Three qualities make this book well worth reading. Easy provides a black slant on a white man's world, all the more telling because it's so casually done. Second, Mosley has an acute sense of historical context - a real bonus in a series spanning several decades. Best of all, perhaps, as this novel shows, he's a natural storyteller. Easy reading, in more ways than one. -- Andrew Taylor * THE SPECTATOR *
Black LA detective Easy Rawlins comes back from the dead, inspiring his creator to write his best novel in years. It's now 1967 and Easy's trying to rest up following a near-fatal car accident. But trouble always dogs our man and soon a missing person case sees him caught up in LA's nascent hippy culture. -- John Williams * MAIL ON SUNDAY *
In 2007's Blonde Faith, set in 1967, Easy Rawlins drove drunkenly off a cliff in what his creator indicated was likely his last appearance. Now, after two months of sliding in and out of consciousness, Easy begins the long journey back to the living, in Mosley's superb 12th mystery featuring his iconic sleuth.... If there were an Edgar for best comeback player, Easy Rawlins would be a shoo-in -- 25/2/2013 * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (USA) *
Mosley fans were pining for the resurrection of Rawlins. Their dreams have come true... Mosley returns here to doing what he does best... [A] major event for crime-fiction fans * BOOKLIST (USA) *
In my view, a new novel from Walter Mosley is something to take note of, but a new novel from Walter Mosley starring Easy Rawlins is an event. Seriously, if you are a fan of the genre and you haven't read any of these books, you need to start questioning your credentials. * CRIME SQUAD *
It's 1967, and Easy is in his mid-40s...Because this is Los Angeles still feeling the aftermath of the Watts riots, and it here where Mosley is so good, because there are two different perspectives to the Sixties, black and white, and through Easy we are reminded of how they differ. -- Michael Carlson * IRRESISTIBLE TARGETS *
Rawlins's comeback assignment, courtesy of his sidekick Mouse, is a pretty standard search for a missing young man. But in this series the plots are merely pretexts for collisions between the sleuth and the rich, diverse array of Angelenos, here, rewardingly, including hippies. From the outset, trademark Chandleresque phrases and swift character sketches unmistakably indicate that Mosley's mojo has been retrieved. -- John Dugdale * SUNDAY TIMES *
It's the new Easy Rawlins - how good to be able to say that again. * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT (IRELAND) *
Mosley's prose is effortlessly taut and poised and he is an excellent exponent of a simple, brief, direct style that belies the sharp characterisation at the heart of his writing...The novel explicitly refers to Chester Himes and Mosley's wider purpose in this series of books is to narrate an alternative social and, to an extent, literary history. The novels are sharp and fast, but as with Rawlins they pack a great punch and cover a deal of ground -- Jerome de Groot * HISTORY TODAY *
Three qualities make this book well worth reading. Easy provides a black slant on a white man's world, all the more telling because it's so casually done. Second, Mosley has an acute sense of historical context - a real bonus in a series spanning several decades. Best of all, perhaps, as this novel shows, he's a natural storyteller. Easy reading, in more ways than one. -- Andrew Taylor * THE SPECTATOR *
Black LA detective Easy Rawlins comes back from the dead, inspiring his creator to write his best novel in years. It's now 1967 and Easy's trying to rest up following a near-fatal car accident. But trouble always dogs our man and soon a missing person case sees him caught up in LA's nascent hippy culture. -- John Williams * MAIL ON SUNDAY *
In 2007's Blonde Faith, set in 1967, Easy Rawlins drove drunkenly off a cliff in what his creator indicated was likely his last appearance. Now, after two months of sliding in and out of consciousness, Easy begins the long journey back to the living, in Mosley's superb 12th mystery featuring his iconic sleuth.... If there were an Edgar for best comeback player, Easy Rawlins would be a shoo-in * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (USA) *
Mosley fans were pining for the resurrection of Rawlins. Their dreams have come true... Mosley returns here to doing what he does best... [A] major event for crime-fiction fans * BOOKLIST (USA) *
In my view, a new novel from Walter Mosley is something to take note of, but a new novel from Walter Mosley starring Easy Rawlins is an event. Seriously, if you are a fan of the genre and you haven't read any of these books, you need to start questioning your credentials. * CRIME SQUAD *
It's 1967, and Easy is in his mid-40s...Because this is Los Angeles still feeling the aftermath of the Watts riots, and it here where Mosley is so good, because there are two different perspectives to the Sixties, black and white, and through Easy we are reminded of how they differ. -- Michael Carlson * IRRESISTIBLE TARGETS *
Rawlins's comeback assignment, courtesy of his sidekick Mouse, is a pretty standard search for a missing young man. But in this series the plots are merely pretexts for collisions between the sleuth and the rich, diverse array of Angelenos, here, rewardingly, including hippies. From the outset, trademark Chandleresque phrases and swift character sketches unmistakably indicate that Mosley's mojo has been retrieved. -- John Dugdale * SUNDAY TIMES *
It's the new Easy Rawlins - how good to be able to say that again. * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT (Ireland) *
Mosley's prose is effortlessly taut and poised and he is an excellent exponent of a simple, brief, direct style that belies the sharp characterisation at the heart of his writing...The novel explicitly refers to Chester Himes and Mosley's wider purpose in this series of books is to narrate an alternative social and, to an extent, literary history. The novels are sharp and fast, but as with Rawlins they pack a great punch and cover a deal of ground -- Jerome de Groot * HISTORY TODAY *
