the big sleep

“Chandler & West” pre-order now available

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Front and back covers of "Chandler & West: A Story of Los Angeles" by Jim Nelson

It’s here—the Kindle and paperback editions of my latest novel, Chandler & West: A Story of Los Angeles, may now be reserved on Amazon.

The Kindle edition is available at a special limited-time price of $2.99, which will go up after the book has been released. If you order now, it will appear on your Kindle reader the day of its release (February 9th, 2026).

This is my latest passion project, a novel about two writers I’ve read and studied for many years now. It centers on a fictional meeting of hard-boiled writer Raymond Chandler, banging out the manuscript to his debut The Big Sleep, and Nathanael West, himself working on his own magnum opus The Day of the Locust. Together, they scour the landscape of Los Angeles, 1939, which was a rich and dynamic time in the history of the city.

You can learn more about the novel on Amazon, or by reading its page here on my web site. There’s a sample chapter available for reading as well.

Kindle edition of "Chandler & West: A Story of Los Angeles"

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Read a sample chapter of “Chandler & West”

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Cover of "Chandler & West: A Los Angeles Story"

As announced in my last post, my next novel Chandler & West: A Story of Los Angeles is due to arrive in the first quarter of next year.

It’s a new crime novel about two of Los Angeles’ greatest writers under unusual conditions, while they toil to finish their novels (Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, and Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust).

I’ve now posted a sample chapter from the novel, available to read online. It gives a good taste of what the book’s about, especially as a snapshot of Raymond Chandler’s life around 1939.

If you’d like more information, please consider subscribing to my newsletter. Otherwise, keep watching this space for announcements as the release date approaches.


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