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Aug 14, 2016lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
"I've never respected law enforcement, merely feared it." Walter Mosley is the author of the long-running, Los Angeles-set Easy Rawlins series. I'm a big fan of classic noir and hardboiled fiction, but as a 21st century reader I can't help but notice that in the majority of them black characters are, at best, marginal (servants, bellhops) and, at worst, non-existent. The Harlem novels of Chester Himes are a notable exception. Mosley's books aren't explicitly political, but their awareness of race adds a depth that is not always found in the genre. He takes a break from Rawlins with "Fearless Jones," about a bookseller and his friend who get wrapped up in arson, murder, and police corruption. Followed by "Fear Itself."