Harbinger of Books

Easy Rawlins is a lot desperate. He has lost his job – a good job that allowed him to pay his mortgage and for Easy this is a real problem. Easy loves his house, it seems to represent something that is wholly his and it is part of his pride. So when an acquaintance tells him about a gig where all he has to do is find some woman for $100 it is to good to pass up. Easy knows this is some kind of trap but exactly what kind of trap he is not sure of.

I really enjoyed listening to this book on audio it is pure pleasure. On the one hand this is an excellent novel with fascinating characters. On the other hand this could be considered American Black Noir – assuming there is such a thing. I think Easy is actually a victim he was not a detective when the story begins but on his search for the girl he becomes a suspect.  Easy just wants a nice quite life, I think he wants to put the War (WWII) behind him but he is smart and faces the challenges in front of him head on. I loved that he did not become bitter or resentful. This is not to say he is unscathed but he never become reckless of foolish. I also enjoyed the setting – there was nothing nice about racism and I think Walter Mosley does a great job bringing harsh realities to life through characterization and dialogue without bogging the story down.

There is a lot going on in the book and at times I was a little confused, but in the end it all comes together quite nicely. I liked Easy a lot and I hope we can see more of Mouse and for some reason I want Easy to have a nice woman someone who really loves him.