Walter mosley books easy rawlins

In the course of the search Easy reunites with a childhood friend, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, a charming but conscienceless stone-cold killer, recently arrived in LA from Houston. The events of the book set Easy on his new career as a trader in outside-the-law "favors". Set in With the money he made in Devil in a Blue Dress , Easy has become a landlord.

He owns several apartment buildings in Los Angeles , running them through a hired front man while he works as the buildings' handyman and janitor. As the book opens, Easy is audited by the IRS, a problem because he cannot account for how he came to own his property in the first place because the money with which he bought his first building was stolen.

Darryl T. Craxton, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation , offers to get him out of trouble with the IRS on the condition that Easy investigate an espionage problem at a major aircraft manufacturer.

Walter mosley books easy rawlins

Craxton also wants to prove that labor union organizer Chaim Wenzler is a communist spy. Easy reluctantly agrees, and the job brings him into conflict with several old friends and his own conscience. Easy is married and living in a house in Los Angeles with his wife, their baby daughter, and their adopted son Jesus. A black Los Angeles Police Department detective named Quinten Naylor reluctantly taps Easy to investigate a murder spree: four women have been killed, apparently by a serial killer.

Easy resents that the LAPD has only started investigating for real because the fourth victim is white. Easy solves the murders despite pressure from the fourth victim's parents, who don't want it known that their daughter had a child with a black man. Now divorced, Easy lives in a rented house in LA with his adopted son Jesus and adopted daughter Feather.

Easy is pressed for cash because most of his money is tied up in a real estate deal, which he's running through a front because he doesn't want any white investors to know that the primary stakeholder is black. He's approached by a white private detective to help search for a missing black woman, an older woman that Easy once had an adolescent crush on, during his youth in Texas.

Needing the money he takes the job, and he tracks the woman into a tangled mire of wills and inheritance and questions of who's really related to whom. At the same time Easy has to rein in his murderous friend Mouse, who has just been released after serving five years in prison for manslaughter; not knowing who called the police on him, Mouse has decided simply to kill everyone who might have done it.

Easy manages to sort out the missing-person case and stop Mouse from killing half the neighborhood, but he loses his real-estate investment when his agent sells him out to a group of rich white men. Set in November Easy, concerned for his adopted children's future, has given up his career as an outside-the-law "fixer" and secured a state job with a pension, working as the supervisor of the janitorial staff at Sojourner Truth Junior High School.

In the course of the job he meets Bonnie Shay, a flight attendant unwillingly involved in smuggling, and they start dating. At the climax Easy's friend Mouse appears to be mortally wounded, but Mouse's wife EttaMae carries him out of the hospital over her shoulder and disappears. Easy, nineteen years old, joins his friend Mouse on a journey from Houston to Mouse's tiny home town of Pariah to confront Mouse's abusive stepfather Reese, a journey that gives Easy his first encounter with murder.

The plot is described briefly in Devil in a Blue Dress. The story begins with Mouse asking Easy for a ride to Pariah. At the time Easy lives in a small apartment and is doing gardening work in Houston. Mouse is planning his wedding to Etta Mae, and is in need of money. He decides to get the money from his abusive stepfather Reese Corn. Clifton is on the run after beating up a man in Houston.

In the small town of Pariah Easy meets many of the people who made Mouse who he is, including the witch Mamma Jo, her hunchback son Domaque Jr, the Blues musician Sweet William who may have been Mouses's biological father , and many other colorful characters. Easy becomes jealous of the hunchback Domaque's ability to read and recite the bible.

This leads to Easy deciding to learn to read better himself. Easy and Mouse are separate for much of Easy's time there, with Easy getting sick and needing to be healed by Mamma Jo. While recovering Easy sees Clifton again, who has been living outside, on the run from the law. With assistance from Mamma Jo Easy gets better in enough time to try to stop Mouse's plan to bring violence to his stepfather, but the events of this trip haunt him.

Following this adventure, he remains in Houston long enough to attend Mouse's wedding as his best man, but the next day he gets on a train to Dallas and leaves Houston behind. Easy recalls the tale while on leave in Paris. The novel is not strictly speaking a mystery, but rather a Bildungsroman , or coming-of-age story. Maybe there's some white man somewhere think he don't have to skip out now and then, but a black man anywhere in these United States better be able to run a mile and then another one.

Set in early Three months after the events of A Little Yellow Dog , Easy is haunted by grief and guilt over the apparent shooting death of his friend Mouse, and without closure since Mouse's wife took his body from the hospital and disappeared, so Easy clings to an ephemeral hope that Mouse might not be dead. Bonnie Shay has moved in with Easy and his children.

Easy's old friend John asks him to look for his stepson, Brawly Brown, a young man in his early twenties, hugely strong but immature, who has left home after an argument with his mother. Easy goes to a meeting of the First Men, a black power group Brawly belongs to; the police raid the meeting, and though Easy escapes out the back, he now finds himself under investigation by covert federal agents ; he also discovers that some of the more militant First Men, including Brawly, are involved in arms dealing and planning a payroll robbery.

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Let me know! Are you a Jack Reacher fan? If so, you absolutely have to read the Peter Ash series by author Nick Petrie. I recommend this series to anyone who has liked Jack Reacher, and everyone always replies thanking me for it. Nick makes my life easy. If you are a Jack Reacher fan, past or present, Check out this great series today.

These are our most recommended authors in the thriller genre, which is my personal favourite genre: B. How does it affect the characters and the unfolding of the plot? Easy's role: Consider the challenges Easy faces in his role as a detective in a racially divided society. How does he navigate through these challenges? Character dynamics: Observe the interactions between Easy and other characters.

How do these interactions shape the narrative? Discussion Points Once you've read 'White Butterfly,' think about the following: Social commentary: Discuss the social commentary presented in the book. How does it reflect the era it is set in? Morality and justice: How do Easy's views on morality and justice evolve in this book? Impact of the setting: How does the Los Angeles setting influence the story and characters?

Reading Guide As you delve into 'Black Betty,' keep these points in mind: Past and Present: Pay attention to the interplay between Easy's past and present. How do his old ties with Black Betty impact the present? How does this suspense drive the narrative? Character Development: Observe Easy's character development through the novel. How does his character evolve as he faces new challenges?

Discussion Points After finishing 'Black Betty,' consider these discussion points: Theme of Identity: Discuss the theme of identity in the book. How does the search for Black Betty relate to Easy's own identity? Impact of the Past: How does Easy's past influence his present actions and decisions? Social Context: Reflect on the social context of the s.

How does it impact the narrative? How do these surprises keep you engaged? Character Interactions: Pay attention to the interactions between Easy and new characters. How do these relationships advance the plot? Mood and Tone: Notice the mood and tone of the book. How do they reflect the novel's themes and setting? How does it impact the characters and plot?

Ending Thoughts: Reflect on the end of this initial journey through the Easy Rawlins series.