Well,
Walter Mosley has done it again by introducing readers to a new and complex character,
Joe King Oliver, a NYPD detective who was framed for a sexual assault by
powerful enemies within the force. King is a flawed man who loves the ladies,
jazz music (Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, etc.) and books (Tolstoy and
Hermann Hesse).
Since
his release from Rikers, King (often called by his middle name) has started a
detective agency (King Detective Service) and his “wise beyond her years”
teenage daughter, Aja-Denise is his assistant. But every now and then thinking
about his experience in Rikers “left an aftermath of isolation” and makes him
realize how human connection especially with his daughter is very fragile. But
he finds solace in the work he does as an investigative private detective.
So
when he receives a letter from the woman confessing she was paid to set him up
by the police, he decides to find out who was behind wanting him gone from the
force and why. At the same time, he gets a case to investigate A Free Man, a
black militant journalist of the Blood Brothers of Harlem who has been arrested
for killing two police officers three years earlier and is now on death row.
This
is where the story gets intriguing because although there is no direct nexus
other than police involvement, King feels that if he finds a way to exonerate A
Free Man (if he is innocent) then he would be exonerating himself. The twists
and turns to get to the truth show Mosley’s mastery in creating a myriad of
interesting characters (my favorite being the psycho killer, Melquarth Frost) and
places (underbelly of New York) which pull you right into the action of the story.
Greed, murder, drugs, mayhem, political favors and corruption are delved into
with such sensory details that I couldn’t help but be invested in reading this
novel with intensity until the end.
Definitely
two thumbs way up! A must-read hard-boiled detective novel with a high dose of edginess
and grit filled with memorable lines that will have you rooting for King to get
to the truth of the matter by any means necessary!
Some of my favorite lines:
“You coulda shot me. You coulda hit me in the head with a lead pipe. You
sure as shit coulda testified that I had somehow mentioned the bank job. I know
your bosses were mad when you didn’t lie.”
Mel
leaned forward, now with both hands on his thighs.
“So
you came here all the way from Illinois to thank me?” I asked.
“I
already told you,” he said. “I’m not goin’ back to prison. I came here to ply
my old trade and to tell you that if you ever need a good turn I owe you a few.”
That was a very important nexus for me.
It was rare for anyone to see in me what I saw in the mirror. Melquarth might
have been a villain, but he was a villain with my number in his pocket.
Rating: 5 Stars
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