Red Death [Hardcover]

Walter Mosley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1991

Walter Mosley's debut novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, introduced readers to Easy Rawlins. Now an independent operative in Watts, Easy's caught in a crunch between a vengeful IRS agent in search of his cash and an obsessed FBI man in search of Reds (Communist sympathizers). The action is swift in this novel described by the Los Angeles Times as "Astonishing . . ."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mosley's second novel (after Devil in a Blue Dress ) confirms the advent of an extraordinary storyteller. It is five years after the events detailed in the first novel and Easy Rawlins has used the stolen money he kept back in 1948 to purchase a pair of L.A. apartment buildings. There he masquerades as the janitor, quietly enjoying the fruits of ownership and dabbling in private investigation. But he is suddenly in the grip of powerful government forces. When the IRS wants to know where Easy got the money to become a landlord, Easy's sole recourse is to agree to work undercover for the FBI on a witch-hunt to net Reds. The situation presents only the first of the moral dilemmas here: Easy's remorseless, deadly best friend, Mouse, has come to L.A. in pursuit of his ex-wife, EttaMae, who has fled with their young son. Etta, however, is the only woman Easy has ever loved, and she is more than willing to reciprocate--at least on the physical level. Solid and entertaining, the story nonetheless remains secondary to the portrait of a time and a place, to the indelible reality of Easy Rawlins, a black man in a world not yet ready to accept him. Mosley, with his unique talents, may well be in the process of creating a genre classic. BOMC, QPB and Mysterious Book Club selections.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Mosley's unique narrative voice ( Devil in a Blue Dress , LJ 6/1/90) reappears in the appealing person of Easy Rawlins, an astute and tough war veteran living in early 1950s Los Angeles. In deep trouble with the IRS for nonpayment of taxes, Easy half-heartedly agrees to spy on a suspected Jewish Communist for an avid FBI agent in return for leverage with the tax man. As before, Mosley's inclusion of life in Watts, contemporary social attitudes, and colloquial speech contribute to the excellence and authenticity of plot and character portrayal. Easy to take.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1st edition (July 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393029980
• ISBN-13: 978-0393029987
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #998,098 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A window into a very different world, November 14, 2000

By 

Carol Peterson Hennekens (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A RED DEATH (Easy Rawlins Mysteries) (Paperback)

One of the great things about fiction is that not only do you get the fun of plot and characters, sometimes you really can learn something. This book really opened the eyes of both my husband and I about the world of 1950's Watts and the whole red-baiting McCarthyism scene. Pretty scary stuff but a good thing for two white boomers.

EZ Rawlins continues to grown as a character. Clay's narration on the unaudited tape is terrific. The side characters are pretty interesting. The plot is solid and has a dandy twist at the end. Still, what lingers with me is the scenes of black life - the churches, the bars, EZ's wisdom on concealing his wealth.

A good read if you like mysteries and/or are interested in a look at African-American culture from a point of view other than the Oprah books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Political/Racial Nexus, July 10, 2011

By 

JSmalls - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Red Death : Featuring an Original Easy Rawlins Short Story "Silver Lining" (Paperback)

This is one of the best Easy Rawlins books. Mosley does a terrific job of inserting a compelling mystery into the complicated world of 1950s America. The racial and political (communism) worlds of the time lent themselves to intriguing mysteries, and this book is a great example of why.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's much to enjoy and ponder..., March 15, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Hawyard, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Red Death (Easy Rawlins Mysteries) (Paperback)

Watts-1953 and everything's easy for Ezekiel Porterhouse "Easy" Rawlins. His real estate investments are doing well, he has good friends and finally has access to the woman of his dreams [downside: she's the estranged wife of his best friend!] Things become not so easy very quickly though as our protagonist attracts the attention of a zealous IRS agent, becomes a reluctant undercover agent for the FBI, loses one of his best and long time friends and finds himself a possible suspect in several murders. To clear himself and make peace with his inner world, he must find the killer[s].

Mosely guides his audience through various characters, locations and situations. What appeals to me about his writing, aside from the fluid use of language and imagery and the creation of believable, albeit complex characters, is his ability to distill and articulate certain thoughts as they existed in the minds black people in America in the 50's [if not today!]. Mosely writes about who and what he knows, just as Gresham knows the law and creates settings and situations based on his particular knowledge, so too Mosely. A Red Death is solid, colorful and entertaining storytelling. Take it, "Easy!"