Blood's a Rover

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Blood's a Rover
Author	James Ellroy
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	American Underworld Trilogy
Genre(s)	Crime novel
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	June, 2009
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Preceded by	The Cold Six Thousand

Blood's a Rover is a 2009 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the sequel to American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand and the final volume in the American Underworld Trilogy. According to Ellroy, the book is due to be published in June, 2009^[1]. The title is taken from a poem titled "Reveille" by A.E. Housman:^[2]

Clay lies still, but blood's a rover;
Breath's a ware that will not keep.
Up, lad; when the journey's over
There'll be time enough for sleep.

[edit] Plot introduction

Blood's a Rover will span the years 1968 to 1972, encompassing Vietnam, the death of J. Edgar Hoover, and the presidency of Richard Nixon. In December 2007, Ellroy said two women, named Kathy and Joan, would play central roles in the novel^[3]. In 2006, Ellroy had said the book would be structured around a trio of male protagonists (one of which would be the returning Wayne Tedrow Jr.). It is unknown whether Kathy and Joan will supplant Ellroy's original plan^[4].

[edit] Ellroy on "Blood's a Rover"

The novel, like American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand, will be structured around a trio of central characters. Ellroy also said the book will be the longest of the trilogy.

Ellroy commented on the scope of Blood's a Rover several times during his tour to promote The Cold Six Thousand. When asked if he still saw his American Underworld opus as a trilogy, Ellroy responded, "American Tabloid is the first volume of my Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy. The Cold Six Thousand is my second. I will soon begin work on the epic third volume, a ghastly tale of political malfeasance and imperialistic bad juju from 1968 to 1972."

Ellroy said he would steer clear of the Watergate scandal: "The Cold Six Thousand is the second volume of a projected trilogy...and covers the matrix of American politics and crime from 1963 to 1968; the first, American Tabloid, covers 1958 to 1963; a third will proceed to 1972. You can see exactly where the story's going: the '68 election, the Mob's foreign casino plan, Nixon in office, all that. I'll stop short of Watergate, because Watergate bores me." Ellroy also told interviewer Robert Birnbaum, "It's [Watergate’s] been done to death. And most of the characters are still alive; thus you can't use them fictionally."^[5]

The Times elicited a terse statement regarding the third novel. Ellroy stressed that the capstone would focus on Latin-American imperialism under Richard Nixon's direction.^{[citation needed]}