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Easy Rawlins #11
Blonde Faith
Easy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Chrismas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning, as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems. The love of his life is marrying another man and his friend Mouse is wanted for the murder of a father of 12. As he's searching for a clue to Christmas Black's whereabouts, two suspicious MPs hire him to find his friend Black on behalf of the U.S. Army. Easy's investigation brings him to Faith Laneer, a blonde woman with a dark past. As Easy begins to put the pieces together, he realizes that Black's dissappearance has its roots in Vietnam, and that Faith might be in a world of danger.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published November 21, 2007
221 people are currently reading
1752 people want to read
About the author
Walter Mosley
202 books3,890 followersWalter 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.
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February 8, 2020
”Most beauty fades upon closer examination. Coarse features, unnoticed awkwardness, false teeth, scars, alcoholism, or just plain dumb; there is an abundance of possible flaws that we might miss on first sight. These blemishes are what we come to love in time. We are drawn to the illusion and stay for the reality that makes up the woman.”
Easy Rawlins always has plenty of problems of his own, but he would much rather focus on other people’s problems. When Easter, daughter of Christmas Black, shows up on his doorstep with very little explanation Easy knows something is wrong. Black is a Vietnam Vet who specialized in Black Ops behind the lines killing and creating mayhem. He became disillusioned with the American reasons for being there and vacillated between coming home or going to work for the Viet Cong. He saved Easy’s life and so there is a debt that must be paid. Besides all Easy was doing was sitting around thinking about Bonnie and thinking about how good that first drink of whiskey would taste.
Bonnie is the love of his life and when I say that I mean from the center of his bone marrow to the inner walls of his heart to the deepest reaches of his brain cells he loves this woman. Soul deep love.
She is marrying another man.
And it is 80% Easy’s fault.
He kicked her out. He didn’t call her. The heady concoction of pride, jealousy, and anger cloud the mind turning a Jekyll into a Hyde or a morose private detective into a stubborn miserable mule.
”Love don’t work on the clock.”
His best friend Mouse is also missing. Accused of killing a man who turns out to be very much alive. His relationship with Mouse is complicated. I’ll let Easy explain it. ”I try to save the lives that Mouse would take--that was one of my self-appointed duties in life.”
Mouse is a stone cold killer. No hesitation. They knew each other back in Texas. They share secrets that are only carried by the two of them. They are bonded on a level that makes easy...well...uneasy. He is probably the only person who can step between Mouse and a man he is intent on killing with any expectation to survive. The movie Devil in a Blue Dress which is based on the very first published Easy Rawlins story and also the first Walter Mosley novel is fantastic. Don Cheadle plays Mouse and he absolutely steals the show every time he appears on screen. Denzel Washington plays Easy. The movie is full of one liners that my son and I love to toss back and forth to each other. It is absolutely tragic that the Easy Rawlins story line did not become a movie franchise.
As Easy keeps turning over rocks he also starts finding bodies. Anytime Christmas Black or Mouse are involved in an equation it usually adds up to high body counts. Easy finds temptation in the extraordinary beauty of the blonde Venus named Faith, in the grace and elegance of Tourmaline Goss, and also in the delicate arms of Mouse’s lovely Asian mistress. Any one of these connections could prove fatal. Easy has had his stupid moments when it comes to women, but self-preservation kept him from embracing sure death by accepting the invitation of Mouse’s girlfriend.
There are men posing as soldiers who throw money around like criminals. There is the usual gauntlet of racism that Easy has to hurdle everyday living in Los Angeles in 1967. The Watts Riots are still fresh in everyone’s mind and the wariness and the tension between races is at an all time high. Many believe that the Watts Riots was the key turning point in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. In previous books Easy might back down and become conciliatory to powerful white men he came into contact with. In this book he ain’t backing down. His attitude has changed since the Riots. He is tired of waiting for social change. All of this isn’t helped by the fact that Bonnie is not waiting for him at home. Her presence encouraged caution with his actions. When she was around he always felt like he had a lot more to live for.
There is a lot to admire about Easy. He started out as an unlicensed private investigator due more to circumstances than a desire to be a gumshoe. He is curious and has a natural tendency to want to right wrongs. He saved his money and invested in real estate using a white man, whom he’d helped out of jam, to be his representative with the real estate agents, property owners, and banks. We see him over the years lose all this, and rebuild it again. He takes in stray kids and raises several of them as if they were his own. He stands toe to toe with the most powerful men in the city sometimes by being a proud black man, but sometimes by being what they expect him to be...ignorant. He takes advantage of their fear and of their prejudices.
When Bill Clinton was president he was caught carrying around a copy of a Walter Mosley book on vacation or may have even mentioned his name in an interview. (It was such a pleasure having a president who read books in the White House.) I can’t remember what precisely happened, but we experienced an explosion of requests for Mosley’s books in the bookstore I was working at. For many years when people asked me for a mystery recommendation he was always one of my first suggestions. Many came back and bought more of his books, but I can still remember this one guy coming back in and asking if I could recommend a mystery that didn’t have a BLACK detective. *Sigh*
Black, white, yellow, brown, purple please try them all.
I would suggest, if you are interested in reading a Walter Mosley to go back to the beginning and start with Devil in a Blue Dress. This book is a 3 star book as a standalone, but was a 3.5 star book for me because I’ve spent so much time with Easy. There is something to be said about knowing somebody well enough that his victories become your celebrations and his failures sting as if they happened to you.
Easy Rawlins always has plenty of problems of his own, but he would much rather focus on other people’s problems. When Easter, daughter of Christmas Black, shows up on his doorstep with very little explanation Easy knows something is wrong. Black is a Vietnam Vet who specialized in Black Ops behind the lines killing and creating mayhem. He became disillusioned with the American reasons for being there and vacillated between coming home or going to work for the Viet Cong. He saved Easy’s life and so there is a debt that must be paid. Besides all Easy was doing was sitting around thinking about Bonnie and thinking about how good that first drink of whiskey would taste.
Bonnie is the love of his life and when I say that I mean from the center of his bone marrow to the inner walls of his heart to the deepest reaches of his brain cells he loves this woman. Soul deep love.
She is marrying another man.
And it is 80% Easy’s fault.
He kicked her out. He didn’t call her. The heady concoction of pride, jealousy, and anger cloud the mind turning a Jekyll into a Hyde or a morose private detective into a stubborn miserable mule.
”Love don’t work on the clock.”
His best friend Mouse is also missing. Accused of killing a man who turns out to be very much alive. His relationship with Mouse is complicated. I’ll let Easy explain it. ”I try to save the lives that Mouse would take--that was one of my self-appointed duties in life.”
Mouse is a stone cold killer. No hesitation. They knew each other back in Texas. They share secrets that are only carried by the two of them. They are bonded on a level that makes easy...well...uneasy. He is probably the only person who can step between Mouse and a man he is intent on killing with any expectation to survive. The movie Devil in a Blue Dress which is based on the very first published Easy Rawlins story and also the first Walter Mosley novel is fantastic. Don Cheadle plays Mouse and he absolutely steals the show every time he appears on screen. Denzel Washington plays Easy. The movie is full of one liners that my son and I love to toss back and forth to each other. It is absolutely tragic that the Easy Rawlins story line did not become a movie franchise.
As Easy keeps turning over rocks he also starts finding bodies. Anytime Christmas Black or Mouse are involved in an equation it usually adds up to high body counts. Easy finds temptation in the extraordinary beauty of the blonde Venus named Faith, in the grace and elegance of Tourmaline Goss, and also in the delicate arms of Mouse’s lovely Asian mistress. Any one of these connections could prove fatal. Easy has had his stupid moments when it comes to women, but self-preservation kept him from embracing sure death by accepting the invitation of Mouse’s girlfriend.
There are men posing as soldiers who throw money around like criminals. There is the usual gauntlet of racism that Easy has to hurdle everyday living in Los Angeles in 1967. The Watts Riots are still fresh in everyone’s mind and the wariness and the tension between races is at an all time high. Many believe that the Watts Riots was the key turning point in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. In previous books Easy might back down and become conciliatory to powerful white men he came into contact with. In this book he ain’t backing down. His attitude has changed since the Riots. He is tired of waiting for social change. All of this isn’t helped by the fact that Bonnie is not waiting for him at home. Her presence encouraged caution with his actions. When she was around he always felt like he had a lot more to live for.
There is a lot to admire about Easy. He started out as an unlicensed private investigator due more to circumstances than a desire to be a gumshoe. He is curious and has a natural tendency to want to right wrongs. He saved his money and invested in real estate using a white man, whom he’d helped out of jam, to be his representative with the real estate agents, property owners, and banks. We see him over the years lose all this, and rebuild it again. He takes in stray kids and raises several of them as if they were his own. He stands toe to toe with the most powerful men in the city sometimes by being a proud black man, but sometimes by being what they expect him to be...ignorant. He takes advantage of their fear and of their prejudices.
When Bill Clinton was president he was caught carrying around a copy of a Walter Mosley book on vacation or may have even mentioned his name in an interview. (It was such a pleasure having a president who read books in the White House.) I can’t remember what precisely happened, but we experienced an explosion of requests for Mosley’s books in the bookstore I was working at. For many years when people asked me for a mystery recommendation he was always one of my first suggestions. Many came back and bought more of his books, but I can still remember this one guy coming back in and asking if I could recommend a mystery that didn’t have a BLACK detective. *Sigh*
Black, white, yellow, brown, purple please try them all.
I would suggest, if you are interested in reading a Walter Mosley to go back to the beginning and start with Devil in a Blue Dress. This book is a 3 star book as a standalone, but was a 3.5 star book for me because I’ve spent so much time with Easy. There is something to be said about knowing somebody well enough that his victories become your celebrations and his failures sting as if they happened to you.
January 6, 2025
Another Mosley Page-Turner.
My only qualm with Blonde Faith is (unfortunately) Mouse wasn't on the scene until way past the eighty percent mark. More Mouse(isms) would have added some much appreciated levity and balance for Easy's incessant rage, sorrows and self-condemnation.
Deep, dark, and (always) educational.
My only qualm with Blonde Faith is (unfortunately) Mouse wasn't on the scene until way past the eighty percent mark. More Mouse(isms) would have added some much appreciated levity and balance for Easy's incessant rage, sorrows and self-condemnation.
Deep, dark, and (always) educational.
August 4, 2021
Book 11
No one solves a crime like my Easy breezy Rawlins. So much knowledge, so much history, and defintely not afraid to go after the bad guys in a cool sexy way💖
Walter Mosley, you rock!!
No one solves a crime like my Easy breezy Rawlins. So much knowledge, so much history, and defintely not afraid to go after the bad guys in a cool sexy way💖
Walter Mosley, you rock!!
March 7, 2018
Another solid addition to the Easy Rawlins series.
I've read books from three of Walter Mosley's series and private detective Rawlins is so far my favorite character. He's old shoe comfort, easy like Sunday morning, and a good mix of thoughtful and tough. His courage makes sense and his honor is admirable.
I really like that these books are set just after LA's Watts riots of '65 when the city was in racial tumult. It adds tension to just about every scene.
Blonde Faith has a more convoluted plot than others in the series that I've read and I dug it. It played well off of Easy's concerns for his family.
Strongly recommended.
I've read books from three of Walter Mosley's series and private detective Rawlins is so far my favorite character. He's old shoe comfort, easy like Sunday morning, and a good mix of thoughtful and tough. His courage makes sense and his honor is admirable.
I really like that these books are set just after LA's Watts riots of '65 when the city was in racial tumult. It adds tension to just about every scene.
Blonde Faith has a more convoluted plot than others in the series that I've read and I dug it. It played well off of Easy's concerns for his family.
Strongly recommended.
March 26, 2021
I read this out of order because it was available to listen to, as few are on my streaming service, but I may just have to read them in order in the standard paperback way! Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins is a private detective in 1967 LA post the 1965 Watts riots, and is worth reading just for the blunt reflections on what it meant to be a black man in America in the sixties. Easy stands up to the abuse each time he faces it.
“—I was an American citizen too; a citizen who had to watch his step, a citizen who had to distrust the police and the government, public opinion, and even the history taught in schools. It was odd that such negative thoughts would invigorate me. But knowing the truth, no matter how bad it was, gave you some chance, a little bit of an edge.”
There's also reflections on the Vietnam War, as Easy is a vet, as his friend Mouse. So in part because of the times, Easy is sad/mad, but he is also sad because he kicked out the (unfaithful) love of his life, Bonnie. So there is heartbreak throughout that he might have been able to work through:
“if I had only picked up a telephone and spoken my heart.”
Since Bonnie is now engaged to the man she left Easy for, Easy takes solace in the beds of several women. Male wish-fulfillment volume, as women sort of amusingly melt around him. Easy is a reader, so there's quotes from his reading throughout. All the white folks underestimate him, assume he is not smart, but we know better. The dialogue is often terrific. I'd say this was a 3.5 for me, though I might like it better if I read them all in order, which I am considering.
“—I was an American citizen too; a citizen who had to watch his step, a citizen who had to distrust the police and the government, public opinion, and even the history taught in schools. It was odd that such negative thoughts would invigorate me. But knowing the truth, no matter how bad it was, gave you some chance, a little bit of an edge.”
There's also reflections on the Vietnam War, as Easy is a vet, as his friend Mouse. So in part because of the times, Easy is sad/mad, but he is also sad because he kicked out the (unfaithful) love of his life, Bonnie. So there is heartbreak throughout that he might have been able to work through:
“if I had only picked up a telephone and spoken my heart.”
Since Bonnie is now engaged to the man she left Easy for, Easy takes solace in the beds of several women. Male wish-fulfillment volume, as women sort of amusingly melt around him. Easy is a reader, so there's quotes from his reading throughout. All the white folks underestimate him, assume he is not smart, but we know better. The dialogue is often terrific. I'd say this was a 3.5 for me, though I might like it better if I read them all in order, which I am considering.
October 18, 2018
Six years passed between this one and book twelve, I assumed Mosley was done with this character and now i’ve read Blonde Faith I think it’s fair to say that whilst the usual quality story and societal observation is readily available there was also an attempt at a little bit of wish fulfillment for the author and his protagonist. His conquests are at Jack Reacher levels for example, every woman he meets wants to get to know Little Easy, and all the great supporting characters in his life (and some of their plot points) from the past ten books get brought up in some way. So now i’m intrigued by the idea of the much later book twelve, what idea that simply could not be ignored drove Mosley back to the well? Maybe I won’t wait another year to find out.
April 4, 2023
“Most of my days went like that. Maybe 15 or 20 percent of the white people I met tried to get a leg up over me. It wasn’t the majority of folks – but it sure felt like it.”
Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins books are books I can count on. And they just keep getting better the deeper the series gets. Rawlins is a complicated man and his success as a private eye is not due to immense physical size or military training, but rather his psyche, his internal engine. Mosley does not shy away from delving into what makes that engine tick, what drives a person to brave brave danger, seek justice, and in the process maybe exorcise personal demons.
Easy Rawlins is a Black man in late 1960’s L.A. a time and place of change on some levels but not on others. Easy himself is a mix of forward thinking and traditional. Mosley infuses his novel with this feeling “I parked half on asphalt and half on hard soil.”
Blonde Faith, is the 11th in the series, it stands out due its brilliant rendering of the complex emotions of a man, just a man, in his late 40s trying to do the right thing. Reading this, I was reminded of an interview in which George Harrison was ask the question “but John Lennon was no Saint was he?” Harrison replies. “No, but he was.” People who put it on the line trying to do the right thing are celebrated in this book. They are heroic. And they are seen that way by the people whose lives they have changed. One character that I think everyone looks forward to appearing in these books is his childhood friend Raymond “Mouse“ Alexander.
“When the sun went down or the cell door slammed, the law no longer applied to our citizenry. In that world, a man like Raymond “Mouse“ Alexander. was Achilles, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh, all rolled into one.”
Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins books are books I can count on. And they just keep getting better the deeper the series gets. Rawlins is a complicated man and his success as a private eye is not due to immense physical size or military training, but rather his psyche, his internal engine. Mosley does not shy away from delving into what makes that engine tick, what drives a person to brave brave danger, seek justice, and in the process maybe exorcise personal demons.
Easy Rawlins is a Black man in late 1960’s L.A. a time and place of change on some levels but not on others. Easy himself is a mix of forward thinking and traditional. Mosley infuses his novel with this feeling “I parked half on asphalt and half on hard soil.”
Blonde Faith, is the 11th in the series, it stands out due its brilliant rendering of the complex emotions of a man, just a man, in his late 40s trying to do the right thing. Reading this, I was reminded of an interview in which George Harrison was ask the question “but John Lennon was no Saint was he?” Harrison replies. “No, but he was.” People who put it on the line trying to do the right thing are celebrated in this book. They are heroic. And they are seen that way by the people whose lives they have changed. One character that I think everyone looks forward to appearing in these books is his childhood friend Raymond “Mouse“ Alexander.
“When the sun went down or the cell door slammed, the law no longer applied to our citizenry. In that world, a man like Raymond “Mouse“ Alexander. was Achilles, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh, all rolled into one.”
February 4, 2021
3 1/2 stars
One of the tastier slices from the incredibly fulfilling pie that is the Easy Rawlins universe. Confusion, mystery and eminent danger engulf Mr Rawlins this time out, and his need to find the missing person he was hired to locate only helps complicate things. Hold on to your hats y'all because this here is one bumpy ride!!!
Runonoutandgogetyousomeofthisrighthereyo
One of the tastier slices from the incredibly fulfilling pie that is the Easy Rawlins universe. Confusion, mystery and eminent danger engulf Mr Rawlins this time out, and his need to find the missing person he was hired to locate only helps complicate things. Hold on to your hats y'all because this here is one bumpy ride!!!
Runonoutandgogetyousomeofthisrighthereyo
July 9, 2021
4.5. This Easy Rawlings novel, published in 2007, has a complex plot that is difficult to summarize in a few words. It starts with Christmas Black leaving his adoptive daughter at Easy’s house with no explanation. Christmas doesn’t ask for Easy’s help, but Easy takes it upon himself to find out what is going on. At the same time, EttaMae asks for Easy’s help in finding Mouse, who is wanted by the police for murder. Mrs. Pericles Tarr has reported that Mouse has killed her husband, although no body has been found (although if Mouse did kill him, no body would be found).
Easy decides to tackle both these cases simultaneously and, as a consequence, Easy’s movements are rather difficult to follow. While Easy is tracking down Christmas, he runs into three uniformed soldiers — a black captain and two white military policemen. Easy suspects that these men are bogus, and sets about discovering exactly who they are.
At the same time, Easy follows the tracks of Pericles Tarr, who (it appears) has been unhappy in his marriage to a careworn woman, a marriage that has produced a dozen “ugly” children. When Easy finally finds Pericles, he discovers that rather than killing him, Mouse has been helping him find a way to escape from his unhappy marriage.
Meanwhile, by following the tracks of Christmas, Easy meets Blonde Faith, who tells him what the former army men have done and why they are so dangerous.
The two cases that Easy has been following are not related in any way except that when Easy finds Christmas, he also finds Mouse, who is helping Christmas. Easy solves both their problems in a quick, and unique manner. For some readers, it appears to have been too quick — a blink and you’ll miss it solution.
But the genius of a Walter Mosley novel is not the plot, but the atmosphere — the travails of a black man living in LA in 1967, where he is constantly stopped by white police officers and by other white men who put obstacles in his progress towards uncovering the truth. Mosley is also a master of dialogue. The conversation between Easy and “Captain Clarence Miles” in Chapter 6 — two black men trying to outsmart each other by varying their use of different words for black man — should be read over and over again by aspiring writers. Also, Mosley uses grammar to convey the type of person who is speaking. For example, when Easy finds Mouse, Mouse says: “I thought you said you was lookin’ for me.” — “you was lookin’” rather than the grammatically correct “you were looking”. Whenever he speaks, Mouse uses this vernacular dialect, although neither Easy nor Christmas do.
So, why 4.5 stars rather than 5. Because throughout the novel, Easy moans about Bonnie, who has left him, whining to such a degree that it is irritating to the reader. This was supposed to be the last Easy Rollins novel (and in fact, Mosley didn’t write another for six years, whereas previously he had published a new Easy Rollins book every one or two years). Bonnie obviously represented something to the author, but to this reader, his groans about her were simply an irritant.
Easy decides to tackle both these cases simultaneously and, as a consequence, Easy’s movements are rather difficult to follow. While Easy is tracking down Christmas, he runs into three uniformed soldiers — a black captain and two white military policemen. Easy suspects that these men are bogus, and sets about discovering exactly who they are.
At the same time, Easy follows the tracks of Pericles Tarr, who (it appears) has been unhappy in his marriage to a careworn woman, a marriage that has produced a dozen “ugly” children. When Easy finally finds Pericles, he discovers that rather than killing him, Mouse has been helping him find a way to escape from his unhappy marriage.
Meanwhile, by following the tracks of Christmas, Easy meets Blonde Faith, who tells him what the former army men have done and why they are so dangerous.
The two cases that Easy has been following are not related in any way except that when Easy finds Christmas, he also finds Mouse, who is helping Christmas. Easy solves both their problems in a quick, and unique manner. For some readers, it appears to have been too quick — a blink and you’ll miss it solution.
But the genius of a Walter Mosley novel is not the plot, but the atmosphere — the travails of a black man living in LA in 1967, where he is constantly stopped by white police officers and by other white men who put obstacles in his progress towards uncovering the truth. Mosley is also a master of dialogue. The conversation between Easy and “Captain Clarence Miles” in Chapter 6 — two black men trying to outsmart each other by varying their use of different words for black man — should be read over and over again by aspiring writers. Also, Mosley uses grammar to convey the type of person who is speaking. For example, when Easy finds Mouse, Mouse says: “I thought you said you was lookin’ for me.” — “you was lookin’” rather than the grammatically correct “you were looking”. Whenever he speaks, Mouse uses this vernacular dialect, although neither Easy nor Christmas do.
So, why 4.5 stars rather than 5. Because throughout the novel, Easy moans about Bonnie, who has left him, whining to such a degree that it is irritating to the reader. This was supposed to be the last Easy Rollins novel (and in fact, Mosley didn’t write another for six years, whereas previously he had published a new Easy Rollins book every one or two years). Bonnie obviously represented something to the author, but to this reader, his groans about her were simply an irritant.
December 26, 2007
well i finished this. it wasn't entirely easy (ha ha) because it's a dark, bitter novel about personal failure and social dysfunction. that people survive at all is due to occasional encounters with the milk of human kindness, in the form mainly of a) adorable little girls, b) women who are generous with their natural gifts and c) easy rawlins. too bad that easy rawlins seems to be pretty much at the end of his tether. one less source of kindness in the world.
mosley's indictment of the pervasiveness of racism is as biting and effective as always. what strikes me as a new note is a deep weariness with the business of living -- loving, losing, trying to do the right thing, losing again. i'm coming away from this thinking that maybe it ain't worth it, even though i know know know that it is.
mosley inhabits the language of the easy rawlins story with great ease and casual elegance, blindsiding us now and them with strokes of jaw-dropping brilliance. some of the dialogue is so dead on, you want to make a handout of it for your racism 101 class.
mosley's indictment of the pervasiveness of racism is as biting and effective as always. what strikes me as a new note is a deep weariness with the business of living -- loving, losing, trying to do the right thing, losing again. i'm coming away from this thinking that maybe it ain't worth it, even though i know know know that it is.
mosley inhabits the language of the easy rawlins story with great ease and casual elegance, blindsiding us now and them with strokes of jaw-dropping brilliance. some of the dialogue is so dead on, you want to make a handout of it for your racism 101 class.
January 8, 2019
I'm saying this for almost every installment in this series and I'm going to say it again. This series is absolutely wonderful! Easy is a wonderfully complicated and relatable character. Easily one of my all time favorite characters.
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Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
You can find me at:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
June 29, 2022
The book's mystery plot is nicely and cleanly resolved. But what will become of Easy? That question awaits its answer - if any - on another day.
September 28, 2008
I first heard of Walter Mosley back about the time Bill Clinton was elected President, the first time. In some interview or another he said that his favorite write was Walter Mosley. Usually when a politician is asked for their favorite book or author they answer with something that makes them sound religious (The Bible) or smart somehow (some old Greek dude). I was sort of intrigued by Clinton’s answer so I checked for Mosley at the library. Most of his books are about a black guy in L.A. (Easy Rawlins) who does detective work. At the start of the series he isn’t licensed but in this book he is.
The cover of this one says it’s the 10th Easy Rawlins book. I’m not sure if I have read em all, but I’ve read most of them. A movie was made of the first one, I think. Devil in a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington as Easy and Don Cheadle as his dangerous buddy, Mouse (I think Don stole the movie too, he’s great). Unfortunately they didn’t make any more Easy Rawlins movies. I think it would have been a good franchise series.
The cover of this one says it’s the 10th Easy Rawlins book. I’m not sure if I have read em all, but I’ve read most of them. A movie was made of the first one, I think. Devil in a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington as Easy and Don Cheadle as his dangerous buddy, Mouse (I think Don stole the movie too, he’s great). Unfortunately they didn’t make any more Easy Rawlins movies. I think it would have been a good franchise series.
July 8, 2023
After reading 11 Rawlins novels, I have come to see that, far more than being good detective/crime stories, this series explores the mind of a Black man in a white world, here in the US. I have no delusions of truly understanding all that could mean, but I sincerely do believe that I have a better understanding than I did. The stories are very good, but it's the psychology of the characters that runs above virtually any other series I have read.
May 4, 2011
I couldn't finish this. It was so much moping about Bonnie who he loved dearly but just couldn't call in a whole year. And it was very slow, at least to where I stopped listening to it. After reading all the great reviews, I wonder if I should give it another chance. But I don't think so. The names annoyed me too, although I could get past them if the story was better.
May 11, 2021
Well I think I am finished with Easy Rawlins books (and he may be finished with all of us). I got tired of the constant regretful moaning about kicking Bonnie, his one true love, out of his life and then essentially seducing every female character in the book, including much younger women, punctuated by episodes of violence. I guess this is a "guy" series.
May 31, 2019
I grew up on Easy Rawlins. Reading the new book was like visiting my mom at home! It was a blast!! I hope this becomes a show one day!!
January 5, 2016
I'm usually a fan but the way every woman Easy met was a knockout who happened to want him (see Etta Mae, Faith, Tourmaline, Chevette, Belinda, etc) really put me off, made the story unrealistic. Easy is a bitter aging man who is eaten up inside with regret- how is he irresistible to every female he comes across?
The women in this book really lacked nuance of any kind and there's a point when he goes on and on about Leafa, the special good looking child. Too bad her other siblings were just noisy ugly background characters.
In fact anyone not gifted with beauty in this book seems to get pretty shafted, an odd choice for a noir series with a sociological bent. Really detracted from Easy's depth that he saw the world in such a shallow way.
The women in this book really lacked nuance of any kind and there's a point when he goes on and on about Leafa, the special good looking child. Too bad her other siblings were just noisy ugly background characters.
In fact anyone not gifted with beauty in this book seems to get pretty shafted, an odd choice for a noir series with a sociological bent. Really detracted from Easy's depth that he saw the world in such a shallow way.
February 18, 2018
This book was written about the 1960s in Southern California. In that time period I was a high school girl in Northern California. It was really interesting to experience what EZ felt and how he was treated when I knew no Black people. His characters were well draw and relateable. I enjoyed the complexity of his tale.
2/4/18 re-read, time to clear my book shelves. He writes a fair thriller
2/4/18 re-read, time to clear my book shelves. He writes a fair thriller
July 10, 2016
I like his writing and his unique use of language. Easy is a great character but this one seems to just be too much. Overly convoluted and sometimes hard to follow. Easy's angst over his lost love grew tedious, his fall(s) from a variety of graces were all over the place and the ending was ridiculous. Might go back to some of the older ones.
November 8, 2008
P.I. Easy Rawlins tenth outing finds author Walter Mosley again in fine form. Multi-layered narrative with Easy's astute observations on race relations in 1967 L.A. Solid plot and great dialogue, the usual trademarks are intact.
March 20, 2014
This book was amazing. As always, Mosley's poignant statements on race in America hit hard. I loved this book all the way to the bitter end. This may be my favorite in the Easy Rawlins series (right next to Little Scarlet & Little Yellow Dog)
November 29, 2007
Easy Rawlins goes out on a high note, though I surely do wish we might see him again someday.
September 5, 2021
pretty good, somewhat difficult to follow
September 10, 2024
Having finished #11 in Mosely’s Easy Rawlins series, I’m at a loss to explain why I like these books so much since detective fiction isn’t one of my favorite genres. But I keep coming back for more and it’s probably because I’m so drawn to the character of Easy, the hard core black private investigator and his tough, (often brutally tough) friends with reputations for mayhem and violence as well as a fierce loyalty to one another and anyone else who has been treated unjustly.
Easy (Ezekiel) Rawlins is a WWII veteran with no formal training in law enforcement but with a talent for taking it into his own hands whenever someone in the black community is in trouble or has been treated unfairly. And that happens all the time especially since all the books I’ve read so far have been set in Los Angeles, primarily in the Watts neighborhood during the sixties.
This one is set in 1967 and Easy is living with his 11-year-old daughter, Feather, while having been left to care for Easter Dawn the 8-year-old daughter of his good friend (and former Green Beret,) Christmas Black who hasn’t offered any explanation about the trouble he’s in. Easy discovers that it involves some former servicemen who were involved in drug smuggling in Vietnam. Easy elicits the help of his violently dependable friend Mouse and ends up having to clear him of murder. While all this is going on Easy struggles with his regret over ending his relationship with the love of his life, Bonnie Shay who has become engaged to an African prince. The novel ends with a cliffhanger in the form of a gruesome automobile accident that leaves readers assuming Easy couldn’t possibly have survived.
In addition to the colorful characters and the kind of lives they live, I like these books because Mosely pulls no punches when describing what black men and women had to put up with – and in many cases still do – in a world where they “had to be able to see around the corner to ensure their safety.” As Easy says, black folks of his generation “lived in a world where many people believed that laws dealt with all citizens equally, but that belief wasn’t held by my people.”
Anyone who’s offended by the kinds of diversion Easy seeks in the beds of the various women he can’t resist,(“she had one of those figures that made you look away in modesty,”) should definitely stay away from these books because the bedroom scenes leave little to the imagination. But it would be a shame to let that stop anyone from getting to know Easy Rawlins and the trouble he gets himself in and out of.
Easy (Ezekiel) Rawlins is a WWII veteran with no formal training in law enforcement but with a talent for taking it into his own hands whenever someone in the black community is in trouble or has been treated unfairly. And that happens all the time especially since all the books I’ve read so far have been set in Los Angeles, primarily in the Watts neighborhood during the sixties.
This one is set in 1967 and Easy is living with his 11-year-old daughter, Feather, while having been left to care for Easter Dawn the 8-year-old daughter of his good friend (and former Green Beret,) Christmas Black who hasn’t offered any explanation about the trouble he’s in. Easy discovers that it involves some former servicemen who were involved in drug smuggling in Vietnam. Easy elicits the help of his violently dependable friend Mouse and ends up having to clear him of murder. While all this is going on Easy struggles with his regret over ending his relationship with the love of his life, Bonnie Shay who has become engaged to an African prince. The novel ends with a cliffhanger in the form of a gruesome automobile accident that leaves readers assuming Easy couldn’t possibly have survived.
In addition to the colorful characters and the kind of lives they live, I like these books because Mosely pulls no punches when describing what black men and women had to put up with – and in many cases still do – in a world where they “had to be able to see around the corner to ensure their safety.” As Easy says, black folks of his generation “lived in a world where many people believed that laws dealt with all citizens equally, but that belief wasn’t held by my people.”
Anyone who’s offended by the kinds of diversion Easy seeks in the beds of the various women he can’t resist,(“she had one of those figures that made you look away in modesty,”) should definitely stay away from these books because the bedroom scenes leave little to the imagination. But it would be a shame to let that stop anyone from getting to know Easy Rawlins and the trouble he gets himself in and out of.
October 18, 2018
It's so repetitive to say Walter Mosley has done it again, but damnit Walter Mosley has done it AGAIN! You know the scenario Easy is hired and not to find missing persons (this time his friend Christmas Black) a woman (who surprisingly has blonde hair) AND a missing Mouse (his killa best friend) he finds deception, women nightmares and dead bodies along the way.
Easy is still dealing with his personal drama from losing Bonnie, the love of his life to another man and trying to be a father to his kids, a grandfather to his grandchild and the ever growing number of people living in his house. Easy is living a sad life and in the end may have lost his own life. (Ssssh!)
SIDE NOTE: Does anyone else notice how each Easy Rawlins novel depicts the meals that Easy or a family member prepares? or eats? It's always a delicious or weird combination of food.
Easy is still dealing with his personal drama from losing Bonnie, the love of his life to another man and trying to be a father to his kids, a grandfather to his grandchild and the ever growing number of people living in his house. Easy is living a sad life and in the end may have lost his own life. (Ssssh!)
SIDE NOTE: Does anyone else notice how each Easy Rawlins novel depicts the meals that Easy or a family member prepares? or eats? It's always a delicious or weird combination of food.
June 28, 2021
Ambientada en los años 60 tras los disturbios de Watts, es una novela triste, amarga porque el protagonista está harto de esperar un cambio que nunca llegó para la dura situación de los negros. Al parecer iba a ser la última de la serie por lo que en una narración lenta e intimista , y a veces repetitiva, Easy recuerda a sus viejos amigos y hace balance. Me gusta este autor porque en sus novelas explora la vida y la mente de un hombre negro en el mundo de la supremacía blanca de los EE. UU. Como en otros libros hay una historia central e historias paralelas que se van cerrando, lo que hace que la trama sea bastante irregular y, además, liosa por el exceso de nombres , la ambientación social e histórica son muy buenas y de vez en cuando hay frases casi poéticas .Me ha gustado, no es el mejor de la serie pero está bien, y me alegro que haya más libros de Easy y Mouse.
February 5, 2019
Set in the context of the recent Watts riots in LA, this mystery had all of the fun of a standard private dick story, with some critical race stuff thrown in for good measure. The women were flat as can be, which is also standard for the private eye trope, but I so valued the historical context and the honesty about being a black man in ‘67 i was willing to role with the more stale parts of the narrative and just enjoy the ride. I’ll listen to the whole series for sure, and def check out our Denzel in the DITBD movie as well.
February 19, 2020
I think this is my favorite Easy Rawlins so far. Bonnie is getting married to another man, a friend leaves his daughter at Easy's house with no explanation, his son and his girfriend have a new baby, Feather is growing up, and Mouse is missing. He's got a lot on his plate and he's not dealing well with any of it - but he's Easy and he finds a way through. I really enjoyed this one.
May 20, 2022
*3.75 stars.
Many wonderful uses of figurative language within this book's pages. I also thought this sounded about right: "We were all crazy, pretending that our lives were sane" (186).
And this: "And like all white men who couldn't bear the weight of injustice visited upon them, he regurgitated his rage onto others: men like me" (208).
Many wonderful uses of figurative language within this book's pages. I also thought this sounded about right: "We were all crazy, pretending that our lives were sane" (186).
And this: "And like all white men who couldn't bear the weight of injustice visited upon them, he regurgitated his rage onto others: men like me" (208).
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