Customer Reviews

Blonde Faith

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley is the eleventh book in the Easy Rawlins mystery series and it is the book to read!

At the start of Blonde Faith, we find Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, private eye, lost so to speak. What is a man to do when he has lost the love of his life to a prince? When Easy learned his former long-time girlfriend Bonnie had an affair with a prince, he pushed her away from his life and kicked her out of their home without fully resolving their situation. Now that Easy has learned Bonnie is to be married to the prince, Easy has to deal with his lingering feelings for her. He wants her back but his pride will not let him communicate his feelings for her. Now, if the emotional strain of his situation was not enough, Easter Dawn, child of Christmas Black, is placed into his care with no explanation of what to do with the child or what is going on. To add to that, his best friend of many years, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, is wanted for murder by the police and they really want justice against the long-time killer who got away so many other times. So begins the journey of Easy Rawlins, off to save those in need but in the end, who will save Easy?

Walter Mosley makes number eleven shine with a sparkle that only he can create through prose. Blonde Faith is an intense mystery written magnificently. What readers will enjoy about this book the most, on top of Easy Rawlins doing what he does best, is the fact that there is such an emotional connection to Easy. There is a sense of the reader wanting him to focus on himself primarily more so than saving someone else. Easy is given chance after chance to save others and he will die trying to do this but when it comes to saving himself from emotional woes and getting back the woman he loves, he hesitates. Perhaps, it has to do with him not placing himself first, at least sometimes or when it is most needed. The ending of Blonde Faith was masterfully written and will definitely leave readers dangling in suspense for more! This book is recommended to fans of mystery novels, fans of the Easy Rawlins series, and fans who love to read good damn books.

Reviewer, Chantay W.
APOOO BookClub

I stopped reading Blonde Faith because I do not want to finish it.
It is so good I am cherishing the last 50 pages. I have read
all of Mr. Mosley's Easy Rawlins series and this one is absolutely the best.
Mr. Mosley is coming to terms with a culture that has no regard
for human dignity particularily anyone that is different than those
who are in power. Combine that with the devastating difficulties in understanding what love is. The plot is moved along by Mouse's daring
personna and his illegal activities against the establishment.
Mouse is Robin Hood to Easy's confusion on who Easy is.
The struggle to find and know himself within this crazy culture makes
Easy an easy character to empathize with. The eternal quest to know why we act the way we do. Most of us are not going
to rob a bank or be a detective but it's comforting and exciting to know
that we all share the same distress. Mr Mosley honesty is startling and
freeing. Now lets get into the l970's. Self realization is a continual story.

The story is a little unfocused, but Walter Mosley is such a good writer that it's still a cut above 90% of anything else in this genre. While I can't say if his is an accurate depiction of black life in L.A. at the time, it sure "feels" accurate. I've always felt that Mr. Mosley has granted me a window into the black experience, and I'm grateful for that.

I also want to say that there are passages in his work that are so profound and elegantly stated that they leave me awestruck. The only other writer I can say that about is James Lee Burke, and that's pretty good company.

It is somewhat of a surprise to come to the realization that BLONDE FAITH is Walter Mosley's 10th Easy Rawlins thriller. It seems there have been more, far more. Rawlins quietly became an icon even as Mosley became both a role model for minority writers and an argument against giving African-American authors a separate but equal genre classification that intentionally distinguishes their work and unintentionally marginalizes it from a larger potential audience.

This is easily the best book in the series, which screams to be read in one sitting thanks to its flowing, unstoppable narrative. Mosley's storylines have always reflected the complexity of the life of his protagonist, a black man living in the southwest United States in the mid-20th century. With this new novel, Mosley streamlines things a bit, keeping the plot basic without sacrificing the richness of the tale.

BLONDE FAITH takes place in Los Angeles in 1967, where a city and political power structure remain uneasy in the aftermath of the Watts riots. Rawlins's life, somewhat turbulent even in the best of times, becomes more so when his two best friends suddenly go missing. Christmas Black, a Vietnam veteran, drops off his adoptive daughter at Rawlins's house without warning or explanation and is apparently on the run. Meanwhile, Rawlins's friend Mouse is being sought by the police for murder, and Rawlins is convinced that, due to Mouse's longstanding antagonistic relationship with the police, the authorities will not be taking any prisoners.

Even as Rawlins begins the dual tasks of finding Christmas and rescuing Mouse, he finds out that Bonnie, his longtime but estranged lover, is on the verge of marrying another man. This knowledge haunts and distracts him, even as he begins tracing Christmas's whereabouts and slowly but surely learns that the man who Mouse is accused of murdering is in fact alive and well and on the run himself. Rawlins comes to realize that his best shot at saving Mouse is locating the man Mouse supposedly murdered.

What is most interesting about this book is the manner in which Mosley quietly demonstrates to his audience (if not to Rawlins himself) that the things that have the potential to bring Rawlins his best chance at happiness are in his immediate grasp.

The conclusion is easily the most unique and shocking of any featured in Mosley's work thus far. Fairly unambiguous but leaving just a bit of wiggle room for a sequel, this is sure to be one of Mosley's most controversial novels to date, particularly among his longtime fans. It is for this reason, and all that comes before, that BLONDE FAITH is a must-read.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Reviewed by Lauretta Ali

After reading Blonde Faith, I felt the need to be tied to a chair, preventing me from racing to my nearest bookstore! I now want to get my hands on every copy of Easy Rawlins books. I must catch up and the thirst is real and actual.

Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins must be the man of my dreams. A dedicated and determined private eye, he faces a day in infamy. Not that his time is ever his own, here is a man that just wants to come home from work and relax for a minute.

Easy is trying to recover from losing the love of his life, Bonnie, who committed the unthinkable. It's how Easy deals with this loss and the raw emotion the author conveys, that makes me yearn to learn all I can about a man who is anything but easy. He's hired to find a man's runaway daughter. Yet, Easy has a troubled relationship with his daughter Feather. This particular evening, Easy comes home to find that one of his closest friends has left his daughter Easter in their care. Her father would never leave Easter unless he was in danger himself. Now Easy is on a mission to find Christmas Black before others find him first. What he discovers along the way will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Walter Mosley is a master storyteller. I was routing for Easy Rawlins like I knew the man personally! I bonded with him as he struggled with his love for the women in his life. I melted as he tenderly handled those closest to him. I cringed as he met danger face on in rugged abandonment. Putting this book down wasn't easy.

It is with blind faith that I will begin my collection of this author's work. I found my favorite author of all time, after reading Blonde Faith!

Armchair Interviews says: If you love super storytelling with great characters, this is for you.

This is the tenth Easy Rawlins mystery that I have read. As I look back over the series, the details of the stories all tend to blur into the same story. Easy searches for a beautiful woman. Easy has the help of his killer friend, Mouse. Easy has a troubled home life. Easy is haunted by his demons. White authority figures either try to impede or manipulate Easy. Story ends with an interesting and violent conclusion. Walter Mosely has a succesful formula and he wisely sticks with it. Time moves forward in the series but Easy Rawlins and his friends essentially never age. Their characters are cast in stone and sadly they never really evolve.

So what keeps me returning to the series? For me, the appeal is being able to see the world through the eyes of a heroic, black character. Easy Rawlins' world is foreign to me. Like many great fiction writers, Walter Mosely allows me to see my own contemporary world through the eyes of the other. The beauty of the Easy Rawlins series is that the books not only entertain but they also educate.

I've read the entire Easy Rawlins series. The writing has always been superb and the characters richly drawn. Mosely never lets you down and neither does Easy and Blonde Faith.

But you know it don't come easy letting go, and knowing that Blonde Faith might, could, possibly spell the end of one of the best written characters in american literature, it was a really tough read. I didn't want it to end the way I knew it had to. I didn't want to say goodbye to a character I've come to love, admire and, in a way, pity.

But wait...there is hope. OK, not much but hey, Walter Mosley might not be done with Ezekiel and his best friend Raymond (Mouse) Alexander. Mosley has given us a beaut of a cliffhanger to er, well, hang onto. I can only hope that we'll be seeing more of Easy and his LA friends at least one more time. There are issues yet to be resolved.

Easy Rawlins is back again with more trouble than he bargained for. His friend Christmas Black has left his daughter at Easy's house without an explanation. The drama doesn't stop there when Easy learns that his close friend Mouse has disappeared and is wanted for murder. In the midst of all of this, Easy's longtime lover Bonnie decides to leave him to marry another man. Easy is running away from his own pain while trying find and save his friends. He's on a race against time as corrupt officials and other unsavory characters are standing in his way. But a woman named Faith may have the answers that will help Easy save his friends and himself.

Blonde Faith is an enthralling novel by Walter Mosley. Mosley once again pulls readers into the complex world of Easy Rawlins. This story is full of drama and raw emotion. Readers will feel the pain of Easy as he tries to get over the fact of Bonnie leaving him. You will also feel the sense of urgency of Easy as he tries to find and save his friends before the police get involved. This story is full of drama, intrigue, and interesting characters that will keep you flipping the pages. By the way this story is told, Mosley definitely let you know that this is the last Easy Rawlins novel. Blonde Faith is a fast-paced and exciting novel that doesn't disappoint.

Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert
for Urban Reviews

I am a long-time Walter Mosley fan. His character, Easy Rawlins, touches me, every time he thinks, acts, moves. He/Mosley gives me the illusion that I know a bit about what it was like, in Easy's time, to live in Los Angeles, where I, too, live. As a white person, I feel the distance that Mosley communicates, letting me know that I will never know what it is really like to be Black in America, but I so want to bridge that distance. The only time I thought we bridged it as a nation was after 9/11. I felt for a good long moment as if the nation pulled together, all the races, facing a common enemy. I felt that while we might never understand our various backgrounds, the devastating present put most of that history in second priority.

Blonde Faith is one of my favorite in the Easy Rawlins series. The writing is outstanding. There are some passages that I went back and read over several times because they were written so beautifully. The ending was somewhat of a surprise and I'm starting to feel a little bit like Annie Wilkes (was that the Misery character's name??). I am so hoping that this is not the last Easy novel, but if it is, Mr. Mosley did a great job in ending the series.