Rating: 
Summary: Different From the LA Noir Books, But Still Interesting
Review: True, Killer on the Road is different, and arguably weaker, than the "LA Noir" books - Black Dahlia, White Jazz, Big Nowhere, LA Confidential - but it is still worth a read. I don't have a clue (thankfully) whether the mind of Plunkett is the mind of a real serial killer or not. It reads as if it could be. The detached but obsessive self-introspection of Plunkett, as he details his crimes feels real enough. The pace, much slower than in later Ellroy novels, fits the subject matter well. The chill builds and builds as you follow Plunkett's spiral into hell. Without giving away too much of the book, the most chilling moment for me is a scene where two serial killers meet and compare notes. Their conversation could almost be that of two traveling salesmen comparing sales territories. The ordinariness of this scene is what made it so terrifying for me. Monsters with human faces, not numb, but indifferent, to what they do, will surface again in later Ellroy novels, but their closeness to rest of the world has not been drawn as sharp as it is here.
Rating: 
Summary: Disgusting
Review: Typically I enjoy James Ellroy. I have read several of his novels and two volumes of short stories (and essays). I was introduced to his work through The Blue Dahlia which I found so absorbing, I read it in one day. Therefore, I approached this volume with anticipation, knowing it would also be dark, thickly plotted, and possibly disturbing. While Ellroy isn't someone I'd care to read everyday, I do enjoy the time I have spent exploring the underbelly of 1950s LA. Until I read (or tried to read) Killer on the Road. This book is a disgusting exploration into the mind of a serial killer. I felt no empathy toward the protagonist and just kept asking myself why I was reading this and what was the point. I got through 90 pages and finally threw the book away--the first book I left unfinished since A Tale of Two Cities in high school nearly thirty years ago. (And I have probably averaged reading two books a week since that time.) My short, one word synopsis for this work: ugly.
Rating: 
Summary: Riding shotgun in the mind of a serial killer
Review: What a trip. We all know about the exploits of serial killers and how gruesome they are, but why?? This book may not have all the actual answers as to why (there may not be any), but we can see first hand the twisted and convoluted "rationalizations" and "reasons" that set this killer into motion. Instead of the titillation in having pure evil described in the third person, this book lets us in on the evil decision making.
Rating:
Summary: Riding shotgun in the mind of a serial killer
Review: What a trip. We all know about the exploits of serial killers and how gruesome they are, but why?? This book may not have all the actual answers as to why (there may not be any), but we can see first hand the twisted and convoluted "rationalizations" and "reasons" that set this killer into motion. Instead of the titillation in having pure evil described in the third person, this book lets us in on the evil decision making.
Rating: 
Summary: Badly written but still stimulating
Review: While the writing sometimes made me wince (especially in its character development and over-use of words such as 'preternaturally') this book is hard to dismiss completely. While it didn't keep me awake at night the way "American Psycho" did, it still desreves credit for its attempt to take on a subject that has challenged psychologists and socioligists alike.
Rating:
Summary: an interesting experiment for Ellroy
Review: While this book certainly has its share of flaws, I have to say I really enjoyed it, simply because it's so different than anything else in Ellroy's catalog. Though it's basically his take on the first-person serial killer novel pioneered by Jim Thompson (The Killer Inside Me) that all noir writers feel driven to attempt at some point in their careers, it has such a different feel than his usual ultra-complex, multi-layered crime fiction that I found it affecting for that alone. Main character Martin Plunkett is a monster, but an extremely intelligent, almost gentile one; in that sense, he's much like some of his other characters - a man low born using his intelligence to affect higher culture. But the resemblance stops there. Plunkett's stark introspection is complimented here by unusually descriptive, even wordy prose - those used to Ellroy's slang-littered, clipped style a la the L.A. Quartet might well wonder if this book was penned by someone else. It flows, ambling along at its own pace, instead of barreling down the mountain at breakneck speed like his other novels. Because of that, some readers have found this novel dull, but I think it's a nice change of pace. As I said, there are flaws. The introduction of another serial killer into Plunkett's universe never quite feels anything other than contrived; Ross Anderson comes off as merely a plot device so Plunkett will have someone that he (a) will betray him and (b) can explore his suppressed homosexuality with. Sometimes Plunkett's lack of focus can seem like it's the fault of the writer, not simple human confusion. And, as another reader points out below, the suicide of the FBI agent who catches Martin seems to come out of the blue. The diaries of the agent indicate some mental unease, but nothing that would drive him toward suicide. While it's not a classic of the genre on the level of Thompson's The Killer Inside Me or Patrick Susskind's Perfume, this is still a worthwhile read, especially for Ellroy enthusiasts.
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