Killing Machines: How Car Culture in 1970s Los Angeles Fueled a Terrifying String of Murders

CrimeReads During the late-1960s, with Los Angeles’ skies still blotted by poisonous smog, an angry mother fastened a sign in her station wagon ... “This GM" ... “is a killing…


0 Comments8 Minutes

“The Accidental True Crime Writer” – my Los Angeles Review of Books essay

It wasn’t until one day in 1998, strolling along Hollywood Boulevard, that I got stopped on the sidewalk by a guy named Jerry Schneiderman who had been both a source for stories…


0 Comments11 Minutes

Meet Chip Jacobs: Author, journalist, dog-enthusiast, spiritual optimist

The argument that erupted between us that evening felt like the climax of a John Hughes coming-of-age movie. Suddenly, a 100+ people listening to a speaker up front swiveled their…


0 Comments16 Minutes

Trailer for my true-crime book: “The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles”

If you're a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies or Elmore Leonard books, you'll love this darkly humorous, true crime thriller set in late-seventies Southern California ...


0 Comments1 Minute

1979 L.A. True Crime in Song

It was the faces that slayed you that year, when the only reason for a belly-laugh was a Robin Williams standup act.


0 Comments10 Minutes

The Man Behind the Gun

Not all monsters are born that way. Sometimes, a freak accident changes their fate, and others down the line.


0 Comments1 Minutes

My true-crime book, “The Darkest Glare,” comes out on March 9. In that spirit, I’m listing — cuz everyone adores lists as much as parfaits and stretchy pants — my favorite works in the genre.

Behind every murder is a tragedy, but also a raw story where a victim intersects with a killer in the culmination of myriad events. Some writers take the just-the-facts-man…


0 Comments1 Minutes

First Reviews on my True Crime Book, “The Darkest Glare”

"An entertaining true-crime period piece built around a chillingly odd sociopathic villain."—Kirkus Review


0 Comments2 Minutes

Yeah, I’ve seen the bridge — the Colorado Street Bridge and a jam session that changed me

How an obscure song from the Hammer-of-the-Gods band grew from teenage anthem to the heart of Pasadena fiction


0 Comments6 Minutes

The Fire That Crackled Inside of Me

Up in the foothills was a wasteland of smoke. You could barely see, and breathing took concentration. Took coughing and eye-rubbing and delusion that we could achieve anything.


0 Comments9 Minutes