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constantreader471's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 stars for an interesting private eye mystery. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is an unofficial private investigator. He does "favors" for people. He also owns 3 apartment buildings in Los Angeles, California, purchased with illegally obtained money explained in book 1 in this series. He has put the apartment buildings in the name of a dummy corporation so no one, including the IRS, knows that he owns them. But then he gets a letter from the IRS, telling him that he must come to the IRS office with all his tax returns and explain how he came to purchase these 3 buildings.
He does so, and Agent Lawrence tells Easy that he is going to prosecute Easy for fraud. Then he gets a phone cal from FBI Agent Craxton, who will make the fraud case go away if Easy infiltrates a Black church for him. Craxton is white and Easy is black. Easy agrees to the FBI request and starts down a dangerous road. This book is set in 1950s LA.
In addition, Easy's personal life becomes more complicated, when Etta Mae Harris shows up at his house. Easy and Etta were lovers, but she married Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, Easy's friend and sometimes enemy. Mouse is a very dangerous man, and still in love with Etta, even though they are divorced. Mouse soon shows up, looking for Etta.
How Easy resolves these competing, and sometimes interconnecting, problems makes for an absorbing mystery with a satisfying ending.
This was an inter-library loan book.
He does so, and Agent Lawrence tells Easy that he is going to prosecute Easy for fraud. Then he gets a phone cal from FBI Agent Craxton, who will make the fraud case go away if Easy infiltrates a Black church for him. Craxton is white and Easy is black. Easy agrees to the FBI request and starts down a dangerous road. This book is set in 1950s LA.
In addition, Easy's personal life becomes more complicated, when Etta Mae Harris shows up at his house. Easy and Etta were lovers, but she married Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, Easy's friend and sometimes enemy. Mouse is a very dangerous man, and still in love with Etta, even though they are divorced. Mouse soon shows up, looking for Etta.
How Easy resolves these competing, and sometimes interconnecting, problems makes for an absorbing mystery with a satisfying ending.
This was an inter-library loan book.
bioniclib's review against another edition
5.0
With a pretty major caveat, I believe that Walter Mosley is the Heir of Raymond Chandler. Some of it comes from the setting; they both take place in LA and develop the city to the point where it becomes a character itself. Easy Rawlins' world is a corrupt as Philip Marlowe's. They each are tough but don't have all the answers, something they admit. That admission also ends up causing them to make mistakes. They both are stronger characters because of this humanity. The comparison goes further than characters and can be seen in Mosley's style, he's got a terrific way with words just as Chandler did. Here are some of examples I liked from this book:
"Business is the hardest thing they make. Harder than diamonds." p. 19
"I had forgotten a poor man is never safe." p. 23
"I had taken the position of an innocent man, and that’s the hardest role to play in the presence of an agent of the government." p. 43
"Part of that powerful feeling black people have for Jesus comes from understanding his plight. He was innocent and they crucified him; he lifted his head to the truth and he died. " p. 161
Great stuff. And that last quote gets me around to the caveat: race. Chandler was product of his time; racist. Easy Rawlins is black and that colors the way he sees the world and defines the world he travels in. So there's plenty of condemning of American Society in these books. That gives the story an added dimension to this tale of Easy working for the FBI to spy on a Jew working with the First African Baptist church because he's a suspected Red during the McCarthy Era.
Great Stuff and you don't even need to read the first book in the series before this one.
"Business is the hardest thing they make. Harder than diamonds." p. 19
"I had forgotten a poor man is never safe." p. 23
"I had taken the position of an innocent man, and that’s the hardest role to play in the presence of an agent of the government." p. 43
"Part of that powerful feeling black people have for Jesus comes from understanding his plight. He was innocent and they crucified him; he lifted his head to the truth and he died. " p. 161
Great stuff. And that last quote gets me around to the caveat: race. Chandler was product of his time; racist. Easy Rawlins is black and that colors the way he sees the world and defines the world he travels in. So there's plenty of condemning of American Society in these books. That gives the story an added dimension to this tale of Easy working for the FBI to spy on a Jew working with the First African Baptist church because he's a suspected Red during the McCarthy Era.
Great Stuff and you don't even need to read the first book in the series before this one.
outcolder's review
5.0
Jackson Blue on the McCarthy-era blacklist: "Yo' name ain't on that list, Easy. My name ain't neither. You know why? They don't need yo' name to know you black, Easy. ... One day they gonna th'ow that list away ..." I won't quote the rest because he gets excited and starts using the n-word. How could I not love an Easy Rawlins mystery that involves Jewish Communist Party members, Garvey-ites, and scary bad-asses with names like Mofass? I liked this better than [b:Devil in a Blue Dress|37100|Devil in a Blue Dress|Walter Mosley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168823102s/37100.jpg|1344080], even.
susannekennedy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.75
ebonygemini's review against another edition
Not holding my attention. Couldn't follow the story.
book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars (for violence)
I fell in love with Easy Rawlins after the first book, but now, I'm not so sure. I think I'm not comfortable with the "easy" killing in these books. Still, the writing is first-rate, and they definitely fit the noir genre. I'll keep reading.
I fell in love with Easy Rawlins after the first book, but now, I'm not so sure. I think I'm not comfortable with the "easy" killing in these books. Still, the writing is first-rate, and they definitely fit the noir genre. I'll keep reading.
janefstevens's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Better than the first one in the series. Def a slow burn series, but left me wanting to know what happens next.
bajandiva1's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
laila4343's review against another edition
2.0
Normally I like to start a series at the beginning, but I couldn't get a copy of the first one and decided to just go with it. Mosley does a good job of filling the reader in on the back story. This one was interesting, very hardboiled/noir-ish, good setting in LA in the 1950s. Easy Rawlins is a complicated character, which I appreciate. It felt a bit sexist for me, though - all the women were "begging for it" a little too much. I'm trying to read more authors of color and I knew Mosley is a respected writer with a lot of novels. I might read another one sometime and see if I like it better - maybe it was just this particular novel I didn't like.