Ellroy's 1995 novel AMERICAN TABLOID is a fictionalized recreation of the days just before President Kennedy's assassination. THE COLD SIX THOUSAND, the sequel to AMERICAN TABLOID, picks up almost where the earlier book leaves off. Taciturn heroes (or is it anti-heroes?) Pete Bondurant and Ward Littell return, to wend their way along the interwoven avenues of American politics and crime. A New York Times Notable Book for 2001.