The Ascension of Jerry: Business Lies, Hitmen and the Making of an L.A. Muckraker - Hardcover

Jacobs, Chip

4.07

15 ratings by Goodreads

9780983925545: The Ascension of Jerry: Business Lies, Hitmen and the Making of an L.A. Muckraker

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0983925542 ISBN 13: 9780983925545

Publisher: Rare Bird Books, A Vireo Book, 2012

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Bumbling hitmen. Burning corpses. Life in hiding. A threatened son. Jerry Schneiderman's orderly world evaporated when his business partner was executed by an assassin in 1979 Los Angeles, and the buzzard-eyed ringleader soon came for him.

Though the killers behind this murder-for-hire corporation were nabbed, the trauma annihilated Jerry's family and stripped his trust. Recovery only came years later with Jerry's improbable rebirth as a prank-loving activist who defended the weak and made enemies with the rich and powerful.

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About the Author:

Chip Jacobs is the author of five other books: Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; The Vicodin Thieves: Biopysing L.A.’s Grifters, Gloryhounds and Goliaths; The Ascension of Jerry: Murder, Hitmen and the Making of L.A. Muckraker Jerry Schneiderman; Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (with William J. Kelly); and the privately issued Black Wednesday Boys. Jacobs’ reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg View, the Daily News of Los AngelesLA Weekly, among other outlets. Jacobs, the recipient of numerous writing commendations, lives in Southern California. Visit chipjacobs.com to learn more.

Review:

In Chip Jacobs' true-crime, The Ascension of Jerry, we are whisked back to LA’s Kodachrome world of the Seventies. Through the eyes of the protagonist, Jerry, the bright colors and greens of summer” quickly change to the real life black-and-whites of mayhem and murder. But, this is not just another Hollywood Whodunit. In the end we find it is really about one man’s search and struggle to find his own personal truths and redemption. Well written and highly recommended.” Steve Hodel, LAPD Hollywood Homicide detective (ret.) and Bestselling author, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder

Jacobs delivers a seductive tour of an L.A. rife with murder-for-hire plots, political corruption and sociopathic schemes. Against this backdrop the young Schneiderman comes of age, to ultimately emerge as the last man standing. A terrific book I couldn’t put it down!" Stephen Jay Schwartz, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of Boulevard and Beat

Chip Jacobs’ chops as an accomplished newspaperman are on brilliant display in The Ascension of Jerry, a delightfully off-kilter true-crime tale of a hero (sorta) who is neither especially loathsome nor lovable maybe just lucky to get out alive. Jacobs’ prose is intimate, darkly funny, and crisp as he follows the twisted path that leads SoCal businessman Jerry Schneiderman through a series of weird events including crossing paths with some dumb-ass hitmen and some burning corpses only to emerge as a merry prankster with a jones for social activism. (If you haven’t yet deduced that this book is not your Mama’s supermarket true-crime trash, then you’re doing it wrong. But here’s the thing: Jacobs’ ear for a good story is pitch perfect, and he tells it with all the smoggy pastel colors of post-noir LA. The Ascension of Jerry isn’t an old song in a new key, but an entirely new song about crime, fear, and a weird kind of redemption that could only happen in the general vicinity of Hollywood. Jacobs is a genuine writer, not a wannabe scribbler. He knows what makes us keep turning pages. So for those few true-crime readers who like their mayhem served up in a sumptuous story, seek this one out.” Ron Franscell, celebrated true-crime author

"Chip Jacobs uses his boundless reporter’s energy and well-honed sense of Southern California to tell a gripping tale of serial mayhem and the curious life of Jerry Schneiderman. It’s reassuring to see the right writer was paying attention.” David Willman, Los Angeles Times Pulitzer winning investigative reporter and author of The Mirage Man: Bruce Irvins, the Anthrax Attacks, and America’s Rush to War

Chip Jacobs explores the underbelly of an L.A. murder-for-hire ring that leaves many dead and a successful space planner, Jerry Schneiderman, so affected by PTSD that he embarks on a widespread muckraking campaign that targets major political forces in Los Angeles and beyond. Pitched as a roots of Occupy story” (aside from Mark Twain’s, of course), The Ascension of Jerry: Murder, Hitmen, and the Making of L.A. Muckraker Jerry Schneiderman will leave you closing your blinds and forever looking behind your back for the crazed psycho-killer disguised as an ordinary blue collar guy.” Foreword magazine staff pick

The pay for some deals is wonderful, but the drawbacks that can come along with it may be too much to swallow. The Ascension of Jerry: Murder, Hitmen, and the Making of L.A. Muckraker Jerry Schneiderman follows the life of Jerry Schneiderman, whose (space planning) career prospered, then quickly spun out of control when his business (partner) ate a bullet via assassin. Fearing for his life, he was on the run for (months), before he found his life’s calling. The Ascension of Jerry is an enticing true tale of getting one’s life back in the midst of skullduggery, highly recommended.” Midwest Book Review

**Book highlighted on true-crime featurette out with DVD release of Sinister**

**Ascension of Jerry takes silver at Hollywood Book Festival Summer 2012**

**The Ascension of Jerry makes winner circle at 2013 Southern California Book Festival**

**Ascension of Jerry listed in Bookforum as an independent title to watch**

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