It's the tumultuous days of World War II andfrom the mean streets of the Los Angeles barrio to the mansions of the Hollywood Hills the atmosphere is choked with tension. Nathan Younger, an undercover agent, is investigating the brutal murder of two FBI men and the infiltration of zoot-suit gangs by fascists when he crosses paths with Kathleen La Rue, a beautiful apostle of a bizarre religious cult. The search for the killers leads these two improbable lovers along a dangerous trail of heroin pushers, movie stars, and fanatical politicians. Like his lavishly praised novelsRabbit BossandMile Zero, Thomas Sanchez'sZoot-Suit Murderscombines a tautly arched narrative with fiercely visual prose and a starkly revisionist view of the American melting pot.