Once he was Sierra Lane, hero to countless youngsters in a series of B-movie westerns. Now, after two years in prison, John Ray Horn lives on the margins of post-World War II Los Angeles. His wife has left him, and, blacklisted by the studios, he makes ends meet by collecting debts for his old Indian co-star, Joseph Mad Crow. Then an old friend, Scotty, contacts Horn. He has come across some obscene photos, including one, several years old, of Horn's stepdaughter, Clea. Within days, Scotty is dead, and Clea has run away. Horn's search takes him from neon-lit ocean-front piers to wooded canyons, from rich homes in the Hollywood Hills to Central Avenue, the Harlem of LA, a street rich in jazz and corruption. But will the on-screen tough-guy hero be able to sustain his role off-screen?
Set in post-World War II Los Angeles, Clea's Moonintroduces a complex and fascinating character, John Ray Horn. Horn is a former actor in B westerns who is now, after serving prison time for assault, collecting debts for his erstwhile American Indian sidekick. A call from an old friend leads Horn to old secrets that involve his former stepdaughter, Clea, who has recently disappeared. When his friend dies under mysterious circumstances, Horn is desperate to uncover the truth and to find Clea and bring her home. Reminiscent of early James Ellroy, Clea's Moon explores Hollywood's dark margins at a time when Los Angeles was growing by the day and the studio system was losing its grip on the film industry. Edward Wright brilliantly captures the period in this suspenseful and richly atmospheric novel.
