Suicide Hill is a crime fiction novel written by James Ellroy.[1] Released in 1986, it is the third and final installment of the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy.[2]

Suicide Hill
AuthorJames Ellroy
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesLloyd Hopkins Trilogy
GenreNovel, crime fiction
PublisherThe Mysterious Press
Publication date
1986
Media typePrint
Pages280 pp
ISBN978-0-89296-235-8 (first edition, hardcover)
OCLC12421070
Preceded byBecause the Night (novel) (1984) 
Followed byKiller on the Road (1986) 

In the 1993 documentary James Ellroy: The Demon Dog of American Literature, Ellroy states that Suicide Hill is the Hopkins novel he is the most proud of.[3]


In an October 13, 2017 interview, actor Tom Hanks stated that he would be interested in playing the part of Lloyd Hopkins if a film or stage adaptation was to be put into production.[4]

Plot summary edit

The novel begins with a psychiatrist's assessment recommending that Hopkins be immediately retired from duty with a full pension following the events of Because the Night (1984).

Hopkins eludes compulsory retirement with attachment as LAPD liaison officer to an FBI bank robbery investigation. Hopkins then manipulates his way into robbery/homicide investigations. The novel's story line and characters twist and turn.

References edit

  1. ^ Suicide Hill by James Ellroy, Kirkus Reviews, April 17, 1986, retrieved 2013-02-14.
  2. ^ Dennis Lehane (September 4, 2014). "The Big Sweep - James Ellroy's 'Perfidia'". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  3. ^ James Ellroy, Part 1 Demon Dog Of American Crime Fiction. Retrieved 2024-04-14 – via www.youtube.com.
  4. ^ "Tom Hanks: By the Book". The New York Times. 13 October 2017.

External links edit