giving hungry looky-loos a taste of the grime after the crime, picking up photos of bodies before the police can move them, selling the pics on his website or to a slick celeb-centric website tabloid (think TMZ but even shadier). There's a crusading defense attorney who's fighting spirit has been neutered by his need to save his own life, and a young woman who works as a 'concierge' of sorts, getting the rich and powerful everything the need or want.
And the language? It defies description. The reader is boiled in oil and lightning-struck, all at the same time. You fall into the setting, breathe in the smog-soaked air. You hear the wails of the sirens and you wonder how Los Angeles survives through the night. On the very first page there is a beautiful description of a dead-but-rising-again zombie LA, and it sets the mood for the rest of the book.
I've never read anything like it.
I normally read very fast. But Harper's violent masterpiece — and it IS a masterpiece on so many levels — is so good that I could only read it in chunks. Very rarely do I feel like I've gone ten rounds in a boxing ring after reading a book. But A Violent Masterpiece is so good and so intense that I had to close the book every few pages simply to absorb and heal from the hits I took.
In A Violent Masterpiece, Jordan Harper shows us the far side of the possible. He's like Voyager 1 ... on the far side of the galaxy now, sending back a steady signal, telling us "this is the way."
All we have to do is follow.
Think about this: An Edgar Award for Best First Novel for She Rides Shotgun. He followed that with The Last King of California, which up until now was his finest work. Then there was Everybody Knows, a more accessible novel detailing the seamier side of a black-bag Hollywood PR agency. In A Violent Masterpiece, the styles of Last King and Everybody Knows meld together in what may be a perfect book.
The setting? Los Angeles in all its lurid glory, put on the page in a way we've rarely seen. This isn't your sanitized LA that Michael Connelly writes about — no disrespect to him — but instead it is a guided gutter tour behind the scenes of Hollywood elite. No one wants to see "where the sausage is made," but you can't look away when Harper takes you by the hand and says, essentially, "Hey, wanna see some fucked up shit?"
The answer is yes, of course you do.
The crimes? Outlandish serial killer shit. Cannibalism. Abductions and assaults. A dead woman no one can find. Drugs and dregs and the rotten bloated underbelly of the entertainment industry ripped open for you to observe. A true garden of earthly delights.
The characters? A streamer who makes his living driving the surface streets of LA after dark, giving hungry looky-loos a taste of the grime after the crime, picking up photos of bodies before the police can move them, selling the pics on his website or to a slick celeb-centric website tabloid (think TMZ but even shadier). There's a crusading defense attorney who's fighting spirit has been neutered by his need to save his own life, and a young woman who works as a 'concierge' of sorts, getting the rich and powerful everything the need or want.
And the language? It defies description. The reader is boiled in oil and lightning-struck, all at the same time. You fall into the setting, breathe in the smog-soaked air. You hear the wails of the sirens and you wonder how Los Angeles survives through the night. On the very first page there is a beautiful description of a dead-but-rising-again zombie LA, and it sets the mood for the rest of the book.
I've never read anything like it.
I normally read very fast. But Harper's violent masterpiece — and it IS a masterpiece on so many levels — is so good that I could only read it in chunks. Very rarely do I feel like I've gone ten rounds in a boxing ring after reading a book. But A Violent Masterpiece is so good and so intense that I had to close the book every few pages simply to absorb and heal from the hits I took.
In A Violent Masterpiece, Jordan Harper shows us the far side of the possible. He's like Voyager 1 ... on the far side of the galaxy now, sending back a steady signal, telling us "this is the way."
All we have to do is follow.
January 17, 2026
A Violent Masterpiece is a brutal, propulsive thriller that never lets up. Jordan Harper packs the pages with violence, moral ambiguity, and enough plotting to keep readers turning pages. If you enjoy adrenaline-driven crime fiction, this delivers.
That said, the novel juggles a large cast and many moving parts; occasionally the number of characters and subplots made the narrative feel crowded and, at times, slightly confusing. A leaner focus in places would have sharpened the impact.
Overall I found it an engaging, if imperfect, read—gritty and entertaining but not without flaws. I’m giving it three stars and will watch for Harper’s next release. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC so I could give an honest review
That said, the novel juggles a large cast and many moving parts; occasionally the number of characters and subplots made the narrative feel crowded and, at times, slightly confusing. A leaner focus in places would have sharpened the impact.
Overall I found it an engaging, if imperfect, read—gritty and entertaining but not without flaws. I’m giving it three stars and will watch for Harper’s next release. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC so I could give an honest review
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Harper makes brutality sing
A Violent Masterpiece does what the best LA noir does: it takes the city's rot and makes it mythic without ever prettying it up. Harper's working with the same raw materials as the headlines: Epstein's apparatus, the Hammer family's generational sickness, all that blood money and complicity. But he's not just doing a roman à clef. He's synthesizing it, finding the through-lines, showing how power and depravity aren't aberrations in Hollywood but features of the architecture.
The prose is what elevates this beyond crime fiction into something else entirely. People throw Ellroy's name around with any LA crime book, and sure, there's that percussive energy here, but Harper actually lets his sentences breathe. The rhythm's there but it serves the story instead of overwhelming it. Every line does work: descriptive, propulsive, thematic. He can make violence lyrical without romanticizing it, which is a hell of a trick.
What impressed me most was how he braids real-world horror into fiction without it feeling exploitative or cheap. The scaffolding is recognizable if you've been paying attention to the news, but he's built something new on top of it. Something that asks real questions about art, complicity, and what we're willing to ignore when genius is involved.
Dark as hell. Not for everyone. But if you want crime fiction that's actually literature, that takes risks and lands them, this is essential. Harper's the real thing.
A Violent Masterpiece does what the best LA noir does: it takes the city's rot and makes it mythic without ever prettying it up. Harper's working with the same raw materials as the headlines: Epstein's apparatus, the Hammer family's generational sickness, all that blood money and complicity. But he's not just doing a roman à clef. He's synthesizing it, finding the through-lines, showing how power and depravity aren't aberrations in Hollywood but features of the architecture.
The prose is what elevates this beyond crime fiction into something else entirely. People throw Ellroy's name around with any LA crime book, and sure, there's that percussive energy here, but Harper actually lets his sentences breathe. The rhythm's there but it serves the story instead of overwhelming it. Every line does work: descriptive, propulsive, thematic. He can make violence lyrical without romanticizing it, which is a hell of a trick.
What impressed me most was how he braids real-world horror into fiction without it feeling exploitative or cheap. The scaffolding is recognizable if you've been paying attention to the news, but he's built something new on top of it. Something that asks real questions about art, complicity, and what we're willing to ignore when genius is involved.
Dark as hell. Not for everyone. But if you want crime fiction that's actually literature, that takes risks and lands them, this is essential. Harper's the real thing.
December 8, 2025
✨COMING APRIL 28th 2026✨
YES YES YES YES
5/5 🍒
This book features 3 POV’s. Kara, Doug and Jake. Kara works for a company that gets rich people whatever they want, Doug is a lawyer, and Jake is a nightcrawler (someone who chases crime to be the first to report it). They all live in LA. The city of the Angels. Or is it the city of Devils?
There is a serial killer on the loose in LA, the media doesn’t want it put out that it’s an actual serial killer. Jake wants everyone to know about the LA Ripper and does his best to begin investigating the murders by taking his subscribers on said journey.
Doug is a lawyer for people who need help. He wants to make a difference and suddenly a situation falls in his lap when a man convicted of some horrific crimes against children wants him to represent him in court. This is against everything Doug believes in. But after the man tells him things, will Doug even be able to say no?
Kara works for an exclusive membership only company that helps rich people get whatever they want. When I say whatever I mean whatever. She numbs herself daily with drugs and alcohol. After her friend went missing she felt no spark in her life anymore. She is just moving through the motions because her job requires it of her.
These three people’s worlds collide in a very abrupt manner. Whether they want it to or not. Everything that is supposed to be under the crust of LA starts digging its way out and these three people will have a hand in whatever is coming to the surface. Will their world implode? Or will they keep the firs put out before they start?
This is my first book from Jordan Harper and it will NOT be my last. His writing style drew me in from the jump and I was hooked. If I had 4 hours that first night to slam through this book I would have. I’m so excited for everyone to read this book. It will be in my top 10 of 2026 100%. Thank you Jordan Harper and Mulholland Books for the ARC copy of this book!
YES YES YES YES
5/5 🍒
This book features 3 POV’s. Kara, Doug and Jake. Kara works for a company that gets rich people whatever they want, Doug is a lawyer, and Jake is a nightcrawler (someone who chases crime to be the first to report it). They all live in LA. The city of the Angels. Or is it the city of Devils?
There is a serial killer on the loose in LA, the media doesn’t want it put out that it’s an actual serial killer. Jake wants everyone to know about the LA Ripper and does his best to begin investigating the murders by taking his subscribers on said journey.
Doug is a lawyer for people who need help. He wants to make a difference and suddenly a situation falls in his lap when a man convicted of some horrific crimes against children wants him to represent him in court. This is against everything Doug believes in. But after the man tells him things, will Doug even be able to say no?
Kara works for an exclusive membership only company that helps rich people get whatever they want. When I say whatever I mean whatever. She numbs herself daily with drugs and alcohol. After her friend went missing she felt no spark in her life anymore. She is just moving through the motions because her job requires it of her.
These three people’s worlds collide in a very abrupt manner. Whether they want it to or not. Everything that is supposed to be under the crust of LA starts digging its way out and these three people will have a hand in whatever is coming to the surface. Will their world implode? Or will they keep the firs put out before they start?
This is my first book from Jordan Harper and it will NOT be my last. His writing style drew me in from the jump and I was hooked. If I had 4 hours that first night to slam through this book I would have. I’m so excited for everyone to read this book. It will be in my top 10 of 2026 100%. Thank you Jordan Harper and Mulholland Books for the ARC copy of this book!
December 16, 2025
A Violent Masterpiece delivers as both an exceptional story and living up to its own title. A work so beautiful yet brutal. The prose is another step up for Crime fiction’s best author who still seems inconceivably like a secret to the masses.
Through the eyes of three cynical characters doing their level best to simply stay alive, Harper shows us the true underbelly of the rich-controlled world we’re living in and the sickness it produces. There are so many standout moments in this novel but know that one scene and its consequences will live on in my head for the foreseeable future.
Highly, highly recommend. Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy to read and review.
Through the eyes of three cynical characters doing their level best to simply stay alive, Harper shows us the true underbelly of the rich-controlled world we’re living in and the sickness it produces. There are so many standout moments in this novel but know that one scene and its consequences will live on in my head for the foreseeable future.
Highly, highly recommend. Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy to read and review.
October 25, 2025
This is a crazy novel involving many people--including victims and suspects! Jake has a police scanner and livestreams on his Creepy Crawl station as viewers will pay to hear these gruesome stories. And then we have Gibson, a public defender who takes on clients as he finds them. The book is replete with violence, torture, and entitled people who think money can buy anything. It's fascinating but pretty gruesome so beware if you tend to be sqeamish!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Want to read
October 25, 2025A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
PURE EXCELLENCE. the author is truly firing on all cylinders- this book is angry, incisive, and unrelenting as its characters uncover the seedy underbelly of LA and the entertainment industry. it feels gossipy and salacious - our characters go to private sex parties hosted by billionaires and eat endangered fish cut into sashimi, but harper's writing transforms these stories into commentary about how the wealthy exploit and maintain their power. i love how these books (everybody knows is one of my fave books ever) are firmly set in the Now- you have wannabe actresses on ozempic with buccal fat removal, the police raiding homeless camps at parks with tear gas and rubber bullets, etc. in the book these descriptions and events feel terrifying and dystopian, but they're even more terrifying because it's true. in particular, i enjoyed the elements about the corrupt nature of the police force and the news cycle, it reminded me of copaganda by alec karakatsanis.
there's also all these stories told about evil people and all that they get away with- there was one about illegally hired child actors being killed by a stunt on set and yes, the director/producers got away without any charges. and imagine my horror when i found out the story (all of it) is true- i love that the author does this, it really shows how these horrifying acts of violence committed by the wealthy and privileged are obscured from the public eye. these stories are forgotten, glazed over, and called a tragedy, not a murder.
the writing and tone of this book will not be for everyone, but it was absolutely for me. i loved how it had me in a spell, i was angry and scared about the world and also dying to know what would happen next. compared to everybody knows (which i highly recommend reading before this but it's not necessary), a violent masterpiece is darker and more focused on the plot. the characters are less developed and the book is less about the characters' relationships to each other than it is about the corruption they're exposing. HIGHLY RECOMMEND (if you think you would like it).
there's also all these stories told about evil people and all that they get away with- there was one about illegally hired child actors being killed by a stunt on set and yes, the director/producers got away without any charges. and imagine my horror when i found out the story (all of it) is true- i love that the author does this, it really shows how these horrifying acts of violence committed by the wealthy and privileged are obscured from the public eye. these stories are forgotten, glazed over, and called a tragedy, not a murder.
the writing and tone of this book will not be for everyone, but it was absolutely for me. i loved how it had me in a spell, i was angry and scared about the world and also dying to know what would happen next. compared to everybody knows (which i highly recommend reading before this but it's not necessary), a violent masterpiece is darker and more focused on the plot. the characters are less developed and the book is less about the characters' relationships to each other than it is about the corruption they're exposing. HIGHLY RECOMMEND (if you think you would like it).
November 21, 2025
A Violent Masterpiece
I have a lot to say about this novel, both good and bad, but I lack the motivation to write it all down. I'd be happy to discuss it over coffee sometime.
The book is good, especially if you're an Ellroy or Harper fan. You’ll enjoy it. The narrative is brilliant, and the writing is so mechanically rhythmic that the pages fly by. Harper set out to do exactly what he wanted, and this novel very much feels like it was written by a master.
My few minor qualms are for this type of crime fiction, or anything in the LA noir Ellroy vein. Many of my complaints are similar to those I have with Ellroy as well.
The character voices, although more distinct than in "Everyone Knows," still sound quite similar. Maybe that’s the point. And perhaps that’s what you like. Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?
I felt more empathy for these characters than I did in the previous work, especially the lawyer.
My biggest issue is the narrator’s voice, which seeps into everything. Toward the end of the NetGalley copy I have, the same nonsensical phrase is repeated over and over—and honestly, I don’t get the nihilistic metaphor, other than it being dark, nihilistic, and graphic. That’s the overall feel of the book, mainly because of the voice.
Finally, and this may be a small gripe, but the narrator’s disdain for the rest of the country—anyone who doesn’t live in LA—was a bit of a turnoff. It borders on unnecessary to the narrative, as if it only could have come from the author’s deep recesses. Maybe. Who knows?
I have a lot to say about this novel, both good and bad, but I lack the motivation to write it all down. I'd be happy to discuss it over coffee sometime.
The book is good, especially if you're an Ellroy or Harper fan. You’ll enjoy it. The narrative is brilliant, and the writing is so mechanically rhythmic that the pages fly by. Harper set out to do exactly what he wanted, and this novel very much feels like it was written by a master.
My few minor qualms are for this type of crime fiction, or anything in the LA noir Ellroy vein. Many of my complaints are similar to those I have with Ellroy as well.
The character voices, although more distinct than in "Everyone Knows," still sound quite similar. Maybe that’s the point. And perhaps that’s what you like. Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?
I felt more empathy for these characters than I did in the previous work, especially the lawyer.
My biggest issue is the narrator’s voice, which seeps into everything. Toward the end of the NetGalley copy I have, the same nonsensical phrase is repeated over and over—and honestly, I don’t get the nihilistic metaphor, other than it being dark, nihilistic, and graphic. That’s the overall feel of the book, mainly because of the voice.
Finally, and this may be a small gripe, but the narrator’s disdain for the rest of the country—anyone who doesn’t live in LA—was a bit of a turnoff. It borders on unnecessary to the narrative, as if it only could have come from the author’s deep recesses. Maybe. Who knows?
November 12, 2025
Ever since I read She Rides Shotgun 7 or 8 years ago, I’ve looked forward to every new Jordan Harper that has come out. When I still owned my bookstore, his books were always included on my “staff picks” shelf. I now wish I still had the store just so I could Staff Pick Harper’s latest!
This is a brilliant addition to Harper’s Southern California noire. No longer in rural areas, the story brings us to the glitter and false lights of Beverly Hills and Hollywood where the rich and powerful get away with far more than they should. An interesting cast of main characters, some truly horrid villains, and a stomach-turning denouement. Highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the advance copy.
This is a brilliant addition to Harper’s Southern California noire. No longer in rural areas, the story brings us to the glitter and false lights of Beverly Hills and Hollywood where the rich and powerful get away with far more than they should. An interesting cast of main characters, some truly horrid villains, and a stomach-turning denouement. Highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the advance copy.
February 2, 2026
Jordan Harper has done it again delivering a dark, gruesome story of the Los Angeles underbelly and the rotten power players who run the world.
December 19, 2025
Jordan Harper penned A Violent Masterpiece with gasoline in his veins. This book blazes across Los Angeles’s wicked underbelly at the story-level and the sentence-level, careening from scene-to-scene, and from character-to-character. The only time you draw breath is when you stop to admire the craft.
Ellroy lovers will love it, but it’s not Ellroy. A Violent Masterpiece doesn’t so much transcend the form as it takes an off-ramp and hammers the pedal in a new direction. This is a hard five star.
Thank you Mulholland Books for the advance copy.
Ellroy lovers will love it, but it’s not Ellroy. A Violent Masterpiece doesn’t so much transcend the form as it takes an off-ramp and hammers the pedal in a new direction. This is a hard five star.
Thank you Mulholland Books for the advance copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Jordan Harper’s A Violent Masterpiece is an unflinching descent into the underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles, a city rendered not as a place of reinvention or glamour but as a moral abyss where power, money, and celebrity operate without conscience or consequence. Harper writes in the hard-boiled noir tradition, yet strips away any lingering romanticism; what remains is a world steeped in violence, corruption, and degradation, described with relentless intensity and little reprieve.
As a reader who generally appreciates noir—and who admires the moral heft and emotional resonance found in S.A. Cosby’s work—I approached this novel with measured anticipation. Yet I found A Violent Masterpiece difficult to endure, not because it lacks craft, but because it so thoroughly immerses the reader in its bleak vision. Harper’s Los Angeles is populated by predators and casualties alike: pedophiles, serial killers, fixers, and celebrities move through the narrative as if protected by an invisible shield, insulated from accountability by their proximity to wealth and influence. The effect is suffocating. There is no counterbalancing force of justice or redemption to temper the brutality.
The prose itself mirrors this environment. Harper’s language is coarse, vulgar, and deliberately abrasive, reinforcing the sense that civility has long since evaporated. Violence, drugs, and sexual exploitation are not merely plot devices but the atmosphere of the novel, pressing down on the reader with cumulative force. While this approach is arguably honest—perhaps even necessary—to the story Harper wants to tell, it also demands a high tolerance for sustained depravity.
Structurally, the novel follows three distinct characters whose lives become increasingly entangled as the narrative advances. This fractured perspective allows Harper to explore different strata of the city’s moral decay, and there is technical skill in how these threads are ultimately woven together. Yet even as the plot tightens, the emotional experience remains punishing. The conclusion offers resolution in a narrative sense, but little in the way of moral or emotional catharsis.
For readers who seek noir in its most unadulterated form—raw, confrontational, and viscerally unsettling—A Violent Masterpiece will likely feel both powerful and necessary. It is a book that aims to shake, disturb, and implicate its audience rather than entertain or console. For this reader, however, the darkness proved overwhelming. While I can acknowledge Harper’s ambition and command of the genre, the novel’s unrelenting bleakness ultimately eclipsed my ability to fully engage with it.
In the end, A Violent Masterpiece lives up to its title: it is violent in subject, tone, and effect. Whether it is a masterpiece will depend largely on one’s appetite for noir that offers no handholds, no soft edges, and no easy way out.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review
As a reader who generally appreciates noir—and who admires the moral heft and emotional resonance found in S.A. Cosby’s work—I approached this novel with measured anticipation. Yet I found A Violent Masterpiece difficult to endure, not because it lacks craft, but because it so thoroughly immerses the reader in its bleak vision. Harper’s Los Angeles is populated by predators and casualties alike: pedophiles, serial killers, fixers, and celebrities move through the narrative as if protected by an invisible shield, insulated from accountability by their proximity to wealth and influence. The effect is suffocating. There is no counterbalancing force of justice or redemption to temper the brutality.
The prose itself mirrors this environment. Harper’s language is coarse, vulgar, and deliberately abrasive, reinforcing the sense that civility has long since evaporated. Violence, drugs, and sexual exploitation are not merely plot devices but the atmosphere of the novel, pressing down on the reader with cumulative force. While this approach is arguably honest—perhaps even necessary—to the story Harper wants to tell, it also demands a high tolerance for sustained depravity.
Structurally, the novel follows three distinct characters whose lives become increasingly entangled as the narrative advances. This fractured perspective allows Harper to explore different strata of the city’s moral decay, and there is technical skill in how these threads are ultimately woven together. Yet even as the plot tightens, the emotional experience remains punishing. The conclusion offers resolution in a narrative sense, but little in the way of moral or emotional catharsis.
For readers who seek noir in its most unadulterated form—raw, confrontational, and viscerally unsettling—A Violent Masterpiece will likely feel both powerful and necessary. It is a book that aims to shake, disturb, and implicate its audience rather than entertain or console. For this reader, however, the darkness proved overwhelming. While I can acknowledge Harper’s ambition and command of the genre, the novel’s unrelenting bleakness ultimately eclipsed my ability to fully engage with it.
In the end, A Violent Masterpiece lives up to its title: it is violent in subject, tone, and effect. Whether it is a masterpiece will depend largely on one’s appetite for noir that offers no handholds, no soft edges, and no easy way out.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the advance copy of A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper. Thriller fans, mark your calendars -- this one is anticipated for April 28, 2026, and you will not want to miss it. Fair warning: you will ignore every responsibility you have until it is finished.
Harper's central premise is as old as civilization and as current as this morning's headlines -- money and power corrupt, and the alliances they forge can curdle into something truly monstrous. Anyone who has watched Narcos will recognize the dynamic: wealth protects itself, those sworn to protect the innocent look the other way, and the machinery of depravity hums along undisturbed. Harper explores this terrain with unflinching clarity.
The novel is driven by three distinct perspectives, each one pulling the reader deeper into Los Angeles's darkest corners. Jake Deal is the live-streaming host of Creepy Crawl, a podcast dedicated to exposing the ugly, unglamorous reality of the city's streets. Kara Delgado works for an ultra-high-end concierge service where no request is too unusual, no boundary too far -- there is only a price. Through Kara's eyes, Harper reveals the morally depraved preferences of the obscenely wealthy, and how quickly depravity escalates when money removes all consequences. Doug Gibson is a street lawyer in the middle of a quiet implosion -- his practice crumbling, his personal life not far behind. His entry point into the story is arresting: he is unexpectedly hired by a wealthy Hollywood pedophile, and when he asks why a man with powerful attorneys at his disposal has come to him, the answer is chilling. The client's regular lawyers are bound to his network of "friends", and if he goes down, he is taking them all with him.
As Jake films law enforcement bulldozing homeless encampments and making baseless arrests, Kara grows increasingly uneasy after her best friend vanishes without explanation. Looming over everything is a string of brutal murders -- young women found mutilated across the city, dubbed the LA Ripper by the press, while police refuse to acknowledge a serial killer is even at work.
As the lives of these three characters begin to intersect, a terrifying possibility emerges: a conspiracy involving the ultra-wealthy may be unfolding right in front of them.
Who is the LA Ripper?
Why are these women being brutally murdered?
And could the powerful clients Kara serves somehow be involved?
A Violent Masterpiece is exactly what the title promises, a perfect storm of crime noir, social indictment, and propulsive storytelling. One heck of a ride does not begin to cover it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Gritty, brutal and not for the squeamish or those opposed to “street” language, this book was more than a little challenging just because of the writing style – which is close to magnificent, by the way, but certainly not something that speedy readers like me can fly though; the sentences need to be savored. At first, I was a bit put off by chapters shifting from one character’s perspective to another – usually indicative of a slogfest that can be confusing to wade through – but there aren’t that many to deal with here and it’s always clear which one is taking center stage.
The characters themselves aren’t all that likable, but that doesn’t make them uninteresting. Each has a backstory with some kind of “secret” – but it’s pretty clear from the start that eventually their lives will intersect. Put another way, it’s a familiar formula but with very different circumstances and outcomes that make for a unique story.
The stars of the show include Jake Deal, who earns somewhat of a living as a night owl and podcaster who follows police activities and other tips to get to – and publicize - the most horrific crime scenes he can find; Douglas Gibson, a defense attorney for the less-than-well-heeled who (perhaps mistakenly) takes on a wealthy Hollywood mogul accused of pedophilia (think: Harvey Weinstein meets Jeffrey Epstein) and Kara Delgado, whom I’d describe as an event planner for, shall I say, a Dark Web-style crowd (think: Ghislaine Maxwell). Fun people? I guess it depends on which side of the aisle you’re sitting on.
Anyway, Kara’s friend Phoebe has gone missing, possibly a victim of the so-called LA Ripper serial killer who’s been around long enough that there are public tours of homes at which his victims once lived. Because of his talent for finding “dirt” that others miss (but mostly because he can use the money), Jake accepts an anonymous offer to gather secrets of well-known people who, supposedly, will be blackmailed if anything substantial turns up.
The book follows these characters’ efforts to, in large part, learn what happened to Phoebe and figure out the LA Killer’s identity and who may be next on his list. As their individual worlds connect, what actually happened, and who made it happen, is revealed. I, of course, can offer no such revelations without giving away any of those aforementioned secrets and spoiling the surprises for other readers. What I can say is that I enjoyed it thoroughly, highly recommend it to other mystery fans and heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read a pre-release copy. Outstanding!
The characters themselves aren’t all that likable, but that doesn’t make them uninteresting. Each has a backstory with some kind of “secret” – but it’s pretty clear from the start that eventually their lives will intersect. Put another way, it’s a familiar formula but with very different circumstances and outcomes that make for a unique story.
The stars of the show include Jake Deal, who earns somewhat of a living as a night owl and podcaster who follows police activities and other tips to get to – and publicize - the most horrific crime scenes he can find; Douglas Gibson, a defense attorney for the less-than-well-heeled who (perhaps mistakenly) takes on a wealthy Hollywood mogul accused of pedophilia (think: Harvey Weinstein meets Jeffrey Epstein) and Kara Delgado, whom I’d describe as an event planner for, shall I say, a Dark Web-style crowd (think: Ghislaine Maxwell). Fun people? I guess it depends on which side of the aisle you’re sitting on.
Anyway, Kara’s friend Phoebe has gone missing, possibly a victim of the so-called LA Ripper serial killer who’s been around long enough that there are public tours of homes at which his victims once lived. Because of his talent for finding “dirt” that others miss (but mostly because he can use the money), Jake accepts an anonymous offer to gather secrets of well-known people who, supposedly, will be blackmailed if anything substantial turns up.
The book follows these characters’ efforts to, in large part, learn what happened to Phoebe and figure out the LA Killer’s identity and who may be next on his list. As their individual worlds connect, what actually happened, and who made it happen, is revealed. I, of course, can offer no such revelations without giving away any of those aforementioned secrets and spoiling the surprises for other readers. What I can say is that I enjoyed it thoroughly, highly recommend it to other mystery fans and heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read a pre-release copy. Outstanding!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Lurid Life of Tinseltown Vice
It reads like today’s headlines and ongoing news stories. Powerful people mingling with aspiring young actors, actresses and a network of wannabes with the resources to cover up whatever the consequences of their indulgences.
And it is not for the faint of heart.
Jordan Harper’s 2026 dark underworld thriller, “A Violent Masterpiece”, is a hypnotizing dive into the tawdry scene of the rich and not so famous in today’s Los Angeles, though it might have been from pages of yesteryear noir novels.
The plot is developed from the alternating perspectives of three different people, initially with no connection to each other, whose lives will become intertwined in pursuit of a missing woman appearing to be a victim of a mysterious killer dubbed the “LA Ripper” by the media:
• Jake Deal, a video blogger who chases crime scenes while broadcasting from his car with a dashcam as the Creepy Crawl
• Doug Gibson, independent attorney, sometimes public defender, who has been retained to defend Eric Algar, former child actor on the downhill side of success but hinting at incriminating evidence of widespread corruption going to the top
• Kara, who with her partner Phoebe Butterfield, now missing, works for a very specialized entertainment company, Sub Rosa, described as “The Make-A-Wish Foundation for the terminally rich…we are pimps, drug dealers, and a general one-stop-shop freak factory for the high-worth and very high-worth individual.”
As their stories unfold, they will unexpectedly come in touch with each other and find themselves entangled in a web of perversion and cover up with a sinister clean up squad called the Black Guards.
Harper’s plot pacing and writing are punctuated with a speed of short graphic phrases, street lingo and sardonic wit totally immersing the reader in the new world of Los Angeles nightlife – an updated take on Raymond Chandler’s novels.
The ending begs the question: did the 1940s noir drama connection between the seamy side of the streets and the prurient tastes of the wealthy take a break before this rebirth, or was it always there just below the surface?
It reads like today’s headlines and ongoing news stories. Powerful people mingling with aspiring young actors, actresses and a network of wannabes with the resources to cover up whatever the consequences of their indulgences.
And it is not for the faint of heart.
Jordan Harper’s 2026 dark underworld thriller, “A Violent Masterpiece”, is a hypnotizing dive into the tawdry scene of the rich and not so famous in today’s Los Angeles, though it might have been from pages of yesteryear noir novels.
The plot is developed from the alternating perspectives of three different people, initially with no connection to each other, whose lives will become intertwined in pursuit of a missing woman appearing to be a victim of a mysterious killer dubbed the “LA Ripper” by the media:
• Jake Deal, a video blogger who chases crime scenes while broadcasting from his car with a dashcam as the Creepy Crawl
• Doug Gibson, independent attorney, sometimes public defender, who has been retained to defend Eric Algar, former child actor on the downhill side of success but hinting at incriminating evidence of widespread corruption going to the top
• Kara, who with her partner Phoebe Butterfield, now missing, works for a very specialized entertainment company, Sub Rosa, described as “The Make-A-Wish Foundation for the terminally rich…we are pimps, drug dealers, and a general one-stop-shop freak factory for the high-worth and very high-worth individual.”
As their stories unfold, they will unexpectedly come in touch with each other and find themselves entangled in a web of perversion and cover up with a sinister clean up squad called the Black Guards.
Harper’s plot pacing and writing are punctuated with a speed of short graphic phrases, street lingo and sardonic wit totally immersing the reader in the new world of Los Angeles nightlife – an updated take on Raymond Chandler’s novels.
The ending begs the question: did the 1940s noir drama connection between the seamy side of the streets and the prurient tastes of the wealthy take a break before this rebirth, or was it always there just below the surface?
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5 stars. If you read EVERYBODY KNOWS, you have an idea of what you're getting into. But there is something about reading this particular book in the year 2026 that hits harder. Who's to say what? Just something about the year 2026 and stories of powerful men doing whatever they want without consequences, leaving a trail of dead women in their wake, that feels... relevant.
Harper is still very good at this, has basically created his own neo-noir LA style where anyone will do anything to get ahead, where entire industries exist to create frictionless access for the famous, rich, and powerful. Jake, Doug, and Kara are all well-drawn, fully imagined, and reluctantly playing their own part in this world. They all still want to be good people, even if they play their own role in enabling the horrible systems they're part of and tend to ignore the worst parts of what they do. They are all on a precipice, they could still be saved if they tried, or they could keep closing their eyes and end up beyond hope.
I think Harper's style is dialed up too much for my liking. The prose (and Jake's streamed monologues) is stylized enough that I started to tire of it about halfway through. Which is also about the time that it shifts from ratcheting up the tension to starting to barrel towards its climax. It is certainly nice to finally get to the climax but you basically know where it's going before it gets there, and as necessary as it all is, there is a certain amount of bite missing in the second half. As much as you need these things to happen, the book loses a little of its luster, as the tension ebbs so does its glow.
But it's hard to beat Harper for relevance, style, and the kind of darkness that feels necessary in crime fiction right now. (And bonus points for no cops or federal agents as protagonists.)
Harper is still very good at this, has basically created his own neo-noir LA style where anyone will do anything to get ahead, where entire industries exist to create frictionless access for the famous, rich, and powerful. Jake, Doug, and Kara are all well-drawn, fully imagined, and reluctantly playing their own part in this world. They all still want to be good people, even if they play their own role in enabling the horrible systems they're part of and tend to ignore the worst parts of what they do. They are all on a precipice, they could still be saved if they tried, or they could keep closing their eyes and end up beyond hope.
I think Harper's style is dialed up too much for my liking. The prose (and Jake's streamed monologues) is stylized enough that I started to tire of it about halfway through. Which is also about the time that it shifts from ratcheting up the tension to starting to barrel towards its climax. It is certainly nice to finally get to the climax but you basically know where it's going before it gets there, and as necessary as it all is, there is a certain amount of bite missing in the second half. As much as you need these things to happen, the book loses a little of its luster, as the tension ebbs so does its glow.
But it's hard to beat Harper for relevance, style, and the kind of darkness that feels necessary in crime fiction right now. (And bonus points for no cops or federal agents as protagonists.)
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
In “A Violent Masterpiece,” Jordan Harper continues his exploration of the intersection of how power and corruption in Los Angeles sustain themselves.
The book focuses primarily on Kara, a woman working for SubRosa, a company that basically provides the uber-rich and powerful with whatever they want (no matter how bizarre and/or illegal); Jake, “the Creepy Crawler,” a man who provides a livestream play-by-play of crime in LA for an online audience; and Thomas Gibson, a criminal defense attorney who represents mostly the poor and powerless until he ends up representing Eric Algar, a children’s TV producer mired in scandal. Their paths cross when they all begin to realize that the problem is much deeper and more sinister than they could’ve realized.
Ultimately, the book is about the moral compromises people without power sometimes have to make to survive. Each of the protagonists is ultimately forced to confront his or her role, however small, in the systemic corruption and to decide whether to put themselves at risk to fight it, however quixotic the fight may be.
Like “Everybody Knows,” this book owes a debt to “Chinatown” and, to a lesser degree, “Day of the Locust.” All address the people at the top of the LA pyramid, but are really about the people who keep the system running, who, whether for money or access, compromise themselves to provide the rich and powerful with immunity.
This honest review was given in exchange for an Advanced Reader Copy from Hachette Book Group and Net Galley.
The book focuses primarily on Kara, a woman working for SubRosa, a company that basically provides the uber-rich and powerful with whatever they want (no matter how bizarre and/or illegal); Jake, “the Creepy Crawler,” a man who provides a livestream play-by-play of crime in LA for an online audience; and Thomas Gibson, a criminal defense attorney who represents mostly the poor and powerless until he ends up representing Eric Algar, a children’s TV producer mired in scandal. Their paths cross when they all begin to realize that the problem is much deeper and more sinister than they could’ve realized.
Ultimately, the book is about the moral compromises people without power sometimes have to make to survive. Each of the protagonists is ultimately forced to confront his or her role, however small, in the systemic corruption and to decide whether to put themselves at risk to fight it, however quixotic the fight may be.
Like “Everybody Knows,” this book owes a debt to “Chinatown” and, to a lesser degree, “Day of the Locust.” All address the people at the top of the LA pyramid, but are really about the people who keep the system running, who, whether for money or access, compromise themselves to provide the rich and powerful with immunity.
This honest review was given in exchange for an Advanced Reader Copy from Hachette Book Group and Net Galley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Jordan Harper’s A Violent Masterpiece is exactly what the title promises: a contemporary noir gut-punch that never lets up. It’s brutal, filthy, and adrenaline-fueled, drenched in Los Angeles smog and moral rot. This isn’t a sanitized, sunlit LA—Harper takes you on a guided gutter tour behind the scenes of Hollywood power, where exploitation, complicity, and depravity feel baked into the city’s architecture. If you’re someone who needs content warnings, take that seriously here—this book goes hard.
What elevates it beyond shock is the writing. Harper’s prose is electric and purposeful, with a rhythm that’s propulsive without becoming overwhelming; almost every sentence feels like it’s doing work—setting mood, sharpening tension, landing theme. He manages the rare trick of making violence feel lyrical without glamorizing it, and he folds real-world-style horrors into the story in a way that feels intentional rather than cheap or exploitative.
Even with how dark and intense it is, I tore through this quickly because the pacing is relentless and the momentum is addictive—you keep telling yourself “one more chapter” and suddenly you’re way farther in than you meant to be. It’s not for everyone, but if you want noir that reads like literature, takes big swings, and actually lands them, A Violent Masterpiece is essential.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
What elevates it beyond shock is the writing. Harper’s prose is electric and purposeful, with a rhythm that’s propulsive without becoming overwhelming; almost every sentence feels like it’s doing work—setting mood, sharpening tension, landing theme. He manages the rare trick of making violence feel lyrical without glamorizing it, and he folds real-world-style horrors into the story in a way that feels intentional rather than cheap or exploitative.
Even with how dark and intense it is, I tore through this quickly because the pacing is relentless and the momentum is addictive—you keep telling yourself “one more chapter” and suddenly you’re way farther in than you meant to be. It’s not for everyone, but if you want noir that reads like literature, takes big swings, and actually lands them, A Violent Masterpiece is essential.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was a bit too violent and graphic for me, but well written and an interesting journey into the gritty crime and corruption in modern day Los Angeles. It's written in a noir style, if you like that type of genre.
The author weaves together several unrelated threads that you know will eventually be connected: the arrest of a high-profile Hollywood predator, the disappearance of a young woman, and the deadly trail of the serial killer known as the L.A. Ripper.
There are 3 distinct characters, some more likeable than others. We first meet Jake Deal narrating the voyeuristic true-crime culture, as he drives around in his car, livestreaming the city’s darkest moments for a viewing audience while confronting his own demons.
Then there is the weary idealist, a lawyer struggling to do right in a system stacked against both the innocent and the powerless. Finally, we meet Kara, the roommate of the woman who disappeared as she works to uncover the truth, while explosing the ugliness of privilege and exploitation, where the rich can have whatever they want, for the right price.
The author makes a spectacle of the violence, because that is what the viewers want, the bloodier the better. This book is not for the faint of heart.
I thought the character development was well done, you want to know what happens, and the author does a good job highlighting the dangers of media, power, and corruption in a large city, but the graphic violence was just not for me.
The author weaves together several unrelated threads that you know will eventually be connected: the arrest of a high-profile Hollywood predator, the disappearance of a young woman, and the deadly trail of the serial killer known as the L.A. Ripper.
There are 3 distinct characters, some more likeable than others. We first meet Jake Deal narrating the voyeuristic true-crime culture, as he drives around in his car, livestreaming the city’s darkest moments for a viewing audience while confronting his own demons.
Then there is the weary idealist, a lawyer struggling to do right in a system stacked against both the innocent and the powerless. Finally, we meet Kara, the roommate of the woman who disappeared as she works to uncover the truth, while explosing the ugliness of privilege and exploitation, where the rich can have whatever they want, for the right price.
The author makes a spectacle of the violence, because that is what the viewers want, the bloodier the better. This book is not for the faint of heart.
I thought the character development was well done, you want to know what happens, and the author does a good job highlighting the dangers of media, power, and corruption in a large city, but the graphic violence was just not for me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
They don’t come much darker than Jordan Harper’s A Violent Masterpiece. Filled with unlikeable characters, it’s about the rich, powerful and seedy, about how money allows for a wealth of crimes.
Alternating between three main characters, the story takes the reader into Jeffrey Epstein territory. Lots of rich men doing things they shouldn’t and getting away with it. Jake Deal is a “live-streaming nightcrawler”, a podcaster catching and streaming the worst of humanity. Doug Gibson is a defense lawyer. He usually is defending the poor until a rich man accused of pedophilia signs on as his client. And Kara Delgado works for an underground concierge company for the rich and famous. Her best friend has gone missing; a friend whose physical attributes match those of the victims of a current serial killer.
This is not a book for the squeamish. There are TWs galore. The settings and the characters are gruesome and unsavory. Even the main characters are off putting. Another reviewer described this version of LA as a “moral abyss” and it’s a very apt description. I am a fan of noir fiction, but this just crossed a line for me. It bordered on violence-porn.
The book moved at a fast pace and had some great twists. It’s well written. Just know what you’re signing up for before you start reading it.
My thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book.
Alternating between three main characters, the story takes the reader into Jeffrey Epstein territory. Lots of rich men doing things they shouldn’t and getting away with it. Jake Deal is a “live-streaming nightcrawler”, a podcaster catching and streaming the worst of humanity. Doug Gibson is a defense lawyer. He usually is defending the poor until a rich man accused of pedophilia signs on as his client. And Kara Delgado works for an underground concierge company for the rich and famous. Her best friend has gone missing; a friend whose physical attributes match those of the victims of a current serial killer.
This is not a book for the squeamish. There are TWs galore. The settings and the characters are gruesome and unsavory. Even the main characters are off putting. Another reviewer described this version of LA as a “moral abyss” and it’s a very apt description. I am a fan of noir fiction, but this just crossed a line for me. It bordered on violence-porn.
The book moved at a fast pace and had some great twists. It’s well written. Just know what you’re signing up for before you start reading it.
My thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Jordan Harper's new novel A Violent Masterpiece is a crime novel with multiple plot lines that is set in Los Angeles. As the title implies, it is dark, gritty and violent. Alternating chapters follow three characters: a video blogger who roams the city looking for crime scenes and images of victims to screen, a woman whose best friend's murder is covered up, and a flawed but well-intentioned defense attorny who takes on the defense of an Epstein-like character whose life meets an Epstein-like ending.
I enjoyed Everybody Knows and like noir in general, but I struggled with this book. Initially the chapters alternate between the stories of the three main characters, and with the exception of the attorney I had a hard time feeling invested in them. There were lots of detailed descriptions of places, which set a very dark tone but detracted from the pacing of the story. The action picked up considerably in the last third of the book, but the ending was so over the top that the book felt more like a horror novel than a crime story.
Mr. Harper is an excellent writer and I will continue to read his works, but this one was unfortunately a miss for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an egalley of this book. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.
I enjoyed Everybody Knows and like noir in general, but I struggled with this book. Initially the chapters alternate between the stories of the three main characters, and with the exception of the attorney I had a hard time feeling invested in them. There were lots of detailed descriptions of places, which set a very dark tone but detracted from the pacing of the story. The action picked up considerably in the last third of the book, but the ending was so over the top that the book felt more like a horror novel than a crime story.
Mr. Harper is an excellent writer and I will continue to read his works, but this one was unfortunately a miss for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an egalley of this book. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.
December 3, 2025
Review of Digital Galley Edition
Jake Deal, immersed in Los Angeles night-crawling, streams crimes for those who follow his exploits while lawyer Doug Gibson gives his best for his clients and Kara Delgado helps the entitled uber-rich. Their individual stories converge as Los Angeles endures serial killers, kidnappings, assaults, drugs, torture, violence, and more.
=========
Told from multiple points of view . . . Jake Deal, Doug Gibson, and Kara Delgado . . . the unfolding story is dark, gruesome, violent, and yet, hopeful.
The language is often crude [and the overuse of a particularly offensive expletive lowers the rating for the book]; the tale, though bleak, paints Los Angeles in true colors.
Readers who enjoy crime fiction are likely to find themselves captivated by a story that races toward a denouement no one will see coming.
I received a free copy of this eBook from Little, Brown and Company / Mulholland Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#AViolentMasterpiece #NetGalley
Jake Deal, immersed in Los Angeles night-crawling, streams crimes for those who follow his exploits while lawyer Doug Gibson gives his best for his clients and Kara Delgado helps the entitled uber-rich. Their individual stories converge as Los Angeles endures serial killers, kidnappings, assaults, drugs, torture, violence, and more.
=========
Told from multiple points of view . . . Jake Deal, Doug Gibson, and Kara Delgado . . . the unfolding story is dark, gruesome, violent, and yet, hopeful.
The language is often crude [and the overuse of a particularly offensive expletive lowers the rating for the book]; the tale, though bleak, paints Los Angeles in true colors.
Readers who enjoy crime fiction are likely to find themselves captivated by a story that races toward a denouement no one will see coming.
I received a free copy of this eBook from Little, Brown and Company / Mulholland Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#AViolentMasterpiece #NetGalley
February 25, 2026
A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper absolutely lives up to its title. This is crime fiction at its finest. Raw, gripping, and impossible to put down. What makes this book stand out is the way the three separate storylines weave together so seamlessly. Each thread is powerful on its own, but when they collide, the impact is explosive. Harper handles the structure with precision, building tension steadily until everything locks into place in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable.The word choice is lean, sharp, and purposeful. Every sentence feels deliberate. There’s no wasted language, just tight prose that punches hard and stays with you. The dialogue feels authentic, and the characters are drawn with such gritty realism that they seem like people you might actually encounter. More than anything, this story feels real. Not glamorized, not exaggerated. Just honest, harsh, and human. It captures the weight of consequence and the complexity of survival in a way that makes it resonate long after the last page.
November 20, 2025
READ MY FULL REVIEW AT Best Thriller Books
A Violent Masterpiece is a crime novel unlike anything you’ve ever read before. Dark, wicked, sinful, and tragic, yet also bitterly hopeful and infused with the defiant fighting spirit of the underdog. A journey to hell and back that leaves you feeling a mixture of dirty and clean, beat down and triumphant, melancholy and tranquil.
Do yourself a favor and make sure you read this book, but don’t dive into the details of the plot before you open it. Because it’s best to experience it knowing as little as possible. Experiencing it as if being on a voyeuristic ride-along where anything and everything might happen as you prowl the streets and dark rooms of a city on the brink.
It's another tape-measure home run of a novel by Jordan Harper. Cementing him as one of the best to ever write LA crime noir.
A Violent Masterpiece is a crime novel unlike anything you’ve ever read before. Dark, wicked, sinful, and tragic, yet also bitterly hopeful and infused with the defiant fighting spirit of the underdog. A journey to hell and back that leaves you feeling a mixture of dirty and clean, beat down and triumphant, melancholy and tranquil.
Do yourself a favor and make sure you read this book, but don’t dive into the details of the plot before you open it. Because it’s best to experience it knowing as little as possible. Experiencing it as if being on a voyeuristic ride-along where anything and everything might happen as you prowl the streets and dark rooms of a city on the brink.
It's another tape-measure home run of a novel by Jordan Harper. Cementing him as one of the best to ever write LA crime noir.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The book is about an Internet reporter, concierge to the super wealthy, a serial killer, and all of the conspiracies, lies and secrets you can handle. Did it give me Epstein vibes with an added twist of a serial killer? Yes. Had I literally just finished watching a documentary about it that same day though? Yes.
This book has a lot going on so be prepared to pay attention. Lots of names and info to keep track of. The book started off with a bang and instantly drew my attention. I did feel like the middle lacked something. While I did enjoy it, I did feel like parts of it were just filler words and phrases. It picked back up towards the end and had a solid, well constructed ending.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy.
This book has a lot going on so be prepared to pay attention. Lots of names and info to keep track of. The book started off with a bang and instantly drew my attention. I did feel like the middle lacked something. While I did enjoy it, I did feel like parts of it were just filler words and phrases. It picked back up towards the end and had a solid, well constructed ending.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I can see why everyone raves about Jordan Harper. I was really excited to check out this eARC after seeing what SA Cosby, one of my favorite authors said about him.
His writing lives up to the hype, gritty, vibrant, and beautiful.
A Violent Masterpiece is a taut crime thriller based in Los Angeles cycling between 3 different POVs that track different parts of related events.
It’s an intense and captivating book and it’s easily apparent how talented a writer Harper is.
Unfortunately for some reason I just couldn’t get myself to care about any of the characters. I wasn’t invested in their story and didn’t really fully get immersed in the storyline.
I look forward to reading more Jordan Harper but this book just wasn’t for me.
His writing lives up to the hype, gritty, vibrant, and beautiful.
A Violent Masterpiece is a taut crime thriller based in Los Angeles cycling between 3 different POVs that track different parts of related events.
It’s an intense and captivating book and it’s easily apparent how talented a writer Harper is.
Unfortunately for some reason I just couldn’t get myself to care about any of the characters. I wasn’t invested in their story and didn’t really fully get immersed in the storyline.
I look forward to reading more Jordan Harper but this book just wasn’t for me.
March 3, 2026
What happens when the worst man in Hollywood dies and takes half the city’s secrets to the grave?
I’m usually first in line for a Jordan Harper thriller. His books tend to move at the speed of light. They’re usually impossible to put down. So I went into A Violent Masterpiece with high expectations, especially after loving Everybody Knows. This one picks up shortly after that novel, though it stands firmly on its own. You don’t need to have read the previous book to follow along.
This story opens with the death of a notorious Hollywood predator. When he dies, he leaves behind something dangerous: a cache of blackmail implicating some of the richest and most powerful people in Los Angeles. At the same time, a serial killer is stalking women across the city, each murder more brutal than the last.
At the center of the chaos is Kara, who works for an ultra-private concierge company that exists to serve the elite and quickly clean up their disasters. There’s Jake, a late-night live-streamer who thrives on exposing L.A.’s underbelly to his followers. And Doug Gibson, a defense attorney who talks a big game about justice but falters when he comes face to face with real, untouchable power. The three form an uneasy alliance, pulling at threads that the city’s most dangerous players would prefer stay buried.
Harper’s vision of L. A. is pitch-black. This is a city rotting from the inside out. It’s where wealth shields predators and influence rewrites truth. The novel digs into corruption, moral compromise, exploitation, and the machinery that protects powerful men. It’s not subtle, and it’s not comfortable. In many ways, that’s the point.
For me, though, the story didn’t hit with the same propulsive force I’ve come to expect from Harper. The ideas are sharp and timely. The themes are undeniably relevant, but the pacing felt more uneven than his previous work. The darkness is relentless, and at times it overwhelmed the narrative momentum that usually makes his books so compulsively readable.
That said, if you’re drawn to hard-edged noir and morally gray characters, this one will absolutely hold your attention.
Thank you Mulholland Books for the ARC.
I’m usually first in line for a Jordan Harper thriller. His books tend to move at the speed of light. They’re usually impossible to put down. So I went into A Violent Masterpiece with high expectations, especially after loving Everybody Knows. This one picks up shortly after that novel, though it stands firmly on its own. You don’t need to have read the previous book to follow along.
This story opens with the death of a notorious Hollywood predator. When he dies, he leaves behind something dangerous: a cache of blackmail implicating some of the richest and most powerful people in Los Angeles. At the same time, a serial killer is stalking women across the city, each murder more brutal than the last.
At the center of the chaos is Kara, who works for an ultra-private concierge company that exists to serve the elite and quickly clean up their disasters. There’s Jake, a late-night live-streamer who thrives on exposing L.A.’s underbelly to his followers. And Doug Gibson, a defense attorney who talks a big game about justice but falters when he comes face to face with real, untouchable power. The three form an uneasy alliance, pulling at threads that the city’s most dangerous players would prefer stay buried.
Harper’s vision of L. A. is pitch-black. This is a city rotting from the inside out. It’s where wealth shields predators and influence rewrites truth. The novel digs into corruption, moral compromise, exploitation, and the machinery that protects powerful men. It’s not subtle, and it’s not comfortable. In many ways, that’s the point.
For me, though, the story didn’t hit with the same propulsive force I’ve come to expect from Harper. The ideas are sharp and timely. The themes are undeniably relevant, but the pacing felt more uneven than his previous work. The darkness is relentless, and at times it overwhelmed the narrative momentum that usually makes his books so compulsively readable.
That said, if you’re drawn to hard-edged noir and morally gray characters, this one will absolutely hold your attention.
Thank you Mulholland Books for the ARC.
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