Little Scarlet

Rating:
Summary: Virtuouso Thriller In Black And White
Review: Easy Rawlins is an easygoing man who tries to be helpful. He works as a school custodian and has a small office where he conducts unofficial private investigations. He is also a seething caldron of racially inspired anger. The time is 1965, just as the Los Angeles riots are winding down. For a change, for one brief shining moment, the LA police need his help, to find the killer of a young black woman. For that brief period he carries a letter from the Deputy Commissioner, authorizing him to conduct this semi-official investigation. Reason--if the wrong suspect turns out to be the right suspect, it might re-ignite the riots.

That is the plot, but the plot is really unimportant. What makes the novel wonderful is the profusion of down-home earthy characters, the men, the women, the relationships, and the fault-lines of racial distrust (suspicion, fear, hatred) that run just below the surface of LA society.

This is my third Walter Mosley novel, and so far, the best of all. Mosley is a brilliant writer, who brings out his characters strengths and weaknesses. Some of them are terribly flawed, men walking at the edge of the abyss, crazed people, homicidal people, and people who love each other intensely--Somehow he makes them all believable. the writing flows easily, the dialect rings true, and I felt like I knew what made these people tick.

Author Mosely has a unique African-American voice, and he explores a realm that most white Americans are not aware of. And will never experience directly. Yet he makes it understandable, even believable.

Little Scarlet is an outstanding novel, and I recommend it highly. But remember, don't worry about the plot. Don't try to keep it all straight. Just go with the flow, like listening to overheard conversations. Like poetry. Five stars and more. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

Rating:
Summary: Walter Mosely-Philosopher Novelist
Review: I have read all of the Easy Rawlins mysteries and have enjoyed them all. However, I must admit to some trepidation as I read the first few chapters of the book. There were elements of the story that seemed to be very familiar. Once again, Easy Rawlins was being coerced by the police to search for someone in South Central Los Angeles. In tone and substance, it looked like Walter Moseley was going to go down a well worn path. I feared that he was beginning to rely too much on "formulas".

Having finished the book, I still think that Mosely is relying on forumlas and that he goes back to too many of the same characters and stock situations. Nevertheless, Mosely is such a strong writer and Easy Rawlins such a great character that Walter Mosely is able to pull it off.

Mosely's strength is not in his plots. It is the character of Easy Rawlins that makes me purchase each new book as soon as they come out. Through Easy Rawlins, we are able to enter the mind of an African American man living in Los Angeles in the post war years. Rawlins lives and operates in a pressure cooker. He has to deal not only with the racism and pressure of the white world but also the dysfunction and violence of his own people. It is simply fascinating to see how Easy Rawlins survives and even prospers in such an unremittingly harsh environment. It is Easy Rawlins the thinker and philosopher that sets him apart from so many other characters.

As an outsider, Walter Mosely has given me entree into a different world. His descriptions of 1960's Los Angeles gives me new insights into the current experience of African Americans. There are not a lot of mystery writers who can offer so much.

Rating:
Summary: Real good
Review: I read this book over a period of a day, and as always it was good!! I have been reading Walter Moseley for over ten years now, since I saw "Black Betty", and got curious enough to read it and have been hooked ever since;Even went and backtracked the books I missed; In this book, though, I believe he gets something that he never thought he would get and I hope that Easy's fans would get this book and read it; One of the most hilarious moments in the book was when this lady came to visit Easy in his office and she said she looked like "Bozo the clown" to hide what she REALLY was; I won't give much away, but let's just say that this lady was the key; Great read; look forward to more of Easy in the future; P.S. and Mouse, child, that sucker died, but he STILL came back. that's alright!!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment in Mosley
Review: I've enjoyed all of Mosley's works until Little Scarlet. Instead of moving the plot along in any logical way, he jumps from place to place with no real purpose. The whole scene with the wrong Harold did little to amuse or reveal.

Easy's failure to call friends or cohorts to tell them he'll be delayed for days seems inexplicably rude. Mouse no longer has the electricity he once did. The reader does not believe that Easy is frightened of Mouse.

Much of the plot seems unrealistic, with lots of loose ends. Mosley needed a better editor. I'm truly disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: I love Don Cheadle
Review: My favorite character is ALWAYS "Mouse" and that's why I enjoyed reading this again.

I hope now that Don Cheadle has proven himself with "HOTEL RWANDA", they will make a new movie focusing on MOUSE so that he can really shine in the part that he was born to play.





Rating:
Summary: Black and Blue and White All Over!
Review: Since the Easy Rawlins series began, I have been anxious for Mr. Mosley to take Easy through to the 1965 Watts riots. That event marked the equivalent of the Grand Canyon in changing race relations in the Los Angeles area, and I was sure that Mr. Mosley would have many wonderful observations to make about the events and their effects on those who lived through them.

As high as my expectations were, Mr. Mosley happily exceeded them. Even among bit characters, you will recognize the attitudes of people you have met or known -- including the hard core racist whose feelings are based on personal insecurity, the person who sees a dark face and is afraid, scavengers who take advantage of anyone who is vulnerable, timid people who are put into fear by any changes, cowards who look the other way if the person who is hurt is a powerless individual, professionals who feel responsible to do the right thing, those who reach out to those in need regardless of who they are, and those who feel bitter because of past wrongs and cannot release that bitterness . . . even if it chokes them literally to death. The book represents a symphony of racial and human attitudes and instincts that accurately represents the world of Los Angeles in 1965.

Little Scarlet is really two stories in one novel. The more important story is about what it means to be a good person. The less important one concerns a murder mystery about a woman who is found dead during the riots. What is most remarkable about the book is that Mr. Mosley is able to subsume the second story into the theme of the first story.

The most delicate aspect of the book though is to capture how everyone was changed by the riots. Mr. Mosley does that in many different and subtle ways that will delight anyone who enjoys a great storyteller telling an important tale with great skill. By the end of the story, you have hope that we can all be better to one another . . . because even the most cynical and calculating are beginning to address one another differently.

For long-time fans of the series, you will be delighted that Mr. Mosley has worked in some many of his primary characters in roles that build your understanding and enjoyment of each character.

Mr. Mosley long ago became much more than a detective novelist. Seeing him apply his remarkable talents in this genre again provides a great context for appreciating his continually improving work.

For those who just want a straightforward mystery, go elsewhere. You will wonder why Mr. Mosley spends so much time away from the mystery.

Reach out and understand!


Rating:
Summary: Easy readin
Review: The author at the top of his game. The LA riots of the 60's. An unbeatable combination. I just wish Denzel kept making the movies.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging... wonderfully layered.
Review: There is no substitute for a good story well told. If you pass this up you miss a gem. This is a great and very subtle reflection of the black view of the Watts riots in the mid-1960's.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is my first Walter Mosley book and I loved it! It had suspense, mystery, drama and funny one liners. Mosley has a great flow in bringing you into the life of Easy Rawlins and once you get there you want more!!

I am definitely going to buy more of his books as they are great reads!!

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and thoughtful. Definitely recommended
Review: Watts is burning. Days of rage and violence, looting and fire--and now the police have a nightmare on their hands. The body of a young black woman--whose aunt is telling everyone who listened that a white man raped and murdered her. If that word gets out on the dangerous Los Angeles streets, Watts will explode again. The police don't have the contacts they need in the black community to solve the crime and turn to Easy Rawlins.

Easy doesn't trust the cops. He knows they are more interested in protecting their rears than in finding a killer--that black women are murdered all the time while the cops look the other way. But Easy cares. While Los Angeles still smolders, he sets off on a quixotic quest for a small measure of justice.

Author Walter Mosley makes the dangerous streets of 1965 Los Angeles come alive. Black men and women smolder in resentment while whites tremble in fear and rage. The men who populate Easy Rawlins' world aren't nice--they fight, steal, sleep around, even kill--but they are real and vital.

Using his contacts in the black underworld, and his gift of the gab--as well as a letter from the deputy police chief that barely keeps him from being beaten by scared cops a number of times, Easy finds the white man who saw the dead woman last. But Easy's instincts tell him that this is not a killer--which means that the real killer is somewhere on the burning streets.

LITTLE SCARLET is powerful stuff. Combining a solid mystery, compelling insights into the conflict between races, and Mosley's strengths in exploring what it means to be a man in 20th century black America, SCARLET grabbed me and pulled me along for a dynamite ride. If you enjoy mystery and an author who mixes humor, danger, and tragedy in a compelling blend, you'll be happy you picked up this one.