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Known to Evil (A Leonid McGill Mystery)
 
 
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Known to Evil (A Leonid McGill Mystery) [Hardcover]

Walter Mosley (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)


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Book Description

March 23, 2010 A Leonid McGill Mystery
The Walter Mosley and his new hero, Leonid McGill, are back in the new New York Times-bestselling mystery series that's already being hailed as a classic of contemporary noir.

Leonid McGill—the protagonist introduced in The Long Fall, the book that returned Walter Mosley to bestseller lists nationwide—is still fighting to stick to his reformed ways while the world around him pulls him in every other direction. He has split up with his girlfriend, Aura, because his new self won't let him leave his wife—but then Aura's new boyfriend starts angling to get Leonid kicked out of his prime, top-of-the­skyscraper office space. Meanwhile, one of his sons seems to have found true love—but the girl has a shady past that's all of a sudden threatening the whole McGill family—and his other son, the charming rogue Twilliam, is doing nothing but enabling the crisis.

Most ominously of all, Alfonse Rinaldo, the mysterious power-behind-the-throne at City Hall, the fixer who seems to control every little thing that happens in New York City, has a problem that even he can't fix—and he's come to Leonid for help. It seems a young woman has disappeared, leaving murder in her wake, and it means everything to Rinaldo to track her down. But he won't tell McGill his motives, which doesn't quite square with the new company policy—but turning down Rinaldo is almost impossible to even contemplate.

Known to Evil delivers on all the promise of the characters and story lines introduced in The Long Fall, and then some. It careens fast and deep into gritty, glittery contemporary Manhattan, making the city pulse in a whole new way, and it firmly establishes Leonid McGill as one of the mystery world's most iconic, charismatic leading men.





Editorial Reviews

From Bookmarks Magazine

Although critics continued to lament the end of Mosley's former series featuring Easy Rawlins, they were generally pleased with the second installment of his latest. Mosley, a consummate storyteller, has full command of his plot and distinct prose, and McGill shines as the troubled, complex narrator trying to make amends despite the corruption and vice that surround him. Readers will savor McGill's razor-sharp insight and shrewd, if melancholy, outlook on life. A few minor complaints arose: Mosley doesn't quite succeed in evoking the Big Apple, and some of his characters are a bit too reminiscent of former creations in previous books. However, the critics enjoyed their time spent with Leonid McGill and his dysfunctional entourage, and they look forward to more.

From Booklist

Leonid McGill, Mosley’s newest hero (The Long Fall, 2009), is haunted by the bad things he used to do to people—or so he keeps telling us. At first, the plot seems to support that claim: as McGill works his case, tracking a young woman for a powerful fixer, he is also consumed with helping a former victim, rescuing his son’s girlfriend from her pimp, and remaining respectful in his loveless marriage. But those plotlines are decoys because the supporting characters aren’t fully developed. Each exists to demonstrate something about McGill—his remorse, violence, loyalty—and then is quickly whisked offstage. Mosley has written some classic crime novels, and he has a devoted following, but the strikingly different setting of this series doesn’t hide a glaring flaw: from start to finish, McGill and his supporting cast don’t change. This is a very interior, solipsistic crime novel, and McGill’s first-person narration may feel oppressive to some readers. Others may wonder how such a self-centered sleuth could possibly become a good judge of other people’s characters. In marked contrast to Mosley’s threadbare L.A. settings, McGill’s world is lush and wealthy. But it’s also cartoonish in its absolutes: McGill knows no fear but constructs spy-worthy escape hatches. He has an extensive network of criminals and stone-cold killers. He’s short and ugly, but women throw themselves at him. All writing requires some degree of world-building, but the world Mosley has built here shows the marks of its invention. --Keir Graff

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (March 23, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594487529
  • ISBN-13: 978-1594487521
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Mosley is one of America's most celebrated and beloved writers. His books have won numerous awards and have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Mosley is the author of the acclaimed Easy Rawlins series of mysteries, including national bestsellers Cinnamon Kiss, Little Scarlet, and Bad Boy Brawly Brown; the Fearless Jones series, including Fearless Jones, Fear Itself, and Fear of the Dark; the novels Blue Light and RL's Dream; and two collections of stories featuring Socrates Fortlow, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, for which he received the Anisfield-Wolf Award, and Walkin' the Dog. He lives in New York City.

 

Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (12)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "Walter Mosley writes like he's the only author in a world full of readers"., March 23, 2010
This review is from: Known to Evil (A Leonid McGill Mystery) (Hardcover)
In a world of overused superlatives; Walter Mosley stands out as TRUE recipient of the word 'genius' and any other accompanying synonyms. I get nervous when writing a review for one of Mosley's books because I feel like a third grader standing in front of the `Mona Lisa' and being told to critique it. So instead of trying to wrack my brain, write something profound or critique the work of a word-smith master... I'll just tell you how much I enjoyed this book (that kind of IS the purpose of a review, huh?).

Leonid is a poor man's private eye. And like any good private eye, he has people on the good (and bad side) of the law, and the good (and bad side) of society. He's like a modern day mercenary, a gun for hire, a man's-man when you're in a pinch... a professor in philosophy for the street. Leonid is caught up in another octopus-type mystery. I say "octopus-type" because there are a LOT of characters and a LOT going on within the streets of New York. Come to think of it, New York is probably the only city with enough chutzpah to handle Leonid AND Mr. Mosley. Leonid's personal life is convoluted. Leonid's professional life is convoluted. Together they create a labyrinth of shady characters, bad cops, loose women, and nocturnal friends.

The brilliance of `Known to Evil' is that it makes the classic black-n-white mystery noir seem brand new. While at the same time, continues to concretes Walter Mosley as a living literary legend. Most of us strive to leave a mark on this world by the time we die. With Leonid, Mosley is starting on his second Grand Canyon.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars So close to awesome, May 26, 2010
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This review is from: Known to Evil (A Leonid McGill Mystery) (Hardcover)
I love Leonid McGill. It shows him as a human being with all the problems with America in general. His wife is cheating on him, he is cheating on his wife, his marriage is loveless, his children aren't genetically his except Dem, and his life is in trouble. It is a great character and overall Known to Evil is a great book. The only reason it doesn't get the Five stars is because of the ending. It was a weak ending. The Long Fall had a good ending and an excellent beginning and middle and so does this book in the latter. It has a good beginning, it is very very strong in the middle but the ending kind of lacks, well spice. Other than that one complaint, this is a very very good book.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Redemption, June 22, 2010
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This review is from: Known to Evil (A Leonid McGill Mystery) (Hardcover)
Walter Mosley continues to develop the protagonist Leonid McGill in his novel titled, Known to Evil. The motivation of private detective McGill is to act in ways that atone for his bad behavior, and it his redemption that becomes a life goal. In some ways McGill is both hero and everyman. Thanks to Mosley's fine writing, the dialogue seems realistic, the characters are well-developed, and the insights about human condition are profound. The personal circumstances that led McGill to this moment in his life and those of society at large contain a randomness that's sobering.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
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