Human Drum

From the introduction:

Sometimes things aren't quite as they seem, people in Los Angeles came to terms with this a long time ago. They've always known that they were just another link in the food chain, and nowhere near the top of it, no matter how hard they shut their eyes and told themselves otherwise. Life in L.A. teaches you to look past the surface and see the truth behind it. Unfortunately, sometimes there is no illusion and what you see is exactly what you get...exactly.