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Bad Boy Brawly Brown: Summary and book reviews of Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley, plus links to an excerpt from Bad Boy Brawly Brown and a biography of Walter Mosley.

Bad Boy Brawly Brown

Bad Boy Brawly Brown
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
by Walter Mosley
Hardcover: Jul 2002,
320 pages.
Paperback: Jul 2003,
320 pages.

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BOOK SUMMARY

For the first time in six years, Easy Rawlins is back working a case on the streets of Los Angeles, looking for justice and sometimes managing to create his own.

Easy Rawlins's old friend John shows up at his door one morning, looking for the kind of help only Easy can provide. John's stepson, Brawly Brown, has left home and John has reason to think this well-meaning boy is caught up in a situation that's more dangerous than he knows. It doesn't take Easy long to find Brawly and to learn that John is right--but getting Brawly to see things that way is another matter.

Brawly has joined a political group that he believes is out to make things better for the residents of Compton. With years of seeing how things really work, Easy recognizes that young Brawly is just a pawn in a battle between forces as old and hard as the city's streets.

Through it all, Easy's old friend Mouse is there to help him--even though the last time Easy saw Mouse he was lying still and cold, and Easy is certain he's dead. Still, the memory and reputation of Mouse accompany Easy everywhere, earning him second looks from beautiful women and respect from hardened men. And in a world where logic is only a small element in life-or-death calculations, it is something Mouse once said to him that could help Easy save Brawly's life--without costing him his own.

The worldliness, relentlessness, and passion of Easy Rawlins have been sorely missed from the world of fiction. This thriller is proof that Walter Mosley is one of the masters of crime fiction, and as original a voice as any writing in America today.

Media Reviews

  Library Journal - Michael Rogers
The author continues to probe the African American experience, and while a crime is at the heart of this book, its soul lies in deeper issues. Nonetheless, Mosley is always a good read.

  Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. [Easy Rawlins] returns from a six-year sabbatical more complex and compelling than ever before a hero for his time and ours.

  Publisher's Weekly
Starred Review. Easy Rawlins makes a very welcome return...Mosley illuminates time and place with a precision few writers can match...he also delivers a rousing good story and continues to captivate with characters readers have grown to love.

  Booklist - Bill Ott
This episode replays the themes and recaptures the mood of the previous installment more than we've come to expect from the constantly evolving Rawlins series, but it nevertheless stands on its own as a powerful human drama and a vividly re-created historical moment .

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Back with a Vengeance!

Easy Rawlins is back with a vengeance. He is not the same person though; he has lost his closest friend and feels that he will never recover from the hurt. Easy has settled into life as a family man, with a normal 9-5...   Read More

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