Reckless: Brief Biographical Timelines

Note: If you've received a copy of the Neo Noir comic book, see my previous post for more info.

Our friend Robert Watson has just posted the latest episode of the Undertow Podcast, where we focus on Follow Me Down, the fifth book in the Reckless series. This is the final book in this particular run as Brubaker and Phillips take a break to publish Night Fever and possibly other books, including perhaps the long-awaited follow-up to The Fade Out.

This seems as good a time as any for me to summarize some notes I've taken, to produce a timeline (or three!) for the main characters and the central location in the series. I'll try to avoid serious spoilers for the Reckless books.

Ethan Reckless

1950-1951, born

With his father in Naval Intelligence, Ethan lived in Sterling Park, Virginia; Berlin, Germany; Oahu, Hawaii; and "half of the 60's" in Gitmo -- Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Ethan was recruited by the FBI to infiltrate radical groups in college, using the alias "Donovan Rush" and working with Special Agent Frank Hancock.

1967-1968, ~age 17, spent his first year in college at UC Berkeley

1971, June, ~age 21, while working undercover, suffered a serious head injury from an explosion

Ethan soon left the FBI, and Ethan's father was never again promoted after 1972.

1975, ~age 25, began working for hire, as an unlicensed private investigator and fixer of problems

1979, ~age 29, befriended Anna

1981, ~age 31, Reckless (book 1)

Ethan revisits coastal town Santa Teresa, an apparently fictional town that was mentioned as a "vacation village" in the Criminal novella My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies.

Ethan stopped speaking with his father around this time; his father died before Christmas, 1984.

Frank Hancock retired from the FBI and suffered a stroke.

1985, Summer, ~age 36, Friend of the Devil

1988, April-August, age 37 (stated explicitly), Destroy All Monsters

1989, November, age 38, The Ghost In You & Follow Me Down

2004, Summer, age 54, concluding chapters to Follow Me Down

c. 2021, about age 71, during the pandemic, Ethan types his memoirs

Anna

1962, born

Anna's father worked as the projectionist at the El Ricardo theater.

1968-1972, ~age 6-10, watched Evilina on local channel 14

1975, age 12 (stated explicitly), father died

Anna's mother Sharon would have a series of unhealthy relationships with boyfriends and husbands.

1979, age 17 (stated explicitly), befriended Ethan; was previously a runaway

1988, age 26 (stated explicitly), had a brief falling out with Ethan, moved to east LA and then back

1989, age 27, works first case as the primary investigator, for Lorna "Evilina" Valentine

Christmas Eve, Sharon marries for at least the third time, with Anna as a bridesmaid.

the El Ricardo theater

The El Ricardo is located on Strand Street in Santa Monica.

1974, closes for the first time

1979, is given to Ethan Reckless by a client; Ethan moves into the theater

1988, is damaged and renovated; Ethan gives the theater to Anna, who reopens it for curated showings

c. 1999, closes for the second time

This second closing may have been prompted by the tragedy mentioned at the end of Destroy All Monsters.