History YMMV / TheLAQuartet

** ''Literature/ThisStorm'': [[OnlyInItForTheMoney Salvador "Salvy" Abascal]], head of the Mexican ''Sinarquista'' party, poses as a fascist to profit off UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Once having participated in a gold heist, Salvy comes to his current office with the proceeds and radicalizes hopeful operatives by demanding they each commit three murders. With thousands enslaved in his plants, Salvy allies with Dudley Smith in a plot to run Mexican and Japanese [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slaves]] to America, along with heroin, to continue lining his pockets. Betraying Dudley, Salvy uses the opportunity to run saboteurs along with their slaves, plotting to eradicate rival fascist factions and violently rob Americans [[{{Greed}} to line his own pockets]].

** ''Literature/LAConfidential'' & ''Literature/{{Perfidia}}'' prequel: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] uses [[VillainWithGoodPublicity his public persona]] as an eccentric, successful businessman to mask his crimes, covering up a series of murders of children by the insane son of a media mogul. Patchett later allows for Japanese attacks during World War II, including Pearl Harbor, and even engineers more, so the festering prejudice will allow him to purchase Japanese-American owned properties cheap. With his Fleur-de-Lis prostitution ring, Patchett pimps to wealthy associates, even having [[WouldHurtAChild young boys and girls]] pose in sexual photos for his depraved clients. Patchett also uses his background in chemistry to modify heroin stolen from Mickey Cohen and create more potent batches to flood the streets and even modifies some doses to have his partner overcome police truth serum. Batches of his new concoctions are tested on one of his runners, and when the man [[YouHaveFailedMe fails]] to kill an investigating police officer, Patchett tortures him by injecting him with a series of bad strains.

** ''Literature/LAConfidential'' & ''Literature/{{Perfidia}}'' prequel: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] uses [[VillainWithGoodPublicity his public persona]] as an eccentric, successful businessman to mask his crimes. Covering up a series of murders of children by the insane son of a media mogul, Patchett also withholds knowledge of Japanese attacks during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, including Pearl Harbor, so the festering prejudice will allow him to purchase Japanese-American owned properties cheap. With his Fleur-de-Lis prostitution ring, Patchett pimps to wealthy associates, even having [[WouldHurtAChild young boys and girls]] pose in sexual photos for his depraved clients. Patchett also uses his background in chemistry to modify heroin stolen from Mickey Cohen and create more potent batches to flood the streets and even modifies some doses to have his partner overcome police truth serum. Batches of his new concoctions are tested on one of his runners, and when the man [[YouHaveFailedMe fails]] to kill an investigating police officer, Patchett tortures him by injecting him with a series of bad strains.

** ''Literature/TheBlackDahlia'': Sergeant Friedrich Charles "Fritz(ie)" Vogel is a DirtyCop whose malice and vileness stand out even in the dark, corrupt halls of the LAPD. A brutal sadist who enjoys "[[ColdBloodedTorture interrogating]]" suspects, Fritzie frequently tortures confessions out of people with no care for if they are truly guilty, simply wanting to accomplish arrests. Going so far as to try to pin the [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Black Dahlia murder]] on an innocent party by torturing a group of men into confession, Fritzie's nastiest act is revealed to be the time he [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped an entire brothel of women]] out of spite because he contracted syphilis while sleeping with hookers. Fritzie spreads the STD to all of the women he raped, and even blinded two of his victims by rubbing his infected genitalia on their eyes.

* CompleteMonster: ''Literature/LAConfidential'' & ''Literature/{{Perfidia}}'' prequel: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] uses [[VillainWithGoodPublicity his public persona]] as an eccentric, successful businessman to mask his crimes. Covering up a series of murders of children by the insane son of a media mogul, Patchett also withholds knowledge of Japanese attacks during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, including Pearl Harbor, so the festering prejudice will allow him to purchase Japanese-American owned properties cheap. With his Fleur-de-Lis prostitution ring, Patchett pimps to wealthy associates, even having [[WouldHurtAChild young boys and girls]] pose in sexual photos for his depraved clients. Patchett also uses his background in chemistry to modify heroin stolen from Mickey Cohen and create more potent batches to flood the streets and even modifies some doses to have his partner overcome police truth serum. Batches of his new concoctions are tested on one of his runners, and when the man [[YouHaveFailedMe fails]] to kill an investigating police officer, Patchett tortures him by injecting him with a series of bad strains.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The books often have BittersweetEnding at best and often are full-on DownerEnding with most of the protagonists being {{Antihero}} verging on VillainProtagonist. That's in addition to the constant barrage of [[DeliberateValuesDissonance period accurate racism, homophobia]], and corruption.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The books often have BittersweetEnding at best and often are full-on DownerEnding with most of the protagonists being {{Antihero}} verging on VillainProtagonist. That's in addition to the constant barrage of period accurate racism, homophobia, and corruption.
* EvilIsCool: No matter what a reprehensible asshole that Dudley Smith is, he's absolutely one of the smartest and most capable characters in the series.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The books often have BittersweetEnding at best and often are full-on DownerEnding with most of the protagonists being {{Antihero}} verging on VillainProtagonist. That's in addition to the constant barrage of period accurate racism, homophobia, and corruption.