Blonde Faith

Reviewed by Lauretta Ali After reading Blonde Faith, I felt the need to be tied to a chair, preventing me from racing to my nearest bookstore! I now want to get my hands on every copy of Easy Rawlins books. I must catch up and the thirst is real and actual. Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins must be the man of my dreams. A dedicated and determined private eye, he faces a day in infamy. Not that his time is ever his own, here is a man that just wants to come home from work and relax for a minute. Easy is trying to recover from losing the love of his life, Bonnie, who committed the unthinkable. It's how Easy deals with this loss and the raw emotion the author conveys, that makes me yearn to learn all I can about a man who is anything but easy. He's hired to find a man's runaway daughter. Yet, Easy has a troubled relationship with his daughter Feather. This particular evening, Easy comes home to find that one of his closest friends has left his daughter Easter in their care. Her father would never leave Easter unless he was in danger himself. Now Easy is on a mission to find Christmas Black before others find him first. What he discovers along the way will keep you on the edge of your seat. Walter Mosley is a master storyteller. I was routing for Easy Rawlins like I knew the man personally! I bonded with him as he struggled with his love for the women in his life. I melted as he tenderly handled those closest to him. I cringed as he met danger face on in rugged abandonment. Putting this book down wasn't easy. It is with blind faith that I will begin my collection of this author's work. I found my favorite author of all time, after reading Blonde Faith! Armchair Interviews says: If you love super storytelling with great characters, this is for you.

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

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley is the eleventh book in the Easy Rawlins mystery series and it is the book to read! At the start of Blonde Faith, we find Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, private eye, lost so to speak. What is a man to do when he has lost the love of his life to a prince? When Easy learned his former long-time girlfriend Bonnie had an affair with a prince, he pushed her away from his life and kicked her out of their home without fully resolving their situation. Now that Easy has learned Bonnie is to be married to the prince, Easy has to deal with his lingering feelings for her. He wants her back but his pride will not let him communicate his feelings for her. Now, if the emotional strain of his situation was not enough, Easter Dawn, child of Christmas Black, is placed into his care with no explanation of what to do with the child or what is going on. To add to that, his best friend of many years, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, is wanted for murder by the police and they really want justice against the long-time killer who got away so many other times. So begins the journey of Easy Rawlins, off to save those in need but in the end, who will save Easy? Walter Mosley makes number eleven shine with a sparkle that only he can create through prose. Blonde Faith is an intense mystery written magnificently. What readers will enjoy about this book the most, on top of Easy Rawlins doing what he does best, is the fact that there is such an emotional connection to Easy. There is a sense of the reader wanting him to focus on himself primarily more so than saving someone else. Easy is given chance after chance to save others and he will die trying to do this but when it comes to saving himself from emotional woes and getting back the woman he loves, he hesitates. Perhaps, it has to do with him not placing himself first, at least sometimes or when it is most needed. The ending of Blonde Faith was masterfully written and will definitely leave readers dangling in suspense for more! This book is recommended to fans of mystery novels, fans of the Easy Rawlins series, and fans who love to read good damn books. Reviewer, Chantay W. APOOO BookClub

I have read the all the books in the Easy and Fearless Jones series. This one is my second favorite behind "A little yellow dog". I especially appreciate the skillful way he depicts the conflict Easy faces when dealing with his feelings for Bonnie. How it affects his actions in every day unrelated activities, is a lesson. Walter Mosley's skillful writing pulls you into the lives and problems of the characters and you leave both enlightened and entertained. This was a really great read.

It is somewhat of a surprise to come to the realization that BLONDE FAITH is Walter Mosley's 10th Easy Rawlins thriller. It seems there have been more, far more. Rawlins quietly became an icon even as Mosley became both a role model for minority writers and an argument against giving African-American authors a separate but equal genre classification that intentionally distinguishes their work and unintentionally marginalizes it from a larger potential audience. This is easily the best book in the series, which screams to be read in one sitting thanks to its flowing, unstoppable narrative. Mosley's storylines have always reflected the complexity of the life of his protagonist, a black man living in the southwest United States in the mid-20th century. With this new novel, Mosley streamlines things a bit, keeping the plot basic without sacrificing the richness of the tale. BLONDE FAITH takes place in Los Angeles in 1967, where a city and political power structure remain uneasy in the aftermath of the Watts riots. Rawlins's life, somewhat turbulent even in the best of times, becomes more so when his two best friends suddenly go missing. Christmas Black, a Vietnam veteran, drops off his adoptive daughter at Rawlins's house without warning or explanation and is apparently on the run. Meanwhile, Rawlins's friend Mouse is being sought by the police for murder, and Rawlins is convinced that, due to Mouse's longstanding antagonistic relationship with the police, the authorities will not be taking any prisoners. Even as Rawlins begins the dual tasks of finding Christmas and rescuing Mouse, he finds out that Bonnie, his longtime but estranged lover, is on the verge of marrying another man. This knowledge haunts and distracts him, even as he begins tracing Christmas's whereabouts and slowly but surely learns that the man who Mouse is accused of murdering is in fact alive and well and on the run himself. Rawlins comes to realize that his best shot at saving Mouse is locating the man Mouse supposedly murdered. What is most interesting about this book is the manner in which Mosley quietly demonstrates to his audience (if not to Rawlins himself) that the things that have the potential to bring Rawlins his best chance at happiness are in his immediate grasp. The conclusion is easily the most unique and shocking of any featured in Mosley's work thus far. Fairly unambiguous but leaving just a bit of wiggle room for a sequel, this is sure to be one of Mosley's most controversial novels to date, particularly among his longtime fans. It is for this reason, and all that comes before, that BLONDE FAITH is a must-read. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub