I’m a huge fan of the Easy Rawlins mystery series. However, I was very curious to get to
know Leonid Trotter McGill (aka “LT”), the old-school PI working in New York
City filled with many secrets some of which could get him killed.
In this first installment of the series, readers meet Leonid
(aptly named by his Communist father), a former boxer, and a married man whose
wife left him for a lover but came back to make amends. He’s the father to one
out of three almost grown children. He’s had an affair with Aura who works in
the building but must now cast her aside now that his wife whom he insists didn’t
love him was back. But he stayed with his family because he “had a job to do,
and more than one debt to pay.”
Leonid was contracted to find four men. One was dead,
one in prison, and the third was awaiting trial. The fourth, Roger Brown was
the one he couldn’t locate. The job seemed pretty straightforward until folks
started dying and he was attacked and almost killed. That’s where the story sends
readers all over NYC to back alleys, bars, in the homes of the wealthy and of
course, under the watchful eyes of the police.
The plotline was at times somewhat complicated but then
I’d come to expect that much from Walter who weaves a tale that calls for
readers to pay full attention. The dialogue was snappy, and the characters were
well-developed. I enjoyed watching LT’s complex character unfold: whether questioning
where he belonged in the world, whom to trust, how much love to show, trying to
walk a straight line, and plotting how to escape when circled by deadly sharks.
The ensemble characters were well developed and stood out as well. I liked Hush
who reminded me of Mouse’s character - the only difference was that Hush was
white but just as deadly as Mouse.
Well, Mosley has got me hooked and I can’t wait to
read the next installment.
Great read! Two thumps way up!
My
favorite lines:
Carson was looking into
my eyes so he knew I was lying, but he couldn’t figure out about what exactly.
“Do I know you, Sergeant?”
I asked the homicide cop, partly to avoid Carson’s stare.
“I used to be in vice,”
she said, smiling enigmatically. “Had a snitch named Dolores Devine back then.”
Dolores Devine, one of my
many guilty victims. She’d set up half a dozen prominent men for prostitution
stings with the feds and the NYPD. The wife of one of those men wanted revenge
and was willing to pay. I found out that Dolores smuggled H for a man in Newark
now and then. All I did was drop a dime, or maybe it was a quarter.
“Never heard of her,” I said.
“Oh?”
“Friend of yours?”
“We’ll check out your
story, Mr. McGill,” she replied, getting to her feet. “Let’s hope that you’re
more innocent than Dolores was.”
Rating: 5 Stars
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