Bad Boy Brawly Brown

Easy Rawlins #7

by Walter Mosley

Trying to locate a family friend who has become involved with a radical resistance group, Easy Rawlins stumbles onto a murder scene only to be named a suspect, and he finds himself exploring a world of betrayal, trying to stay alive. 275,000 first printing.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, African American, Mystery Thriller, Historical Fiction

311 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Walter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Tracy P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC.

[Cheryl James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Easy Rawlins story. I love how smooth he is as he solves the crimes at hand. He always connects with the characters and gets the job done.

On to book #8.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter Mosley is doing something very interesting. Under the guise of writing a series of private eye novels (they really are not) he is chronicling what African-American life was like in important times in America’s recent past. This book examines a group somewhat like the Black Panthers and their deeds and misdeeds. The Easy Rawlins character is an outsider to the group with a deep understanding of African-American culture and the dominant culture that wants to keep Rawlins and those who look like him in the place that white society has allowed for them.

It is helpful to have Rawlins as a knowledgeable semi-outsider to guide readers through the three words of this story and help whiteys like me understand what drives them. The book is flawed because it is not all that interesting as a mystery and takes too long to get to its conclusion. I also grew weary of some of Mosley’s stylistic mannerisms. Still, the book was fresh in many ways, informative, insightful, and mostly very readable. It is a pleasure to discover what Mosley is doing in this series of books.

[Erth · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are treated to a great plot as usual, and I suspect few people will figure out the ending. Mosley appears to know the city of Los Angeles, the setting of this novel, as well as he knew his buddy Mouse.
Mr. Mosley's usual trademarks are here: real flesh and blood characters that rise above those often found in mysteries and a convoluted plot with unexpected twists and turns. Certainly Mosley addresses the race issue. The LA Police Department doesn't come off very well-- and Mr. Mosley wrote this story before the latest scandal of California police officers caught on tape by an amateur photographer for all the world to see.
What I always like best about Mr. Mosley is that he can create a character or a scene with the fewest of words. For example, remember the ugly duckling from high school. "She was the kind of girl who would turn beautiful overnight." Or how about Mosley's description of factory workers that less talented writers would take paragraphs to describe: "They were citizens of a nation that had won the major wars of the century and now they were enjoying the fruits of the victors: mindless labor and enough of anything they wanted to buy."
My only gripe about this book is the dull, uninteresting cover. Certainly this is no criticism of Mr. Mosley-- unless he selected it-- but I would have never been tempted to buy this book had I not known that Mr. Mosley always delivers.

[Monica **can't read fast enough** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable installment in a wonderful series.

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[Zen Cho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter Mosley, you write supah poetic heartbreaking stories and you are sharp and illuminating on race; why you gotta be so relatively gender-faily? I know you are writing noir and all, but still. I think it would help if your narrator -- in fact, every one of your narrators that I've encountered so far -- was not always judging every woman they meet in terms of how sexually attractive they are. Just give this a go, right -- maybe, when your narrators meet a female character or two, they could forget to think about having sex with them. I know it sounds unnatural but I think it might be cool!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mouse is dead ??!? and Easy misses him terribly, Although he adores his kids he is in a slump. Then his friend John asks for a favor.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Easy Rawlins
SETTING: LA - 1964
SERIES: #7 of 12
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Easy Rawlins has settled down, living with a woman he loves and the 2 children, Feather and Jesus, that he has raised. He has a responsible job managing the custodial team at a large school. But he can't say no when a friend's wife asks him to look out for her son, Brawly, who has become involved in a black community movement. Not everyone involved in the cause has noble aims, and there are several murders as a result. Easy Rawlins is not any kind of do-gooder; he finds a way to right wrongs that works for the situation. The doubt about whether his former colleague Mouse is really dead was overdone and not resolved in this book.

[Arlene♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, going about his normal life, still trying to get over the death of his best friend Mouse when a friend of his calls and asks for a favor. This is the moment when Easy should have taken a hard pass on the favor, but being who he is, doing something for someone else perked him up a bit. Now still grieving the loss of his friend, Easy is asked to find Brawly Brown. His mama is looking for him, but he doesn't seem to want to be found. Easy has heard that he has started running with this local group called the First Men or the Urban Revolutionary Party.

"Their voices might have seemed angry to someone who didn't know the gruff bark of the American Negro's soul. Those men and woman were far beyond anger, though. They were expressing a desire for love and revenge and for something that didn't exist - had never existed. That's why they were there. They were going to create freedom to of the sow's ear called America. The believed in the spirit of the Constitution and not the direction of the cash register." (p. 44, Mosley)

Sounds like something familiar huh? That is what really drew me into this story. Being as this is an Easy Rawlins story, you know it's never just as simple as it starts out being. Cop raids, dead bodies, a cache of weapons, 3am phone calls, family secrets, the works. All while Easy is trying to keep his home life safe and on normal progression. I loved it.

Edit/In addition: Of course this book is dripping with race relations and what would be deemed as a "terrorist" group outlook/activities from police eyes, and what it means to be a black man in 1964, rising a family, owning your own home and car. Its crazy the correlation from the police/government activities in a book of fiction have to the daily lives of black folks in 2017 . I think that's what I really love about Mosley's work. It stands the test of time and it can really hit home.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, Easy thinks things through. He never goes with the program unless it's strategic to do so. Right and wrong take a backseat to protecting himself and his loved ones. Only the love of children is pure and trustworthy. Along with some luck Easy ends up helping people in spite of himself. Not bad for a man running every day from personal demons. Each book in the series adds depth to the characters in subtle ways as age and changing times buff the edges and scratches from Easy's heart. This mystery allows Easy to see the differences between a black man of WW II years and those reaching maturity in the 1960's - hope of a place in America where black people aren't simply surviving each day, and learning each man must live with his strengths and limitations.

[Vincent Lombardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Walter Mosley! All of the books in the Easy Rawlins series are page turners, although they are also very gritty and have lots of sex and violence. Mosley is another Raymond Chandler or Ross Macdonald: his books are in the hard-boiled school of crime fiction. Easy Rawlins is a great “detective” and a good person, like Philip Marlowe and Lew Archer, but, like them, he is always battling personal demons. He wants to get away from “the street”, but just can’t seem to quit it.

This is the seventh book that I have read in the Easy Rawlins series. Walter Mosley never disappoints! I intend to read the entire Easy Rawlins series.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Another quality addition to the Easy Rawlins series. It has a little too much going on plot-wise for such a short book but is still a good mystery read. For all the love that Chandler and his imitators get, I still think Walter Mosley does the best job at portraying Los Angeles of anyone who writes LA-based crime novels.

[K2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy does it....lol

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I drove my new used Pontiac with all the windows down and a Chesterfield cigarette between my lips. Somewhere, way in the back of my mind, there was an alarm going off. It was like the uneasy feeling after a nightmare that you can’t remember. The worry had no picture, so it was more like a suspicion than fear. At the same time I was happy to be driving toward someone else’s troubles. The sensation of delight on top of anxiety made me smile. It was a grin that represented a whole lifetime of laughing at pain.

I just love Easy. I don't ever get tired of him. It's funny because I've tried other Mosley books and I didn't really care for them so much (well, Fearless Jones was okay, but really he's just another version of Easy - Fearless is mentioned in this book! Apparently Easy and Fearless crossed paths at some point past... ), but I keep coming back to Easy. It's nice that I'm only halfway through the series, so I've got plenty of good reading still ahead of me.

I never can figure out an Easy Rawlins mystery, they are so twisty-turny, with so many interesting tangents, and I never quite understand all the details of the wrap-up. But I enjoy the ride.

In this book, when Easy figures out that Brawly is an innocent about to be snared by the cops on the trail of the black revolutionaries, he shoots Brawly in the butt to take him out of action, which saves him from the sting. But what I don't understand: John (Brawly's sorta stepfather) said he didn't know where Brawly was. But Brawly came running out of John's building, Easy shot him, and then John ran out to Brawly. So, John was with Brawly? was John lying to Easy? It seems like it, but why would he lie, when he's the one who involved Easy in the first place to go find Brawly???

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In reality, 3.5/3.75. This is a solid read but one of the few where I didn't fully get the mechanics of everything going on, but I did get the emotional heft when more of Bad Bory Brawly's past is revealed. If I think about the rest of the plot more I think it gets clearer. Also, I should've read this immediately after A Little Yellow Dog but instead read in order of release and picked up Gone Fishin'. Doing that ground the momentum to a halt. I love Gone Fishin' and own it now in paperback (no Kindle version as I've read most of these on eBook since the start of the 2020 Pandemic), but now I wish I'd bought it and then read it later in the series, especially since it's a stand-alone prequel anyways.

TL:DR - Some of the story is a little confusing but some of that's my fault but no big deal. The various emotional beats are satisfying to read, and the racial commentary on Black radical and political groups was welcome. I especially enjoy reading the growing dynamics between Easy and his son, Jesus. A solid Rawlins-mystery that I overall enjoyed unraveling. I'm also excited as I'm now halfway through the series.

[James Fant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Storyteller's Storyteller

Another one down. I'm on a journey through all the Easy Rawlins novels and as I read BRAWLY BROWN, I said I might need to take a break. But then I got to the end of the novel and remembered why I started this journey in the first place. Mosley is a storyteller's storyteller and his endings always make sense. His narratives are exciting without going overboard. Also, I've gotta find out what really happened to Mouse. So I'm off to SIX EASY PIECES.

[Laura Hoffman Brauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite one in the series so far -- there was a little more substance to this one. Still love the cast of characters in Rawlins friends and family.

[Tim Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the previous interlude to look at Easy and Mouse's younger years, we're back in 1964. Time between novels is compressing and it seems that will be a trend. Easy is living with Bonnie Shay and she seems to be the woman that he's needed. But he's still not at ease. He's very pensive about the apparent death of Mouse and that is leading him from his comfortable job as a head custodian and back in to the streets. When John, the former bartender turned real estate speculator calls him to find his stepson Brawly, it may be just what Easy needs.

What it does is ends him up in the middle of a revolutionary black power group, The First Man, and at least two groups of police that are keeping an eye on them. Easy finds himself at odds with young blacks, the police and himself.

This is a solid entry. It shines in a number of areas. Mosley has a solid feel for black life in the 60s. And the pressures between the older generation, in this case represented by Easy who lived through the worst of Jim Crow just trying to survive and a younger generation wanting change...now. He also has shows the reactionary forces that made those "good old days" not so damn good for a lot of folks.

It's also nice to see Easy grow, age and evolve. After he almost has a heart attack running from a guy with a gun, he vows to give up smoking. Bonnie, thus far, seems to be a positive addition to the fold. The best part is seeing Easy interact with Jesus and Feather, his adopted children. It's not always pretty, but he's doing his best. And coming from a place of being orphaned at 8 and living on his own shortly thereafter...he's doing pretty well.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The traditional trait of the hardboiled detective is a tough but decent guy who can help everyone except himself. Who gets lost in solving the problems of others. Bad Boy Brawly Brown is the seventh episode in the Easy Rawlins series, if one includes the prequel or origin story Gone Fishin' (1997), and is one of the best. Although Mouse, the most interesting character, is gone, the rest of the familiar cast is present including Easy's children and his new girlfriend. It's now 1964 and Easy is still working for the school district, though those days may be numbered as he's much more interested in helping others than waxing floors. What sets this volume apart is how Mosley balances mystery, family, and the times in a unified whole. Black militancy is on the rise and the reader sees the ambivalence of the community to these sudden changes. At 44 and still sturdy, Easy is finally getting an idea of how to be the man he wants to be. He's senior custodian at a public school, homeowner, taxpayer, and has given up drinking, though he may be getting restless. Mosley's ability to lay a steady beat of social commentary beneath the plot enriches the whole.

[CARLEEN · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my 6th W. Mosley read and it was just alright. This was another tale of Easy helping a friend by tracking down the friend's girlfriend's troubled son who seem to have joined a radical group.

Easy is on the hunt, side-swiping liars and a killer(s) and trying to understand what is going on with his own son Jesus, who wants to drop out of school. Easy is also sad and having horrible nightmares about his best friend, Mouse who is missing and presumed dead....consuming Easy with guilt and remorse.

[Mysticpt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading about Easy and his world. A great character and a pretty good story in 1964 LA with murder,politics,race, good action and dialogue. 4 stars easy 😎

[La Lectora · Rating 2 out of 5]

El libro se lee fácilmente y entretiene y la historia es buena, pero la trama es demasiado simple, no tiene ninguna sorpresa ni intriga , da vueltas a las mismas ideas continuamente y el final es decepcionante...En la lista de los que menos me han gustado de Walter Mosley.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, initial disclaimer; I'm a 63 year old White dude. Several years ago I saw the movie, "Devil in a Blue Dress," with Denzel Washington, a sort of mystery with a background of race relations and the Black experience during the late 40's I believe, with the character of Easy Rawlins introduced. GREAT, I heartily recommend it! Plan to read the book too. Since then I have read alother of Mr. Mosley's, "The Man in My Basement," a weird, more contemporary look at white guilt, but I digress. "Bad Boy Brawley Brown" is another Easy Rawlins mystery, this time set in 1964 L.A., again with the Black experience around the time of the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Walter Mosley weaves a fun, easy-to-read yarn involving the son of a friend, a spinoff of the Black Panthers and people who aren't really who they say they are. I

n the midst of all that are descriptions and hints of what it was like to be Black in 1964, sort of summed up in this passage regarding another friend who owns a restaurant: "In his restaurant he was the king. But on the street he was just another guy, a frightened black man in a world where being black put you below the lowest rung of white society. There were no black men in tuxedos playing the violin at the symphony or elected to the Seate or at the heads of corporations. There were no black men on the board of directors re representing our interests in Africa, and very few cruising up and down Central Avenue in police cars. Black men, as a rule, were not scientists or doctors or professors in college. There was not even one black plilosopher in all the history of the world, as reported by our universities, libraries or newspapers."

In light of the recent presidential election, I think young people of all races but especially Black and White, should read this book, lest we forget. And hey, Mr. Mosley has also written Science Fiction (I'm a big fan), so they are gonna be on my list sometime in the offing.

[Vonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel had much of the smooth-street charm that I remember from others in this series. Given the many changes in Easy’s life, it was a pleasure to see him grow and transition into responsible fatherhood. Still, to my delight Easy hasn’t lost his ability to blend into the streets and return to his “doing favors/street-sleuth” persona. These two aspects of his character are needed to add realism to the story and to fit within the social context of the novel.

Speaking of context, although I wasn’t completely blown away by this mystery’s storyline, I understood that the plot development was used as a device to demonstrate the socio-economic changes occurring in 1960’s Los Angeles. Easy’s search for Brawly allows him (and by extension the reader) to traverse various aspects of the Civil Rights Movement including: the growth of local entrepreneurial pursuits, changes among social hierarchies within Easy’s community and increasing turmoil between law enforcement agencies and activist groups.

As with other novels in this series Mosley continues to develop the overall Easy Rawlins story as well. Readers are left with unresolved feelings about the death of Easy’s friend Mouse and are somewhat haunted by him throughout the story. Due to this haunting I am left educated, entertained and anticipating answers to questions that will hopefully be revealed in the next book in the series, Six Easy Pieces.

If you are new to this series I suggest that you start with Devil in a Blue Dress, the first book in this series. Be forewarned, you will not be able to stop with just one book. These mysteries are addictive!

For more, visit my blog, Honey Lemon Tea. http://honeylemontea.com/2014/01/06/b...

[Dan K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Settled into a happy home life but still haunted by the death of his friend Mouse, Easy Rawlins is once again clawed back into his old sleuthing to help out a friend's son. The tale brings in a new era in LA with references to Vietnam and a semi-convincing black nationalist movement. Unfortunately for the reader, a lot of the characters--and all of the character development--are half-hearted and unconvincing. There were a few good turns of phrase in the book but ultimately the main element is a convoluted conspiracy of a plot. I've enjoyed this series but may have found the end of my interest in it.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid novel though not quite as good as some of his others . . . Mosley is good at conveying everyday life in the Black community in the 1950s and 1960s. People turn to his main character Easy Rawlins when they need someone to discreetly solve a mystery or problem and don't want to go through "normal" channels.

[John Devlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Walter Mosley's character EZ Rawlins is the flipside of all those LA crime noir books that paint the ambivalence and ambiguity through the lens of a white man. EZ has been solving crimes and mysteries since the late forties. Now its the 60's and black radicals are becoming active. EZ must navigate this new strident nationalism while attempting to find the truth in a series of brutal murders.

[Jrobertus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mosley wrote "Devil in a Blue Dress", the first of the Easy Rawlins series. This one is set later, in 1960s LA, but our hero is still helping friends and fighting racism. Here he is looking for Brawley Brown, step son of an old friend, who seems to have fallen in with Black revolutionaries, but it is more complicated than that. The dialog is fast and crisp and it is a fun and diverting read.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of the Easy Rawlins books. I love the way Easy decides to start telling the truth for a change and no one believes him.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story.