Staff Picks
Walter Mosley's World
- Morgan R.
- Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Collection
Walter Mosley is one of the most versatile and admired writers in America. He is the author of more than sixty critically acclaimed books that cover a wide range of ideas, genres, and forms including fiction (literary, mystery, and science fiction), political monographs, writing guides including Elements of Fiction, a memoir in paintings, and a young adult novel called 47. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages. (Author's Website)
It's Walter Mosley's world and we are just living in it!
Devil in a Blue Dress
Published in 2022
Denzel Washington has charisma to burn as the jobless ex-GI Easy Rawlins, who sees a chance to make some quick cash when he's recruited to find the missing lover of a wealthy mayoral candidate in late 1940s Los Angeles only to find himself embroiled in murder, political intrigue, and a scandal that crosses the treacherous color lines of a segregated society.
Snowfall. The Complete First Season
Published in 2018
A look at the early days of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles during the beginning of the 1980s.
Snowfall. The Complete Second Season
Published in 2019
Snowfall continues its riveting story about the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. Season two follows our ensemble of characters as they intersect and overlap within the mosaic of Los Angeles as we enter 1984, with all of them working toward their ultimate goals of money, power and influence. Young street entrepreneur Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) is beginning to experience the perils of success. CIA operative Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson) finds that his off-book drug-funded operation may be vulnerable from unexpected sources, both personal and professional. And drug-running couple Gustavo "El Oso"Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and Lucia (Emily Rios) discover the potency of crack and try to exploit it, despite the new danger involved. - container
47
Published in 2005
Number Forty-Seven, a fourteen-year-old slave boy growing up under the watchful eye of a brutal master in 1832, meets the mysterious Tall John, who introduces him to a magical science and also teaches him the meaning of freedom.
47
Published in 2005
Number 47, a fourteen-year-old slave boy growing up under the watchful eye of a brutal master in 1832, meets the mysterious Tall John, who introduces him to a magical science and also teaches him the meaning of freedom.
All I Did Was Shoot My Man
Published in 2013
When Zella Grisham is accused of both shooting her boyfriend and stealing more than six million dollars from the Rutgers Assurance Corp., Leonid McGill investigates, while his own family life begins to unravel around him.
All I Did Was Shoot My Man
Published in 2012
Zella Grisham never denied shooting her boyfriend. That's not why she did eight years of hard time on a sixteen-year sentence. It's that the shooting inadvertently led to charges of grand theft. Talk about bad luck. Leonid McGill has reasons to believe she's innocent. But reopening the case is only serving to unsettle McGill's private life even further?and expose a family secret that's like a kick to the gut. As the case unfolds, as the truth of what happened eight years ago becomes more damning and more complex than anyone dreamed, McGill and Zella realize that everyone is guilty of something, and that sometimes the sins of the past can be too damaging to ever forget. Or ever forgive.
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
Published in 2010
New York Times bestselling author Walter Mosley introduces an "astonishing character" (Los Angeles Times Book Review) in this acclaimed collection of entwined tales. Meet Socrates Fortlow, a tough ex-con seeking truth and redemption in South Central Los Angeles -- and finding the miracle of survival. "I either committed a crime or had a crime done to me every day I was in jail. Once you go to prison you belong there." Socrates Fortlow has done his time: twenty-seven years for murder and rape, acts forged by his huge, rock-breaking hands. Now, he has come home to a new kind of prison: two battered rooms in an abandoned building in Watts. Working for the Bounty supermarket, and moving perilously close to invisibility, it is Socrates who throws a lifeline to a drowning man: young Darryl, whose shaky path is already bloodstained and fearsome. In a place of violence and hopelessness, Socrates offers up his own battle-scarred wisdom that can turn the world around.
And Sometimes I Wonder About You
Published in 2015
The welcome return of Leonid McGill, Walter Mosley's NYC-based private eye, his East Coast foil to his immortal L.A.-based detective Easy Rawlins. As the Boston Globe raved, "A poignantly real character, [McGill is] not only the newest of the great fictional detectives, but also an incisive and insightful commentator on the American scene." In the fifth Leonid McGill novel, Leonid finds himself in an unusual pickle of trying to balance his cases with his chaotic personal life. Leonid's father is still out there somewhere, and his wife is in an uptown sanitarium trying to recover from the deep depression that led to her attempted suicide in the previous novel. His wife's condition has put a damper on his affair with Aura Ullman, his girlfriend. And his son, Twill, has been spending a lot of time out of the office with his own case, helping a young thief named Fortune and his girlfriend, Liza. Meanwhile, Leonid is approached by an unemployed office manager named Hiram Stent to track down the whereabouts of his cousin, Celia, who is about to inherit millions of dollars from her father's side of the family. Leonid declines the case, but after his office is broken into and Hiram is found dead, he gets reeled into the underbelly of Celia's wealthy old-money family. It's up to Leonid to save who he can and incriminate the guilty; all while helping his son finish his own investigation; locating his own father; reconciling (whatever that means) with his wife and girlfriend; and attending the wedding of Gordo, his oldest friend. From the Hardcover edition.
And Sometimes I Wonder About You
Published in 2015
Leonid is approached by an unemployed office manager named Hiram Stent to track down the whereabouts of his cousin, Celia, who is about to inherit millions of dollars from her father's side of the family. Leonid declines the case, but after his office is broken into and Hiram is found dead, he gets reeled into the underbelly of Celia's wealthy old-money family.
And Sometimes I Wonder About You
Published in 2015
The welcome return of Leonid McGill, Walter Mosley's NYC-based private eye, his East Coast foil to his immortal L.A.-based detective Easy Rawlins. As the Boston Globe raved, "A poignantly real character, [McGill is] not only the newest of the great fictional detectives, but also an incisive and insightful commentator on the American scene." In the fifth Leonid McGill novel, Leonid finds himself in an unusual pickle of trying to balance his cases with his chaotic personal life. Leonid's father is still out there somewhere, and his wife is in an uptown sanitarium trying to recover from the deep depression that led to her attempted suicide in the previous novel. His wife's condition has put a damper on his affair with Aura Ullman, his girlfriend. And his son, Twill, has been spending a lot of time out of the office with his own case, helping a young thief named Fortune and his girlfriend, Liza. Meanwhile, Leonid is approached by an unemployed office manager named Hiram Stent to track down the whereabouts of his cousin, Celia, who is about to inherit millions of dollars from her father's side of the family. Leonid declines the case, but after his office is broken into and Hiram is found dead, he gets reeled into the underbelly of Celia's wealthy old-money family. It's up to Leonid to save who he can and incriminate the guilty; all while helping his son finish his own investigation; locating his own father; reconciling (whatever that means) with his wife and girlfriend; and attending the wedding of Gordo, his oldest friend. From the Hardcover edition.
And Sometimes I Wonder About You
Published in 2015
P.I. Leonid McGill isn’t usually one to refuse a case. But when Hiram Stent, a man down on his luck, begs him to find a cousin who is about to inherit millions of dollars, he senses something fishy. His instincts prove right: The night after he turns Hiram away, Hiram is found dead and Leonid’s office is broken into. Feeling partly responsible for this bizarre turn of events, Leonid is forced to open an investigation that will pull him into the lurid history of an old-money New York family. Leonid’s personal life is no less troubling. As his wife recovers in an uptown sanatorium from a suicide attempt, his mistress’s conscience kicks in. To further complicate matters, the stunning Marella Herzog, as irresistible as she is dangerous, walks into his life—the perfect wrong woman at just the right time.
Black Betty
Published in 2010
1961: For most black Americans, these were times of hope. For former P.I. Easy Rawlins, Los Angeles's mean streets were never meaner...or more deadly. Ordinarily, Easy would have thrown the two bills in the sleazy shamus' face -- the white man who wanted him to find the notorious Black Betty, an ebony siren whose talent for all things rich and male took her from Houston's Fifth Ward to Beverly Hills. There was too much Easy wasn't being told, but he couldn't resist the prospect of seeing Betty again, even if it killed him....
Blonde Faith
Published in 2007
Easy Rawlins comes home from work and finds more trouble on his doorstep in a day than most men encounter in a lifetime. A friend has left his daughter at Easy's house without so much as a note. Clearly this friend, Christmas Black, fears for his life and his daughter's. Easy's closest friend, the man known as Mouse, has disappeared too. Worst of all, Easy's lontgime lover tells him that she plans to marry another man. In a world of hurt, Easy strikes out on his own to try to find one friend, save another, and save himself from the pain that is driving him out of his mind.
Blonde Faith
Published in 2007
Easy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend, Christmas Black left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning, as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems. The love of his life is marrying another man and his friend Mouse is wanted for the murder of a father of 12. As he's searching for a clue to Christmas Black's whereabouts, two suspicious MPs hire him to find his friend Black on behalf of the U.S. Army. Easy's investigation brings him to a blonde woman, Faith Laneer, whose past is as dark as her beauty is bright. As Easy begins to put the pieces together, he realizes that Black's dissappearance has its roots in Vietnam, and that Faith might be in a world of danger.
Blonde Faith
Published in 2007
Easy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Christmas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning, as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems. The love of his life is marrying another man and his friend Mouse is wanted for the murder of a father of twelve. As he's searching for a clue to Christmas Black's whereabouts, two suspicious MPs hire him to find his friend Black on behalf of the U.S. Army. Easy's investigation brings him to Faith Laneer, a blonde woman with a dark past. As Easy begins to put the pieces together, he realizes that Black's dissappearance has its roots in Vietnam, and that Faith might be in a world of danger.
Blood Grove
Published in 2021
"Master of craft and narrative" Walter Mosley returns with this crowning achievement in the Easy Rawlins saga, in which the iconic detective's loyalties are tested on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California (National Book Foundation) It is 1969, and flames can be seen on the horizon, protest wafts like smoke though the thick air, and Easy Rawlins, the Black private detective whose small agency finally has its own office, gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. The young man comes to Easy with a story that makes little sense. He and his lover, a beautiful young woman, were attacked in a citrus grove at the city's outskirts. He may have killed a man, and the woman and his dog are now missing. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes how damaged the young vet is from his war experiences?the bond between veterans superseding all other considerations. The veteran is not Easy's only unlooked-for trouble. Easy's adopted daughter Feather's white uncle shows up uninvited, raising questions and unsettling the life Easy has long forged for the now young woman. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart. Blood Grove is a crackling, moody, and thrilling race through a California of hippies and tycoons, radicals and sociopaths, cops and grifters, both men and women. Easy will need the help of his friends?from the genius Jackson Blue to the dangerous Mouse Alexander, Fearless Jones, and Christmas Black?to make sense of a case that reveals the darkest impulses humans harbor. Blood Grove is a novel of vast scope and intimate insight, and a soulful call for justice by any means necessary.
Blood Grove
Published in 2021
Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los Angeles. But when Easy is approached by a shell-shocked Vietnam War veteran?a young white man who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a white woman from a black man?he knows he shouldn't take the case. Though he sees nothing but trouble in the brooding ex-soldier's eyes, Easy, a vet himself, feels a kinship form between them. Easy embarks on an investigation that takes him from mountaintops to the desert, through South Central and into sex clubs and the homes of the fabulously wealthy, facing hippies, the mob, and old friends perhaps more dangerous than anyone else. Set against the social and political upheaval of the late 1960s, Blood Grove is ultimately a story about survival, not only of the body but also the soul.
Blue Light
A Novel
Published in 2013
A cosmic blue light shines down on Earth creating a race of gods—and demons—whose battle for supremacy will determine the fate of the planet It is the mid 1960s, and the people of San Francisco are ready for transcendence. One night, beams of blue light streak down from space, killing some, driving others mad, and lifting a lucky few to a state of blissful brilliance. For the surviving, newly evolved super race of “blues,” the powers of the universe are within reach. Under their guidance, Earth will either be raised to heaven or dragged to hell. Horace LaFontaine is also touched by the light—but instead of advancing to a higher state, he finds his body inhabited by a vicious intergalactic visitor known as Gray Man. Horace must watch, helpless, as Gray Man turns his body into a weapon and uses it to target the blues, who will need every ounce of their immense power just to survive.
Blue Light
A Novel
Published in 2013
A cosmic blue light shines down on Earth creating a race of gods-and demons-whose battle for supremacy will determine the fate of the planet It is the mid 1960s, and the people of San Francisco are ready for transcendence. One night, beams of blue light streak down from space, killing some, driving others mad, and lifting a lucky few to a state of blissful brilliance. For the surviving, newly evolved super race of "blues," the powers of the universe are within reach. Under their guidance, Earth will either be raised to heaven or dragged to hell. Horace LaFontaine is also touched by the light-but instead of advancing to a higher state, he finds his body inhabited by a vicious intergalactic visitor known as Gray Man. Horace must watch, helpless, as Gray Man turns his body into a weapon and uses it to target the blues, who will need every ounce of their immense power just to survive.
Charcoal Joe
Published in 2016
Walter Mosley's indelible detective Easy Rawlins is back, with a new detective agency and a new mystery to solve. Picking up where his last adventures in Rose Gold left off in L.A. in the late 1960s, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins finds his life in transition. He's ready?finally?to propose to his girlfriend, Bonnie Shay, and start a life together. And he's taken the money he got from the Rose Gold case and, together with two partners, Saul Lynx and Tinsford "Whisper" Natly, has started a new detective agency. But, inevitably, a case gets in the way: Easy's friend Mouse introduces him to Rufus Tyler, a very old man everyone calls Charcoal Joe. Joe's friend's son, Seymour (young, bright, top of his class in physics at Stanford), has been arrested and charged with the murder of a white man from Redondo Beach. Joe tells Easy he will pay and pay well to see this young man exonerated, but seeing as how Seymour literally was found standing over the man's dead body at his cabin home, and considering the racially charged motives seemingly behind the murder, that might prove to be a tall order. Between his new company, a heart that should be broken but is not, a whole raft of new bad guys on his tail, and a bad odor that surrounds Charcoal Joe, Easy has his hands full, his horizons askew, and his life in shambles around his feet. From the Hardcover edition.
Charcoal Joe
Published in 2016
Walter Mosley's indelible detective Easy Rawlins is back, with a new detective agency and a new mystery to solve. Picking up where his last adventures in Rose Gold left off in L.A. in the late 1960s, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins finds his life in transition. He's ready?finally?to propose to his girlfriend, Bonnie Shay, and start a life together. And he's taken the money he got from the Rose Gold case and, together with two partners, Saul Lynx and Tinsford "Whisper" Natly, has started a new detective agency. But, inevitably, a case gets in the way: Easy's friend Mouse introduces him to Rufus Tyler, a very old man everyone calls Charcoal Joe. Joe's friend's son, Seymour (young, bright, top of his class in physics at Stanford), has been arrested and charged with the murder of a white man from Redondo Beach. Joe tells Easy he will pay and pay well to see this young man exonerated, but seeing as how Seymour literally was found standing over the man's dead body at his cabin home, and considering the racially charged motives seemingly behind the murder, that might prove to be a tall order. Between his new company, a heart that should be broken but is not, a whole raft of new bad guys on his tail, and a bad odor that surrounds Charcoal Joe, Easy has his hands full, his horizons askew, and his life in shambles around his feet. From the Hardcover edition.
Cinnamon Kiss
Published in 2006
Easy Rawlins is in need of money for his daughter Feather's expensive medical treatment, so he agrees to find a missing attorney who seems to be more trouble than he's worth.
Cinnamon Kiss
Published in 2005
"New York Times" bestseller Walter Mosley's sizzling new novel pits Easy Rawlins against his greatest challenge ever -- a terrifying murder during the summer of love. It is the summer of love as "Cinnamon kiss" opens, and Easy Rawlins is contemplating robbing an armored car. It's farther outside the law than Easy has ever traveled -- but his daughter, Feather, needs a medical treatment that costs far more than Easy can earn or borrow in time. And his friend Mouse tells him it's a cinch. Then another friend, Saul Lynx, offers a job that might solve Easy's problem without jail time. He has to track the disappearance of an eccentric prominent attorney. His assistant of sorts, the beautiful "Cinnamon" Cargill, is gone as well. Easy can tell there is much more than he is being told -- Robert Lee, his new employer, is as suspect as the man who disappeared. But his need overcomes all concerns, and he plunges into unfamiliar territory, from the newfound hippie enclaves to ...
Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore
Published in 2014
In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving literary novel by the famed creator of the Easy Rawlins series, Debbie Dare, a black porn queen, has to come to terms with her sordid life in the adult entertainment industry after her tomcatting husband dies in a hot tub. Electrocuted. With another woman in there with him. Debbie decides she just isn't going to "do it anymore." But executing her exit strategy from the porn world is a wrenching and far from simple process. Millions of men (and no doubt many women) have watched famed black porn queen Debbie Dare--she of the blond wig and blue contacts-"do it" on television and computer screens every which way with every combination of partners the mind of man can imagine. But one day an unexpected and thunderous on-set orgasm catches Debbie unawares, and when she returns to the mansion she shares with her husband, insatiable former porn star and "film producer" Theon Pinkney, she discovers that he's died in a case of hot tub electrocution, "auditioning" an aspiring "starlet." Burdened with massive debts that her husband incurred, and which various L.A. heavies want to collect on, Debbie must reckon with a life spent in the peculiar subculture of the pornography industry and her estrangement from her family and the child she had to give up. She's done with porn, but her options for what might come next include the possibility of suicide. Debbie . . . is a portrait of a ransacked but resilient soul in search of salvation and a cure for grief.
Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore
A Novel
Published in 2014
In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving literary novel by the famed creator of the Easy Rawlins series, Debbie Dare, a black porn queen, has to come to terms with her sordid life in the adult entertainment industry after her tomcatting husband dies in a hot tub. Electrocuted. With another woman in there with him. Debbie decides she just isn't going to "do it anymore." But executing her exit strategy from the porn world is a wrenching and far from simple process. Millions of men (and no doubt many women) have watched famed black porn queen Debbie Dare'she of the blond wig and blue contacts-"do it" on television and computer screens every which way with every combination of partners the mind of man can imagine. But one day an unexpected and thunderous on-set orgasm catches Debbie unawares, and when she returns to the mansion she shares with her husband, insatiable former porn star and "film producer" Theon Pinkney, she discovers that he's died in a case of hot tub electrocution, "auditioning" an aspiring "starlet." Burdened with massive debts that her husband incurred, and which various L.A. heavies want to collect on, Debbie must reckon with a life spent in the peculiar subculture of the pornography industry and her estrangement from her family and the child she had to give up. She's done with porn, but her options for what might come next include the possibility of suicide. Debbie . . . is a portrait of a ransacked but resilient soul in search of salvation and a cure for grief.
Devil in a Blue Dress
Published in 2010
Devil in a Blue Dress , a defining novel in Walter Mosley's bestselling Easy Rawlins mystery series, was adapted into a TriStar Pictures film starring Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins and Don Cheadle as Mouse. Set in the late 1940s, in the African-American community of Watts, Los Angeles, Devil in a Blue Dress follows Easy Rawlins, a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Monet, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.
Devil in a Blue Dress [Book Club Set]
Published in 1990
Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.
Diablerie
A Novel
Published in 2008
In this icy noir from a master of American fiction, the darkest secrets are the ones we keep hidden from ourselves. Ben Dibbuk has a good job, an accomplished wife, a bright college-age daughter, and a patient young mistress. Even as he goes through the motions of everyday life, however, inside he feels nothing. The explanation for this emotional void lies in the years he spent as a blacked-out drunk before pulling his life together-years in which he knows he committed acts he doesn't remember. Then a woman from his past turns up at a gala for his wife's new gig at a magazine called Diablerie and makes it clear that she remembers something he doesn't. Their encounter sets wheels in motion that will propel Dibbuk toward new knowledge and perhaps the chance to feel again. With the same erotic force as Killing Johnny Fry but grounded in a far darker vision of human nature, Diablerie is a transfixing new novel from one of our most powerful writers.
Diablerie
A Novel
Published in 2008
Ben Dibbuk has a good job, an accomplished wife, a bright college-age daughter, and a patient young mistress. Even as he goes through the motions of everyday life, however, inside he feels nothing. The explanation for this emotional void lies in the years he spent as a blacked-out drunk before pulling his life together--years in which he knows he committed acts he doesn't remember. Then a woman from his past turns up at a gala for his wife's new gig at a magazine called Diablerie and makes it clear that she remembers something he doesn't. Their encounter sets wheels in motion that will propel Dibbuk toward new knowledge, and perhaps the chance to feel again.--From amazon.com.
Diablerie
A Novel
Published in 2008
In this icy noir from a master of American fiction, the darkest secrets are the ones we keep hidden from ourselves.Ben Dibbuk has a good job, an accomplished wife, a bright college-age daughter, and a patient young mistress. Even as he goes through the motions of everyday life, however, inside he feels nothing...
Diablerie
A Novel
Published in 2008
Ben Dibbuk has a good job, an accomplished wife, a bright college-age daughter, and a patient young mistress. Even as he goes through the motions of everyday life, however, inside he feels nothing. The explanation for this emotional void lies in the years he spent as a blacked-out drunk before pulling his life together--years in which he knows he committed acts he doesn't remember. Then a woman from his past turns up at a gala for his wife's new gig at a magazine called Diablerie and makes it clear that she remembers something he doesn't. Their encounter sets wheels in motion that will propel Dibbuk toward new knowledge, and perhaps the chance to feel again.--From amazon.com.
Down the River Unto the Sea
Published in 2018
"Mosley writes with great power here about themes that have permeated his work: institutional racism, political corruption, and the ways that both of these issues affect not only society at large but also the inner lives of individual men and women." ? Booklist (starred review) Joe King Oliver was one of the NYPD's finest investigators, until, dispatched to arrest a well-heeled car thief, he is framed for assault by his enemies within the NYPD, a charge which lands him in solitary at Rikers Island. A decade later, King is a private detective, running his agency with the help of his teenage daughter, Aja-Denise. Broken by the brutality he suffered and committed in equal measure while behind bars, his work and his daughter are the only light in his solitary life. When he receives a card in the mail from the woman who admits she was paid to frame him those years ago, King realizes that he has no choice but to take his own case: figuring out who on the force wanted him disposed of?and why. Running in parallel with King's own quest for justice is the case of a Black radical journalist accused of killing two on-duty police officers who had been abusing their badges to traffic in drugs and women within the city's poorest neighborhoods. Joined by Melquarth Frost, a brilliant sociopath, our hero must beat dirty cops and dirtier bankers, craven lawyers, and above all keep his daughter far from the underworld in which he works. All the while, two lives hang in the balance: King's client's, and King's own.
Every Man a King
Published in 2023
In this highly anticipated sequel to the Edgar award winner Down the River Unto the Sea , Joe King Oliver is entangled in a dangerous case when he's asked to investigate whether a white nationalist is being unjustly set up. When friend of the family and multi-billionaire Roger Ferris comes to Joe with an assignment, he's got no choice but to accept, even if the case is a tough one to stomach. White nationalist Alfred Xavier Quiller has been accused of murder and the sale of sensitive information to the Russians. Ferris has reason to believe Quiller's been set up and he needs King to see if the charges hold. This linear assignment becomes a winding quest to uncover the extent of Quiller's dealings, to understand Ferris' skin in the game, and to get to the bottom of who is working for whom. Even with the help of bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez—no regular girl Friday—the machine King's up against proves relentless and unsparing. As King gets closer to exposing the truth, he and his loved ones barrel towards grave danger. Mosley once again proves himself a "master of craft and narrative" (National Book Foundation) in this carefully plotted mystery that is at once a classic caper, a family saga and an examination of fealty, pride and how deep debt can go.
Every Man a King
Published in 2023
In this highly anticipated sequel from Edgar Award-winning "master of craft and narrative," Walter Mosley, Joe King Oliver is entangled in a dangerous case when he's asked to investigate whether a white nationalist is being unjustly set up. ( National Book Foundation) When friend of the family and multi-billionaire Roger Ferris comes to Joe with an assignment, he’s got no choice but to accept, even if the case is a tough one to stomach. White nationalist Alfred Xavier Quiller has been accused of murder and the sale of sensitive information to the Russians. Ferris has reason to believe Quiller’s been set up and he needs King to see if the charges hold. This linear assignment becomes a winding quest to uncover the extent of Quiller’s dealings, to understand Ferris’ skin in the game, and to get to the bottom of who is working for whom. Even with the help of bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez—no regular girl Friday—the machine King’s up against proves relentless and unsparing. As King gets closer to exposing the truth, he and his loved ones barrel towards grave danger. Mosley once again proves himself a "master of craft and narrative" (National Book Foundation) in this carefully plotted mystery that is at once a classic caper, a family saga and an examination of fealty, pride and how deep debt can go.
Fear Itself
Published in 2003
Paris Minton doesn't want any trouble, but in 1950s Los Angeles, sometimes trouble finds him, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it. When the nephew of the wealthiest woman in L.A. is missing and wanted for murder, she hires Jefferson T. Hill, a former sheriff of Dawson, Texas, to track him down and prove his innocence. When Hill goes missing too, she tricks his friend Fearless Jones and Paris Minton into picking up the case. Paris steps inside the world of the black bourgeoisie. And it turns out to be filled with deceit and corruption. It takes everything he has just to stay alive through a case filled with twists and turns and dead ends like he never imagined.
Fear of the Dark
Published in 2006
Fearless Jones and Paris Minton, stars of the bestsellers Fearless Jones and Fear Itself, return in a high-velocity, larger-than-life thriller about family, betrayal, and revenge. "I'm in trouble, Paris." Paris Minton has heard these words before. They mean only one thing: that his neck is on the line too. So when they are uttered by his lowlife cousin Ulysses S. Grant, Paris keeps the door firmly closed. With family like Ulysses-Useless to everyone except his mother-who needs enemies? But trouble always finds an open window, and when Useless's mother, Three Hearts, shows up from Louisiana to look for her son, Paris has no choice but to track down his wayward cousin. Finding a con artist like Useless is easier said than done. But with the aid of his ear-to-the-ground friend Fearless Jones, Paris gets a hint that Useless may have expanded his range of enterprise to include blackmail.
Fear of the Dark
Published in 2006
Fearless and Paris search for Paris's con artist cousin Ulysses S. Grant in Los Angeles during the 1950's.
Fortunate Son
Published in 2006
New York Times bestselling author Walter Mosley's novel about two boys, one ensconced in a life of privilege and the other in a life of hardship, explores the true meaning of fortune. In spite of remarkable differences, Eric and Tommy are as close as brothers. Eric, a Nordic Adonis, is graced by a seemingly endless supply of good fortune. Tommy is a lame black boy, cursed with health problems, yet he remains optimistic and strong. After tragedy rips their makeshift family apart, the lives of these boys diverge astonishingly: Eric, the golden youth, is given everything but trusts nothing; Tommy, motherless and impoverished, has nothing, but feels lucky every day of his life.
Futureland
Nine Stories of an Imminent World
Published in 2013
The citizenry of America struggles for survival in a dangerous, twisted future In "Whispers in the Dark," an ex-con sells his organs to ensure his brilliant nephew's future. The boy will grow up to have the highest IQ ever recorded, but the uncle, who sold his eyes, won't be able to see it. In "Voices," a history professor becomes addicted to a drug called pulse, which gives him access to a world of vivid fantasy while tearing his brain to shreds. By the time the professor qualifies for a brain transplant, he's no longer sure what's real and what's imagined. And in "Angel's Island," a convict in the world's largest private prison reveals the facility's chilling secrets. In this critically acclaimed collection of stories, noir legend Walter Mosley takes his unique vision of American society into the future. As the nation descends into chaos, its citizens wonder, Is the world ending, or has the apocalypse already come and gone?
The Gift of Fire
On the Head of a Pin
Published in 2012
The Gift of Fire In ancient mythology, the Titan Prometheus was punished by the gods for bringing man the gift of fire--an event that set humankind on its course of knowledge. As punishment, Prometheus was bound to a rock. But in The Gift of Fire, those chains cease to be, and the great champion of man walks from that immortal prison into present-day South Central Los Angeles. Disheveled and lost, he is thrown in jail, where he meets lifelong criminal Nosome Blane. Shocked at what humanity has done with his gift, he looks for another way to empower his cause. His only hope lies with Nosome's bedridden fourteen-year-old nephew, Chief Reddy, who is anointed with Prometheus's second gift of fire . . . On the Head of a Pin Joshua Winterland and Ana Fried are working at Jennings-Tremont Enterprises. JTE is developing advanced animatronics editing techniques that will create high-end movies indistinguishable from live action. But one night Joshua and Ana discover something lingering in the rendered footage . . . an entity that will eventually reveal itself as "the Sail" and lead Joshua and Ana into a new age . . . beyond the reality they have come to know, and deep into the true nature of good and evil.
The Gift of Fire
On the Head of a Pin
Published in 2012
The gift of fire: In ancient mythology, Prometheus was punished by the gods for bringing man the gift of fire. As punishment, Prometheus was bound to a rock. But today, those chains cease to be and the great champion of man walks into South Central Los Angeles. On the head of a pin: Jennings-Tremont Enterprises is developing advanced animatronics editing techniques that will create movies indistinguishable from live action. But the employees created something they didn't count on ... an entity that will eventually reveal itself as "the Sail."
Gone Fishin'
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2002
A novel exploring the early years of Easy Rawlins and Mouse Alexander, protagonists in a current black PI series. The setting is Texas, the time the 1930s, and the two embark on a car ride which will engulf them in the bayou world of voodoo, sex and murder.
The Greatest
Published in 2000
It was never proven that Fera Jones was the product of SepFem-G, the outlawed genetics program that came out of the feminist studies program at Smith College. But one thing was absolutely certain: when it comes to boxing, Fera Jones floats like a butterfly and stings like a B-1 Bomber ...
Inside a Silver Box
Published in 2015
Two people brought together by a horrific act are united in a common cause by the powers of the Silver Box. The two join to protect humanity from destruction by an alien race, the Laz, hell-bent on regaining control over the Silver Box, the most destructive and powerful tool in the universe. The Silver Box will stop at nothing to prevent its former master from returning to being, even if it means finishing the earth itself.
Inside a Silver Box
Published in 2015
Walter Mosley's talent knows no bounds. Inside a Silver Box continues to explore the cosmic questions entertainingly discussed in his Crosstown to Oblivion. From life's meaning to the nature of good and evil, Mosley takes readers on a speculative journey beyond reality. In Inside a Silver Box, two people brought together by a horrific act are united in a common cause by the powers of the Silver Box. The two join to protect humanity from destruction by an alien race, the Laz, hell-bent on regaining control over the Silver Box, the most destructive and powerful tool in the universe. The Silver Box will stop at nothing to prevent its former master from returning to being, even if it means finishing the earth itself
John Woman
Published in 2018
A convention-defying novel by bestselling writer Walter Mosley, John Woman recounts the transformation of an unassuming boy named Cornelius Jones into John Woman, an unconventional history professor-while the legacy of a hideous crime lurks in the shadows. At twelve years old, Cornelius, the son of an Italian-American woman and an older black man from Mississippi named Herman, secretly takes over his father's job at a silent film theater in New York's East Village. Five years later, as Herman lives out his last days, he shares his wisdom with his son, explaining that the person who controls the narrative of history controls their own fate. After his father dies and his mother disappears, Cornelius sets about reinventing himself-as Professor John Woman, a man who will spread Herman's teachings into the classrooms of his unorthodox southwestern university and beyond. But there are other individuals who are attempting to influence the narrative of John Woman, and who might know something about the facts of his hidden past. Engaging with some of the most provocative ideas of recent intellectual history, John Woman is a compulsively readable, deliciously unexpected novel about the way we tell stories, and whether the stories we tell have the power to change the world.
Killing Johnny Fry
A Sexistential Novel
Published in 2010
When Cordell Carmel catches his longtime girlfriend with another man, the experience dissolves his calm, everyday existence into a thirst for revenge and a sexual odyssey in search of a new way of life.
Known to Evil
Published in 2010
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 McGill for help. It seems a young woman has disappeared, leaving murder in her wake, and it means everything to Rinaldo to track her down.
Known to Evil
Published in 2010
Leonid McGill 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, becuase 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 skyscraper office space. Meanwhile, one of his sons seems to have found true love, but the girl has a shady past that's all of sudden threatening the whole McGill family and his other son, the charming rogue Twilliam, is doing nothing but enabling the crisis.
Known to Evil
Published in 2010
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 McGill for help. It seems a young woman has disappeared, leaving murder in her wake, and it means everything to Rinaldo to track her down.
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
Published in 2010
Ptolemy Grey is a 91-year-old man, suffering from dementia and living as a recluse in his Los Angeles apartment. Then Robyn Small, a 17-year-old family friend, appears and helps clean up his apartment and straighten out his life. A reinvigorated Ptolemy volunteers for an experimental medical program that restores his mind, and he uses his last days--shortened now by the medical experiment--to delve into the mystery of the recent drive-by shooting death of his great-nephew, Reggie.
Little Green
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2013
Easy Rawlins is back (almost literally from the dead after the car wreck that ended Blonde Faith, his last outing) and cruising the hippified streets of the Sunset Strip circa 1967, in search of a young black man who has gone missing and maybe of his own rebirth.
Little Green
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2013
Surviving a near-fatal car wreck and cruising the streets of the Sunset Strip during the heyday of the late 1960s, Easy Rawlins investigates the disappearance of a young African-American, a case that is complicated by Rawlins's changing perspectives.
Little Scarlet
Published in 2004
It is 1965, and the devastating Watts riots are ravaging Los Angeles. A white man attempts to escape from a mob by running into a nearby apartment building. A few days later he is accused of killing a woman known as Little Scarlet who is found dead in the building. But when Easy Rawlins starts to investigate, he suspects the killer to be someone else-someone whose rage is racially motivated and as deep as his passion. For those who always wanted to read Walter Mosley, here is a novel they've been waiting for: an unstoppably dramatic mystery.
Little Scarlet
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2004
Walter Mosley delivers at last the compelling master work everyone's been waiting for, a novel so intriguing, so soulful, so unstoppably dramatic that it will rank among the classic mysteries of our time. At the height of the riots that cripple LA in the summer of 1965, a white man is pulled from his car by a mob and escapes into a nearby apartment building. Soon afterward, a red-headed woman known as little Scarlet is found dead in that apartment building and the fleeing man is the obvious suspect. The police ask Easy Rawlins to investigate. What he finds is a killer whose rage, like that which burned the city for weeks, is intrinsically woven around race and passion. Rawlins's hunt for the killer will reveal a new city emerging from the ashes and a new life for Easy and his friends.
A Little Yellow Dog
Published in 2010
Easy finally believes he can lead a simple life and leave his haunted past behind him?until he meets a woman who changes everything. November 1963: Easy's settled into a steady gig as a school custodian. It's a quiet, simple existence?but a few moments of ecstasy with a sexy teacher will change all that. When the lady vanishes, Easy's stuck with a couple of corpses, the cops on his back, and a little yellow dog who's nobody's best friend. With his not-so-simple past snapping at his heels, and with enemies old and new looking to get even, Easy must kiss his careful little life good-bye?and step closer to the edge.
A Little Yellow Dog
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2002
1964: Easy has given up the street life and has taken on a job as a supervising custodian at Sojourner Truth High School. But his newly found carefree lifestyle is threatened when two corpses are discovered at the school and the police think Easy is involved.
The Long Fall
Published in 2009
Leonid McGill, a New York City private detective, tries to put his past life behind him, to go "from crooked to slightly bent." But it's not that easy when someone like Tony "The Suit" Towers expects you to do a job; when an Albany PI hires you to track down four men known only by their youthful street names; and when your 16-year-old son, Twill, is getting in over his head with a suicidal girl.
The Long Fall
Published in 2009
Ex-boxer, hard drinker, in a business that trades mostly in cash and favors, Leonid McGill's an old-school P.I. working a twenty-first-century Manhattan that's gotten fancy all around him. Fancy or not, he has always managed to get by, keep a roof over the head of his wife and kids, and still manage a little fun on the side, mostly because he's never been above taking a shady job for a quick buck, no questions asked.
The Long Fall
Published in 2009
Leonid McGill, a New York City private detective, tries to put his past behind him. But it's not that easy when someone like Tony "The Suit" Towers expects you to do a job; when an Albany PI hires you to track down four men known only by their youthful street names; and when your 16-year-old son, Twill, is getting in over his head with a suicidal girl.
The Man in My Basement
Published in 2004
Charles Blakey is a young black man whose life is slowly crumbling. When a stranger offers him $50,000 in cash to rent out his basement for the summer, Charles needs the money too badly to say no. He knows that the stranger must want something more than a basement view. Sure enough, he has a very particular and bizarre set of requirements, and Charles tries to satisfy him without getting lured into the strangeness.
Merge ; Disciple
Published in 2012
"MERGE Raleigh Redman loved Nicci Charbon until she left him heartbroken. Then he hit the lotto for $26 million, quit his minimum wage job and set his sights on one goal: reading the entire collection of lectures in the Popular Educator Library, the only thing his father left behind after he died. As Raleigh is trudging through the eighth volume, he notices something in his apartment that at first seems ordinary but quickly reveals itself to be from a world very different from our own. This entity shows Raleigh joy beyond the comforts of $26 million dollars....and merges our world with those that live beyond. DISCIPLE Hogarth "Trent" Tryman is a forty-two year old man working a dead-end data entry job. Though he lives alone and has no real friends besides his mother, he's grown quite content in his quiet life, burning away time with television, the internet, and video games. That all changes the night he receives a bizarre instant message on his computer from a man who calls himself Bron. At first he thinks it's a joke, but in just a matter of days Hogarth Tryman goes from a data entry clerk to the head of a corporation. His fate is now in very powerful hands as he realizes he has become a pawn in a much larger game with unimaginable stakes--a battle that threatens the prime life force on Earth. "-- Provided by publisher.
Merge ; Disciple
Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion
Published in 2012
MERGE Raleigh Redman loved Nicci Charbon until she left him heartbroken. Then he hit the lotto for twenty-four million dollars, quit his minimum-wage job, and set his sights on one goal: reading the entire collection of lectures in the Popular Educator Library. As Raleigh is trudging through the eighth volume, he notices something in his apartment that at first seems ordinary but quickly reveals itself to be from a world very different from our own...
Merge ; Disciple
Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion
Published in 2012
Merge: Raleigh Redman loved Nicci Charbon until she left him heartbroken. Then he hit the lotto for $26 million, quit his minimum wage job and set his sights on one goal: reading the entire collection of lectures in the Popular Educator Library, the only thing his father left behind after he died. As Raleigh is trudging through the eighth volume, he notices something in his apartment that at first seems ordinary but quickly reveals itself to be from a world very different from our own. This entity shows Raleigh joy beyond the comforts of $26 million dollars....and merges our world with those that live beyond.
Parishioner
Published in 2012
In a small town situated between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, a simple church of white stone sits atop a hill on the coast. This nameless house of worship is a sanctuary for the worst kinds of sinners: the congregation and even the clergy have broken all ten Commandments and more. Now they have gathered to seek forgiveness. Xavier Rule--Ecks to his friends--didn't come to California in search of salvation but, thanks to the grace of this church, he has begun to learn to forgive himself and others for past misdeeds. One day a woman arrives to seek absolution for the guilt she has carried for years over her role in a scheme to kidnap three children and sell them on the black market. As part of atoning for his past life on the wrong side of the law, Ecks is assigned to find out what happened to the abducted children. As he follows the thin trail of the twenty-three-year-old crime, he must struggle against his old, lethal instincts--and learn when to give in to them.
A Red Death
Published in 2010
It's 1953 in Red-baiting, blacklisting Los Angeles, a moral tar pit ready to swallow Easy Rawlins. Easy is out of "the hurting business" and into the housing (and favor) business when a racist IRS agent nails him for tax evasion. Special Agent Darryl T. Craxton, FBI, offers to bail him out if he agrees to infiltrate the First American Baptist Church and spy on alleged communist organizer Chaim Wenzler. That's when the murders begin....
The Right Mistake
Published in 2009
Living in south central L.A., Socrates Fortlow is a sixty-year-old ex-convict still strong enough to kill men with his bare hands. Filled with profound guilt about his own crimes and disheartened by the chaos of the streets, Socrates calls together local people of all races and social stations and begins to conduct a Thinkers? Club, where all can discuss life?s unanswerable questions. Infiltrated by undercover cops and threatened by strain from within, the Thinkers? Club doesn?t have it easy. But simply by debating racial authenticity, street justice, and the possibility of mutual understanding, Socrates and his unlikely crew actually begin to make a difference. The Right Mistake is Walter Mosley at his most incisive. At once an affectionate and coruscating portrait of ghetto life, it abides the possibility of personal redemption and even, with great struggle, social change.
RL's Dream
Published in 2010
Soupspoon Wise is dying on the unforgiving streets of New York City, years and worlds away from the Mississippi delta, where he once jammed with blues legend Robert "RL" Johnson. It was an experience that burned indelibly into Soupspoon's soul -- never mind that they said RL's gift came from the Devil himself. Now it's Soupspoon's turn to strike a deal with a stranger. An alcoholic angel of mercy, Kiki Waters isn't much better off than Soupspoon, but she too is a child of the South, and knows its pull. And she is determined to let Soupspoon ride out the final notes of his haunting blues dream, to pour out the remarkable tale of what he's seen, where he's been -- and where he's going. Winner of the 1996 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award in Fiction
Rose Gold
Published in 2014
Rose Gold is two colors, one woman, and a big headache. In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara. If they don't receive the money, weapons, and apology they demand, "Rose Gold" will die--horribly and publicly. So the FBI, the State Department, and the LAPD turn to Easy Rawlins, the one man who can cross the necessary borders to resolve this dangerous standoff. With twelve previous adventures since 1990, Easy Rawlins is one of the small handful of private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called immortal. Rose Gold continues his ongoing and unique achievement in combining the mystery/PI genre form with a rich social history of postwar Los Angeles--and not just the black parts of that sprawling city.
Rose Gold
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2014
When a boxer-turned-revolutionary kidnaps the daughter of a weapons manufacturer and threatens to publicly execute her in exchange for a lucrative ransom, Easy Rawlins is tapped by the LAPD to make a difficult border crossing to navigate an ensuing standoff.
Rose Gold
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2014
"Rose Gold is two colors, one woman, and a big headache. In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara" -- from publisher's web site.
Six Easy Pieces
Published in 2003
Walter Mosley's bestselling and award-winning novels -- from Gone Fishin' to Devil in a Blue Dress, named one of the "100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century" by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association -- have endeared him to legions of readers from a U.S. president to everyday people who can't get enough of Easy Rawlins. Now from the bestselling and award-winning writer comes Six Easy Pieces. The beloved Ezekiel Rawlins now has a steady job as senior head custodian of Sojourner Truth High School, a nice house with a garden, a loving woman, and children. He counts the blessings of leading a law-abiding life, but is "nowhere near happy." Easy mourns the loss of his best friend, Mouse. Though Easy tries to leave the street life behind, he still finds himself trading favors and investigating cases of arson, murder, and missing people. People who can't depend on the law to solve their problems seek out Easy. A bomb is set in the high school where Easy works. A man's daughter runs off with his employee. A beautiful woman turns up dead and the man who loved her is wrongly accused. Easy is the man people turn to in search of justice and retribution. He even becomes party to a killing that the police might call murder. Six of the seven stories in Six Easy Pieces were published in reissued Washington Square Press editions of the Easy Rawlins mysteries Gone Fishin', Devil in a Blue Dress, A Red Death, White Butterfly, Black Betty, and A Little Yellow Dog. A seventh, "Amber Gate," is newly published here, making this new Walter Mosley classic a must-have for all fans of great fiction.
Stepping Stone ; Love Machine
[Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion]
Published in 2013
Stepping Stone: Truman Pope has spent his whole life watching the world go by. A gentle, unassuming soul, he has worked in the mailroom of a large corporation for decades without making waves, until the day he spots a mysterious woman in yellow. A woman nobody else can see. Soon Truman's quiet life begins to turn upside-down. Love Machine: The brainchild of an eccentric, possibly deranged scientist, the "Love Machine" can merge individual psyches and memories into a collective Co-Mind...
Stepping Stone ; Love Machine
[Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion]
Published in 2013
Stepping Stone: Truman Pope has spent his whole life watching the world go by. A gentle, unassuming soul, he has worked in the mailroom of a large corporation for decades without making waves, until the day he spots a mysterious woman in yellow. A woman nobody else can see. Soon Truman's quiet life begins to turn upside-down. Love Machine: The brainchild of an eccentric, possibly deranged scientist, the "Love Machine" can merge individual psyches and memories into a collective Co-Mind. Tricked into joining the Co-Mind, as part of a master plan to take over the world, Lois Kim struggles to adapt to her new reality and abilities. Is there any way back to the life that was stolen from her, or is she destined to lead humanity into a strange new era??
Stepping Stone ; The Love Machine
Published in 2013
"Two of six fragments in the Crosstown to oblivion short novels in which Mosley ... explores life's cosmic questions. From life's meaning to the nature of good and evil, these tales take us on speculative journeys beyond the reality we have come to know. In each tale someone in our world today is given insight into these long pondered mysteries. But how would the world really receive the answers?"--Dust jacket flap.
Stepping Stone ; The Love Machine
Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion
Published in 2013
Stepping stone: Truman is a gentle unassuming soul, he has worked in the mailroom of a corporation for decades without making waves, until the day he spots a mysterious woman in yellow. A woman nobody else can see. Love Machine: The brainchild of an eccentric, possibly deranged scientist, the Love Machine can merge individual psyches and memories into a collective Co-Mind. Tricked into joining the Co-Mind, Lois Kim struggles to adapt to her new reality and abilities.
The Tempest Tales
Published in 2008
Refusing to go to hell in spite of his technical disqualification from heaven, murdered African-American everyman Tempest Landry is sent back to Harlem, where a guiding angel tries to convince him to accept judgment.
This Year You Write Your Novel
Published in 2007
No more excuses! Anyone can write a novel, novelist Mosley advises, and in this book of tips, practical advice, and wisdom, he promises that the writer-in-waiting can finish it in one year. Intended as both inspiration and instruction, the book provides the tools to turn out a first draft painlessly and then revise it into something finer. Mosley tells: how to create a daily writing regimen to fit any writer's needs--and how to stick to it; how to determine the narrative voice that's right for every writer's style; and how to get past those first challenging sentences and into the heart of a story.--From publisher description.
This Year You Write Your Novel
Published in 2007
No more excuses! Anyone can write a novel, novelist Mosley advises, and in this book of tips, practical advice, and wisdom, he promises that the writer-in-waiting can finish it in one year. Intended as both inspiration and instruction, the book provides the tools to turn out a first draft painlessly and then revise it into something finer. Mosley tells: how to create a daily writing regimen to fit any writer's needs--and how to stick to it; how to determine the narrative voice that's right for every writer's style; and how to get past those first challenging sentences and into the heart of a story.--From publisher description.
Trouble Is What I Do
Published in 2020
From innovative bestselling novelist Walter Mosley comes the return of the beloved Leonid McGill detective series featuring a morally ambiguous P.I. who solves crimes and whose victims are society's most downtrodden. Leonid McGill's spent a lifetime building up his reputation in the New York investigative scene. His seemingly infallible instinct and inside knowledge of the crime world make him the ideal man to help when Phillip Worry comes knocking. Phillip "Catfish" Worry is a 92-year-old Mississippi bluesman who needs Leonid's help with a simple task: deliver a letter revealing the black lineage of a wealthy heiress and her corrupt father. Unsurprisingly, the opportunity to do a simple favor while shocking the prevailing elite is too much for Leonid to resist. But when a famed and feared assassin puts a hit on Catfish, Leonid has no choice but to confront the ghost of his own felonious past. Working to protect his client, and his own family, Leonid must reach the heiress on the eve of her wedding before her powerful father kills those who hold their family's secret. Joined by a team of young and tough aspiring investigators, Leonid must gain the trust of wary socialites, outsmart vengeful thugs, and, above all, serve the truth? no matter the cost.
Trouble Is What I Do
Published in 2020
From innovative bestselling novelist Walter Mosley comes the return of the beloved Leonid McGill detective series featuring a morally ambiguous P.I. who solves crimes and whose victims are society's most downtrodden. ?Leonid McGill's spent a lifetime building up his reputation in the New York investigative scene. His seemingly infallible instinct and inside knowledge of the crime world make him the ideal man to help when Phillip Worry comes knocking. Phillip "Catfish" Worry is a 92-year-old Mississippi bluesman who needs Leonid's help with a simple task: deliver a letter revealing the black lineage of a wealthy heiress and her corrupt father. Unsurprisingly, the opportunity to do a simple favor while shocking the prevailing elite is too much for Leonid to resist. But when a famed and feared assassin puts a hit on Catfish, Leonid has no choice but to confront the ghost of his own felonious past. Working to protect his client, and his own family, Leonid must reach the heiress on the eve of her wedding before her powerful father kills those who hold their family's secret. Joined by a team of young and tough aspiring investigators, Leonid must gain the trust of wary socialites, outsmart vengeful thugs, and, above all, serve the truth? no matter the cost.
Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation
Published in 2011
Outlines a guide to recovery from oppression by first identifying the problems that surround us, then actively working together to create a just, more holistic society while at the same time returning power to the people.
Walkin' the Dog
Published in 1999
A former black convict in Watts tries to go straight, holding a steady job, helping the town's youth and philosophizing with friends. But when a policeman starts raping and killing blacks, he turns vigilante.
The Wave
Published in 2005
"Errol Porter is awakened by a strange prank caller, one who asks for him by name and claims to be his father. But Errol's father has been dead for years. Late one night, curious and a little unnerved, Errol sneaks into the graveyard where his father is buried. The man he finds there will change his life. Soon Errol's on the run from mad scientists and homeland security death squads, and befriended by creatures that are the stuff of nightmares."
The Wave
Published in 2006
Receiving a bizarre prank call from someone claiming to be his dead father, Errol visits the graveyard where his father is buried and makes an astonishing discovery about a supernatural presence that is spreading throughout the planet.
The Wave
Published in 2005
The New York times bestselling author returns to science fiction with an eerie, transcendent novel of the near future. Errol's father has been dead for several years. Yet lately Errol has been awakened in the middle of the night by a caller claiming to be his father. Is it a prank, or a message from the grave? When he hears the unmistakable sound of a handset being put down on a table, he decides to investigate. Curious and not a little unnerved, Errol sneaks into the graveyard where his father is buried. What he finds there changes his life forever. Caught up in a war between a secret government security agency and an alien presence infecting our world, touched by the Wave, he knows that nothing will ever be the same again.
The Wave
Published in 2005
Errols father has been dead for several years. Yet lately Errol has been awakened in the middle of the night by a caller claiming to be his father. Is it a prank, or a message from the grave? When he hears the unmistakable sound of a handset being put down on a table, he decides to investigate.Curious and not a little unnerved, Errol sneaks into the graveyard where his father is buried. What he finds there changes his life forever. Caught up in a war between a secret government security agency and an alien presence infecting our world, touched by the Wave, he knows that nothing will ever be the same again.
When the Thrill is Gone
Published in 2011
A beautiful young woman walks into PI Leonid McGill's office with a stack of cash. She's an artist, she tells Leonid, who's escaped poverty via marriage to a rich collector. A rich collector with two ex-wives whose deaths are shrouded in mystery. She says she fears for her life, and needs Leonid's help. Will sorting out the woman's crooked tale bring Leonid straight to death's door?
When the Thrill is Gone
Published in 2011
A beautiful young woman walks into PI Leonid McGill's office with a stack of cash. She's an artist, she tells Leonid, who's escaped poverty via marriage to a rich collector. A rich collector with two ex-wives whose deaths are shrouded in mystery. She says she fears for her life, and needs Leonid's help. Will sorting out the woman's crooked tale bring Leonid straight to death's door?
White Butterfly
Published in 2010
From the acclaimed bestselling author of the Easy Rawlins series, deemed "one of America's best mystery writers" ( The New York Times Book Review ), comes a tale about a murdered man who does not want to go to heaven or hell?he'd rather have his old life in Harlem. The police don't show up on Easy's doorstep until the third girl dies. It's Los Angeles, 1956 and it takes more than a murdered black girl before the cops get interested. Now they need Easy. The LAPD need help to find the serial killer who's going around murdering young, African American strippers. They only show up when the killer murders a white girl. But Easy turns them down. As he says: "I was worth a precinct full of detectives when the cops needed the word in the ghetto." He's married now, a father, and his detective days are over. When the white college coed dies, the cops make it clear that if Easy doesn't help his best friend is headed for jail. So Easy is back, walking the midnight streets of Watts and the darker twisted avenues of a cunning killer's mind, in the most explosive Easy Rawlins mystery yet.
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
Published in 1998
A black murderer in Los Angeles tries to adjust to normal life after 27 years in prison. Socrates Fortlow struggles with his conscience, tries to make amends, and grades himself at the end of the day. But he realizes he is a loser--once a convict, always a convict.
The Awkward Black Man
Stories
Published in 2020
"Bestselling author Walter Mosley has proven himself a master of narrative tension, both with his extraordinary fiction and gripping writing for television. The Awkward Black Man collects seventeen of Mosley's most accomplished short stories to display the full range of his remarkable talent. Mosley presents distinct characters as they struggle to move through the world in each of these stories - heroes who are awkward, nerdy, self-defeating, self-involved, and, on the whole, odd. He overturns the stereotypes that corral black male characters and paints a subtle, powerful portrait of each of these unique individuals."--Provided by publisher.
Black Betty
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2002
Easy Rawlin's search for a stunning beauty takes him into America's racial dilemmas of the early '60s and the mysteries of the human character.
Blood Grove
Published in 2021
After being approached by a shell-shocked Vietnam War veteran who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a white woman from a black man, Easy embarks on an investigation that takes him from mountaintops to the desert, through South Central and into sex clubs and the homes of the fabulously wealthy, facing hippies, the mob, and old friends perhaps more dangerous than anyone else.
Blood Grove
Published in 2021
After being approached by a shell-shocked Vietnam War veteran who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a white woman from a black man, Easy embarks on an investigation that takes him from mountaintops to the desert, through South Central and into sex clubs and the homes of the fabulously wealthy, facing hippies, the mob, and old friends perhaps more dangerous than anyone else.
Blood Grove
Published in 2021
Ezekiel 'Easy' Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los Angeles. But when Easy is approached by a shell-shocked Vietnam War veteran, a young white man who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a white woman from a black man, he knows he shouldn't take the case. Though he sees nothing but trouble in the brooding ex-soldier's eyes, Easy, a vet himself, feels a kinship form between them. Easy embarks on an investigation that takes him from mountaintops to the desert, through South Central and into sex clubs and the homes of the fabulously wealthy, facing hippies, the mob, and old friends perhaps more dangerous than anyone else.
Charcoal Joe
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2016
Life for Easy Rawlins is surprisingly... easy. He's living off the proceeds of his last case, trying to keep out of trouble. Of course it's not going to last. Because Easy's old friend Mouse knocks on his door. Mouse is one of the deadliest men in America. And Mouse wants a small favor. He wants Easy to help a man he says is wrongly imprisoned, a friend of Charcoal Joe. Charcoal Joe is a mythical figure in the LA underworld - he pulls all the strings but keeps out of sight. Reluctantly, Easy agrees - he owes Mouse his life. But this is no small favor. It's going to be Easy's deadliest investigation yet. It's going to take him from the beaches of Malibu to the shadiest stretches of Sunset in a frenetic adventure through a wild and unrepentant city.
Devil in a Blue Dress
Published in 2014
Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.
Down the River Unto the Sea
Published in 2018
After serving time in Rikers Island solitary for assault, Joe King Oliver, who is an ex-NYPD investigator working as a private detective, receives a note from a woman who admits she was paid to frame him, compelling him to investigate.
Elements of Fiction
Published in 2019
"In his essential writing guide, This Year You Write Your Novel, Walter Mosley supplied aspiring writers with the basic tools and practical advice needed to write a novel in a single year. In this complementary follow up, Mosley guides the reader through the fundamental building blocks of fiction to deliver a master class on the writer's craft. In a series of conversational and instructive chapters, Mosley breaks down the art of fiction to its most essential elements: character and character development, plot and story, voice and narrative, context and description. The result is a detailed depiction of the writing process, from the blank page to the first draft to rewriting, and rewriting again. Throughout, Elements of Fiction is enriched by the author's reflection on his own methods and enlivened by engaging demonstrative examples, not drawn from other literary works but written by Mosley himself. Inspiring, accessible, and told in a voice both trustworthy and wise, Elements of Fiction is an indispensable book of tips, tools, and advice for writers and readers alike"-- Provided by publisher.
Every Man a King
Published in 2023
After being asked to investigate the charges against a white nationalist accused of treason and murder, Joe King Oliver, with help from bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez, embarks on a winding quest to expose the truth.
Every Man a King
Published in 2023
After being asked to investigate the charges against a white nationalist accused of treason and murder, Joe King Oliver, with help from bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez, embarks on a winding quest to expose the truth.
Every Man a King
Published in 2023
When friend of the family and multi-billionaire Roger Ferris comes to Joe with an assignment, he's got no choice but to accept, even if the case is a tough one to stomach. White nationalist Alfred Xavier Quiller has been accused of murder and the sale of sensitive information to the Russians. Ferris has reason to believe Quiller's been set up and he needs King to see if the charges hold. This linear assignment becomes a winding quest to uncover the extent of Quiller's dealings, to understand Ferris' skin in the game, and to get to the bottom of who is working for whom. Even with the help of bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez, no regular girl Friday, the machine King's up against proves relentless and unsparing. As King gets closer to exposing the truth, he and his loved ones barrel towards grave danger.
Fearless Jones
A Novel
Published in 2001
In 1950s Los Angeles, used-book store owner Paris Minton is in so much trouble one day after meeting the mysterious Elana Love that he has to get his friend, Fearless Jones, a World War II army veteran, out of jail to help.
Folding the Red into the Black, Or, Developing a Viable Untopia for Human Survival in the 21st Century
Published in 2016
Walter Mosley is one of America's bestselling novelists, known for his critically acclaimed series of mysteries featuring private investigator Easy Rawlins. His writing is hard-hitting, often limned with a political subtext-aimed at a broad audience. When Mosley was working on a doctorate in political theory, he envisioned himself writing very different kinds of books from the ones he writes now. But once you've been tagged as a novelist, and in Mosley's case, a genre writer, even a bestselling one, it is hard to get an airing of ideas that cross those boundaries. Folding the Red into the Black has grown out of Mosley's public talks, which have gotten both enthusiastic and agitated responses. Mosley's is an elastic mind, and in this short monograph he frees himself to explore some novel ideas. He draws on personal experiences and insights as an African-American, a Jew, and one of our great writers to present an alternative manifesto of sorts: "We need to throw off the unbearable weight of bureaucratic Capitalist and Socialist demands; demands that exist to perpetuate these systems, not to praise and raise humanity to its full promise. And so I propose the word, the term Untopia."
Futureland
Published in 2001
Offers nine stories of speculative fiction, creating worlds inhabited by leaders, commoners, technocrats, criminals, and revolutionaries, covering issues including social stratification, technological advances, and civil rights.
Inside a Silver Box
Published in 2015
Two people struggle to protect humanity from a imposing alien race that aims to regain control over the powerful Silver Box.
Jack Strong
A Story of Life After Life
Published in 2014
In a Las Vegas hotel room, a man awakes to confront his destiny Dreaming, Jack hears voices: a frightened child in a hospital, a woman cheating on her husband, a death-row inmate. When he wakes, the voices recede, but they do not vanish. He is in a luxurious hotel room on the Vegas strip, and his body is covered in scars. Jack Strong is a patchwork man, his flesh melded together from dozens of men and women, and his mind is the same way. Countless lifetimes are contained within him: people whose time was cut short, and who see their place in Jack as a chance to make things right. On behalf of one of them, Jack reignites a feud with corrupt casino bosses. Drawing on the skills of another, he beats the life out of two bodyguards. Jack fights for control as he lurches from impulse to impulse, certain that somewhere within him exists a soul. The answers may lie with whomever is tailing him in a sleek black car-if Jack can somehow confront him.
John Woman
Published in 2018
At twelve years old, Cornelius secretly takes over his father's job at a silent film theater in New York's East Village. After his father dies and his mother disappears, Cornelius sets about reinventing himself--as Professor John Woman, a man who will spread his father's teachings into the classrooms of his unorthodox southwestern university and beyond. But there are other individuals who are attempting to influence the narrative of John Woman, and who might know something about the facts of his hidden past.
John Woman
Published in 2018
At twelve years old, Cornelius, the son of an Italian-American woman and an older black man from Mississippi named Herman, secretly takes over his father's job at a silent film theater in New York's East Village. Five years later, as Herman lives out his last days, he shares his wisdom with his son, explaining that the person who controls the narrative of history controls their own fate. After his father dies and his mother disappears, Cornelius sets about reinventing himself--as Professor John Woman, a man who will spread Herman's teachings into the classrooms of his unorthodox southwestern university and beyond. But there are other individuals who are attempting to influence the narrative of John Woman, and who might know something about the facts of his hidden past.
John Woman
A Novel
Published in 2019
A convention-defying novel by bestselling writer Walter Mosley, John Woman recounts the transformation of an unassuming boy named Cornelius Jones into John Woman, an unconventional history professor-while the legacy of a hideous crime lurks in the shadows. At twelve years old, Cornelius, the son of an Italian-American woman and an older black man from Mississippi named Herman, secretly takes over his father's job at a silent film theater in New York's East Village. Five years later, as Herman lives out his last days, he shares his wisdom with his son, explaining that the person who controls the narrative of history controls their own fate. After his father dies and his mother disappears, Cornelius sets about reinventing himself-as Professor John Woman, a man who will spread Herman's teachings into the classrooms of his unorthodox southwestern university and beyond. But there are other individuals who are attempting to influence the narrative of John Woman, and who might know something about the facts of his hidden past. Engaging with some of the most provocative ideas of recent intellectual history, John Woman is a compulsively readable, deliciously unexpected novel about the way we tell stories, and whether the stories we tell have the power to change the world.
The Long Fall
Published in 2010
Leonid McGill is an ex-boxer, a hard drinker, and not one to turn down a shady job for a quick buck. He's an old-school PI working a New York City that's gotten fancy all around him. Meanwhile, he's just trying to get by--at least for his wife and kids. Maybe it's time for McGill to turn over a new leaf. Or at least go from crooked to slightly bent.
A Red Death
Published in 1991
Nailed by a racist IRS agent for tax evasion, Easy Rawlins is asked by the FBI to infiltrate the First African Baptist Church to spy on alleged communist union organizer Chaim Wenzler, but the case soon takes a deadly turn, in a mystery set in 1953 Los Angeles.
RL's Dream
Published in 1995
When a black musician in New York is evicted for non-payment of rent, a white woman living in the same apartment block takes him in. He is Soupspoon Wise, a gentle jazz guitarist from Mississippi who has cancer. She is Kiki Waters, a drinking, swearing redhead from Arkansas who works on Wall Street. The novel traces their menage.
Rose Gold
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2014
Rose Gold is two colors, one woman, and a big headache. In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara. If they don't receive the money, weapons, and apology they demand, "Rose Gold" will die--horribly and publicly. So the FBI, the State Department, and the LAPD turn to Easy Rawlins, the one man who can cross the necessary borders to resolve this dangerous standoff.
The Thing. The Next Big Thing
Published in 2022
"Renowned storyteller Walter Mosley brings his signature style to a sweeping saga of Yancy Street's favorite son, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing -- one that will range from the urban sprawl of Manhattan's back alleys to the farthest reaches of the cosmos! A lonely evening and a chance encounter (or is it?) sends Ben Grimm embarking on an unexpected sojourn -- where he must battle foes both old and new! But as the Thing fights and fights to rescue his newfound love, Amaryllis, from the seemingly unstoppable Brusque, there's more going on than meets the eye!"--Publisher.
Touched
A Novel
Published in 2023
"Martin Just wakes up one morning after what feels like, and might actually be, a centuries-long sleep with two new innate pieces of knowledge: Humanity is a virus destined to destroy all existence. And he is the Cure. Martin begins slipping into an alternate consciousness, with new physical strengths, to violently defend his family--the only Black family in their neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles--against pure evil."-- Provided by publisher.
White Butterfly
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Published in 2002
Overview: The police don't show up on Easy Rawlins's doorstep until the third girl dies. It's Los Angeles, 1956, and it takes more than one murdered black girl before the cops get interested. Now they need Easy. As he says: " I was worth a precinct full of detectives when the cops needed the word in the ghetto." But Easy turns them down. He's married now, a father - and his detective days are over. Then a white college coed dies the same brutal death, and the cops put the heat on Easy: If he doesn't help, his best friend is headed for jail. So Easy's back, walking the midnight streets of Watts and the darker, twisted avenues of a cunning killer's mind.