The Ticket Out

by Helen Knode

Ann Whitehead is sick of her job. She's a movie critic for a counterculture rag in Los Angeles and she needs a break badly. Instead of a break, she gets a murder. A woman dies in Ann's the victim is a film school grad and industry hopeful. It's the kind of story Ann was born to write, but the disgraced LAPD detective leading the investigation is determined to stop her. The search for the killer turns into a search for the victim's missing script, the story of another woman murdered in 1944.
Suddenly there are two killers, and a complicated conspiracy spanning decades. Ann is smack in the middle and everyone she meets wants into the film business-whatever the price.
There's never been a thriller hitched as brilliantly to the new underbelly of Hollywood as this one. Helen Knode is a startling and original voice.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2003

About the author

A long, winding road brought me to novels. There was a fling with Cornell's Ph.D program in English that got me an M.A. in Theater instead. There was a longer and much sexier run through alternative journalism, from the East Village Eye in New York to the L.A. Weekly in Los Angeles. At the Weekly I mostly reviewed movies, but also covered theater, performance art, music, books, local events, politics -- and ended up with a regular column called "Weird Sister." At some point I got exhausted with movies and newspapers. It pushed me to write a novel, The Ticket Out, a murder story based on my experiences as a Hollywood fringe-dweller. The second novel is equally personal. I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, the heart of the Canadian oil business, and Knodes have worked in oil since the nineteenth century. This history inspired Wildcat Play, a warm hello and goodbye to a family tradition and grassroots American oil.

Reviews

[Mindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably 2.5 stars but rounding down due to that ending! This book has a great cover, cool premise and awesome setting.
It also has a completely overreaching plot, too many characters and unnecessary side plots. Wanted to like this but was struggling to even finish.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't handle the ending to this book...but I enjoyed the rest of the read.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The character development and the overall story line were excellent but the book was unfinished. Desperately hoping there is a sequel!

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ann Whitehead, the main character, is a movie critic who finds a dead woman in her bathtub. She decides to investigate but the LAPD detective working on the case doesn't want her help. In the end, they uncover an old murder and end up working together to solve both mysteries.

I did enjoy parts of this novel and stuck with it to the end. The ending - UGH!!! the ending was completely unsatisfying and made no sense. It made my 2 star rating go to 1 star, for sure. This book had too many characters that went no where in the plot. I also didn't get the romance. I did't see the chemistry at all. The family drama sub-plot made no sense and could have been completely cut from the novel. I would not recommend this one at all!

[Erika Bonaparte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ticket Out, ending was tough to accept, but long wait until next book was even worse.

[Louise Goodrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the plot convoluted and hard to follow, as there were too many characters and story lines.

[Dimitrije Vojnov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posle duže potrage uspeo sam da lociram drugi roman Helen Knode WILDCAT PLAY to na jednom krajnje neočekivanom mestu. Kako sam njen prvi roman THE TICKET OUT čitao pre skoro dvadeset godina kada je izašao, odlučio sam se da ga malo prelistam.
Međutim, završio sam čitajući ga veoma pažljivo iznova.
Helen Knode je napisala roman koji deluje kao neki interni vic namenjen lično meni, krimić (tadašnje) supruge Jamesa Ellroya u kome ona fantazira ubistvo Kathryn Bigelow, fascinirana posle susreta sa njom.
U ellroyevskoj atmosferi, Helen Knode unosi dosta kritičarskog kreda u svoj krimić o Holivudu, i nudi jednu drugu vrstu nadogradnje. Ovaj roman je danas već epoha ali pisan je kao savremeno delo, u tom smislu, oslonjen je kako na imaginarij Lloyda Hopkinsa tako i na refleksije tropa iz L.A. Quarteta.
Ellroy nije samo referenca kao njen tadašnji suprug, niti zbog toga što mu je roman posvećen, u njemu ima deonica koje su mu očigledna posveta, na nivou dijaloga, na nivou jezika, na nivou odnosa prema temi.
Ali, isto tako imamo i transformaciju junakinje od liberalne novinarke koja prezire komercijalni film, Holivud i establišment a naročito policiju do spoznavanja naličja klasičnog Holivuda i shvatanja da ima i dobrih policajaca.
U priči se vrtlože Louis B. Mayer u prošlosti, fascinacija Irvingom Thalbergom koja traje večno, Rodney King i Rampart,holivudski liberali i policajci koji znaju šta se ceni na betonu, pali anđeli iz starih vremena kada se Louis zaklinjao da žena nikada neće režirati za MGM i glavna žrtva u savremenoj deonici, anđeo koji je pao upravo zbog želje da režira.
THE TICKET OUT je propulzivan, mišićav krimić, sa dosta dinamike, junakinjom koja ne spava sve dok sama ne potone u neku vrstu histerije, sa dosta praćenja, istrage, dedukcije, pa i potera i suspensea. Ali je istovremeno i jedna dekonstrukcija Holivuda sa pravim imenima, i prošlim i sadašnjim tamo gde god junak ne mora biti baš ubijen.
Helen Knode je izgradila ime kao kritičarka i novinarka, ali njen stil pisanja proze je izgrađen na solidnoj dozi kvalitetnog krimića. THE TICKET OUT je pisan onako kako Amerikanci pišu - efikasno, i energično, sa ikoničnim junacima, tvrdokuvanim ciničnim opservacijama, ali u post-noir ključu gde su junaci iz epohe u epohu sve manje naivni muškarci, i sa ženama koje su sve samostalnije, ali manje sposobne da budu fatalne.
Junakinja Ann Whitehead je potom dobila još jedan roman, pomenuti WILDCAT PLAY deset i više godina kasnije.
Slično Kathryn Bigelow, rani radovi Helen Knode nose tu senku Jamesa Ellroya na kog uostalom i sam referišem. Tako je i ona sve do HURT LOCKERa stalno bivala nemilosrdno povezivana sa bitnim muškarcima u svom radu - bio to Eric Red ili konačno James Cameron. Nažalost, Helen Knode nije ostvarila dovoljan kontinuitet da bi izašla iz te senke, pa će njen rad ako se ne desi nešto novo, uvek biti sagledavan u tom ključu.
Roman je izašao dugo pre #MeToo pokreta ali osim napretka socijalnih mreža i mobilne telefonije u međuvremenu, u društvenom pogledu nije nimalo zastareo što je veoma zanimljivo. Najinteresantnije je zapravo u kojoj meri je ciničan prema holivudskim liberalnim elitama.
Svakako da bih voleo da vidim ekranizaciju ovog romana bilo kao film, bilo kao seriju, ali ako se nije desila do sada teško da će i ubuduće. Ann Whitehead je junakinja koja bi imala šta da pruži.

[Tara ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book somewhat hesitantly based on the mixed reviews here. I'm an avid reader of the classics, historical fiction, travelogues, and some crime fiction and try to keep an open mind about books as much as I can. However, so many of the reviews here were critical to this book having too many characters or character arcs that went nowhere, and many disliked the ending (which I must add, intrigued me).

I was drawn into the book almost immediately since I used to live in Los Angeles and worked at one of the big five studios. I found the main character, Ann Whitehead, genuine and likeable. She had the right balance of cynicism and courage while still maintaining a sense of humor (I still laugh when I think about her asking her editor if he was entertaining the joint chiefs of staff when she spotted a massive black Humvee parked outside his house). I also loved the intertwining of a murder that happened in the present day with an old unsolved Hollywood murder from the '40s. I found Knode's descriptions of the studio system authentic and was intrigued by some history of old Hollywood that was surprisingly unknown to me. The pacing was quick but not so much that you didn't connect with the characters or they with each other. I didn't have any trouble following the various crisscrossing trajectories of the multiple characters myself, but that may be due to my reading a TON of Russian literature when I was in school and having a cast of 100s be the norm for me.

And then we come to the ending.

The ending that seemed to be a problem for so many readers actually was very provocative to me. My first reaction was "that's IT?" But the more I thought about it, the better I liked it. I felt that the ending being open left it up to the interpretation of the reader. It lodged in my mind for the rest of the day as I mulled over what would happen, knowing what I knew about the character of Ann herself. In my mind, I have a feeling that all would somehow work out for her, that she was a cat that still had some lives left. But this comes from someone who enjoys the open to interpretation and often nebulous endings of David Lynch productions.

3 and 3/4 stars out of five.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

First novel by a former movie critic who just happens to be married to James Ellroy. Set in modern day hollywood and supposed to show the seemy underside of the movie business the 1940's and the big business aspects of today connected by a Black Dahlia-esque murder. Female lead, naturally a burned out movie critic, ends up getting beaten up a lot, probably as a ploy to make her seem tough (yet sensitive). Well writen, and intricately plotted out, but never really engages. Last few pages let a few loose threads unravel to give the book an unfinished feel - much like a movie where you aren't sure what happens at the end.

[Samantha Jacokes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books I have read lately. Way too many characters introduced and not developed. And she was always "at the right spot at the right time" to run into helpful or dangerous people. The whole side drama with her family didn't fit into the story at all and I thought it was dumb that she never used her sister's name. And the cliche "fall in love with the cop" thing is SO old and predictable.

[Christy Popoli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strives to be a modern-day James Ellroy LA story (Ellroy is her husband). Like Ellroy, the plot relies on credibility-bending coincidence and incestuously entwined Hollywood relationships. Unfortunately the suspension of disbelief required to get through the book was not rewarded. Instead, just a disappointing narrative, hollow characters, wild loose plot threads, and an unsatisfying ending.

[Jenn Fike · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was quite literally, the worst book I've ever read in my life. And to add to it, was the worst ending conceivable.

There was no good flow through the book, references to time period made little to no sense, the writing was equivalent to a 4th grader.

The fact that it took me the days to read a 350 page book should say something. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS BOOK!!!

[Zelmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, though I didn't care for how it ended

[Daniela Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll only give 1 star if I DNF a book, which is the only reason this book gets 2.

You know how when you go to the airport and it’s like it’s everyone’s first day on Earth? That’s what reading this book was like. The whole book was just so…. Improbable? And it felt like half the book was describing the geography of LA. Nothing else was descriptive AT ALL. This book annoyed me. The ending made it worse. Helen, what the fuck was this.

[David Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I very much enjoyed this book the ending was unusual. Ms. Knode did well weaving the multiple industry town personalities into a complex plot line and kept my interest throughout. I look forward to her next one.

[Ajoyim · Rating 1 out of 5]

nope, not for me

[Lauren DuBose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very hard read and even harder to follow and keep up with the characters.
It got better after I was 75% finished but the ending was terrible.
The worst cliffhanger I’ve ever read.

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only we had half stars! Loved the characters, loved the backdrop of Hollywood hipsterism and the battle between Industry and Art, loved the slow-burn romance, but the ending made it feel unfinished.

[Ashleigh Battiste · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book that I bought on my own.

[LeAnn Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok, a little confusing at times with a few too many characters moving in and out of the story.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has more twists than a labyrinth and a "lady and the tiger" ending. Not bad for a first book.

[Kestrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feminist Hollywood noir, a long goodbye to Hollywood films.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started strong but is about 50 pages too long.