Royal Scandal, Hollywood Crime, Nail Salon Drama: Pajiba October 2025 Book Recommendations Superpost
What Books Are You Reading This Month?
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Books | November 3, 2025
Widespread Panic by James Ellroy
Currently, I’m diving back into James Ellroy’s work. Ellroy has been my key literary obsession of 2025, and I have no plans to give him up anytime soon. Known as the “demon dog of crime fiction,” his writing is too compelling, even if he is a bit of a peculiar character.
Widespread Panic is surprisingly short for Ellroy—just 336 pages in my edition—but rich in detail. The story’s protagonist is Freddy Otash, a familiar character from Ellroy’s Underworld USA series and a fascinating figure in Hollywood history.
Otash was an LAPD officer and private investigator famous for his role as a fixer and researcher for the scandalous tabloid Confidential. When chaos needed to be created or cleaned up, Otash was the man for the job. Most notably, Peter Lawford hired him to investigate Marilyn Monroe, a case that sparked decades of conspiracy theories about her links to JFK.
Widespread Panic exposes Otash’s shady work in the early 1950s as he mingles with and often confronts Hollywood’s elite.
Otash narrates the story from purgatory, delivering a blunt, no-holds-barred monologue about his life and crimes to a hopefully forgiving higher power.
This narrative twist sets Widespread Panic apart from Ellroy’s other works, blending crime history with a speculative edge.
Author's Summary
James Ellroy’s Widespread Panic delivers a gripping, speculative dive into 1950s Hollywood scandals through the eyes of fixer Freddy Otash, blending true crime with dark introspection.