Cinnamon Kiss

CINNAMON KISS opens with Easy Rawlins struggling with the thought of robbing an armored car in order to provide his daughter, Feather an expensive medical treatment. Though Easy has operated outside the law before, this "sure thing" his friend Mouse has presented him with provides Easy a considerable amount of angst. Then another friend, Saul Lynx,(William H. Macy in my movie version--HA!) offers Easy a more palatable job investigating the disappearance of an eccentric attorney whose assistant of sorts, the beautiful and mysterious Philomena "Cinnamon" Cargill, is gone as well. Easy's new employer, Robert Lee, is as suspect as the man who disappeared. In CINNAMON KISS Mosley deftly takes the reader on a journey from the hate and racism of World War II Germany to free love and acid trippin' in California's Haight-Ashbury in the 1960's. This smart, witty novel is WM at his best. It's a perfect mystery that pulls the reader in from the opening scene and drops him right into the action---and there's plenty of it---with memorable characters (Christmas Black and old favorites Mouse and Blue) and believable storylines that blend to make this a perfectly enjoyable read. This is the best Easy Rawlins novel I've read in a long time. CK would make an excellent movie and I hope it's brought to the screen. ChocolateSleuth.com Rating: 5 Handcuffs. Oh, yeah...the end saddened me about Easy's love relationship. This book has everything. I was totally satisfied.

Walter Mosley is one of the most versatile writers laboring in the field of modern fiction. Best known for his mysteries concerning Los Angeles private investigator Easy Rawlins, Mosley is not afraid to turn his talents to other genres, whether it be non-specific genre fiction, fantasy, or essays. Rawlins, however, remains Mosley's most popular character from a commercial standpoint. Part hard-boiled, part historical fiction, part.something else, the book, like Mosley, defies easy classification. Rawlins moves through mid-20th century America part invisible man, part very visible man, a good man in a very bad world who is aware that survival depends on compromise but who ultimately remains true to himself. CINNAMON KISS, Mosley's latest Easy Rawlins novel, is set in the mid-1960s. It is the Summer of Love, but Rawlins' concerns are much more basic. His daughter,Feather, is in need of immediate medical treatment that costs much more money than Rawlins could beg for or borrow. When Mouse, Rawlins's friend and occasional partner, approaches him with the prospect of a heist with minimal risk and a large payoff, Rawlins is tempted to compromise his principles for the greater good of financing Heather's treatment. However, salvation comes from another direction, when Rawlins's friend Saul Lynx approaches him with a more legitimate offer. Robert Lee, an enigmatic private investigator in San Francisco, has been hired to locate Axel Bowers, a prominent Bay-area attorney, and his assistant, the beautiful and mysterious Cinnamon Cargill. Bowers and Cargill have gone missing with some documents belonging to Lee's client, who is willing to pay dearly to get them back. Rawlins is able to find Bowers easily enough, but Cargill has seemingly vanished into the wind. In his search for Cargill, Rawlins learns that he is not only racing against the clock but also against a deadly assassin whose name is enough to cause even the most dangerous of men to exercise caution. Rawlins soon learns that he is a part of something far more extensive than a document retrieval matter, and that his involvement is bringing not only himself but also his friends and family into terrible danger. CINNAMON KISS is perhaps the most ambitious of Mosley's Rawlins novels, and arguably his best. He avoids the overly complex plotting that has occasionally overtaken some of his other fine work, and instead chooses to focus on his always interesting and multi-dimensional characters. There are enough of them here to fill three books. One of the most interesting is Robert Lee, could be the basis for a series all by himself. Mosley's description of the man and his home are worth the price of admission alone, and it would be quite interesting to see Lee's and Mosley's paths cross uneasily a time or two again. And, as with other Rawlins novels, CINNAMON KISS concludes with some resolutions and some beginnings, the better to prepare the legion of readers of this fine series for the next

You've got to love Easy Rawlins. A Houston-born veteran of World War II relocated to South Central L.A., Ezekiel Rawlins has spent twenty years and several previous novels building a life for himself based on ambition, intelligence, integrity, common sense and "family values". In the unsettled world he inhabits, this combination of traits easily makes him, as one character in this story observes, "the most dangerous man in any room you're in." As the story opens, Easy faces a personal crisis. His adopted daughter needs expensive medical care, which means that Easy must put his hands on some cash, quickly. Two opportunities present themselves. Raymond Alexander -- one of the most intriguing characters in crime fiction -- offers Easy the chance to participate in a well-planned armed robbery in Texas. Alternatively, a detective colleague needs help on a missing person assignment from a shadowy employer in San Francisco. Easy chooses the second, straighter path. Of course, the ensuing twists, turns and homicides make the armed robbery look like an afternoon walk in the park. Mosley is at the top of his game in this novel. Easy continues to grow and confront issues of love and family. The characters with whom he surrounds himself -- at least those who have survived -- also seem to have mellowed somewhat with age. Previous books in the series have seen Easy "solving problems for people" against a changing social background that has included the rise of black militantism and the Watts riots. This story takes place in the Vietnam era, where Apocalypse Now meets the Age of Aquarius. However, the focus remains where the action is: the inner motivations of complex characters doing what it takes to get by in the world. This subject matter never grows stale. Readers can delight in the continuation of this finely conceived and well-executed series of detective stories that capture the flavor of recent black cultural history and remind us that nobility is found in many places.

Easy Rawlins is back in Walter Mosley's tenth novel in the series and is better than ever. He is so polished, shrewd, cool in the best sense of the word and altogether human. This time he is faced with every parent's nightmare, the possibility of a young child's dying from a rare illness. Most of the action is about his efforts-- by whatever means available-- to raise the necessary cash for expensive treatment for his daughter Feather in a hospital in Switzerland. Easy's woman Bonnie-- or is she?-- is back, along with his buddy Mouse and a host of other characters we remember from earlier novels. Mr. Mosley is nothing if not creative and we'd better not take him for granted. This is evident in the way this story ends; we see that Easy will go in a different direction in the next novel in the series. As always, Mr. Mosley writes in concise, precise understated language. He is introspective about race in these United States in the 1960's-- sadly sometimes it seems as if little has changed since then-- without being didactic. He through Easy makes profound statements about the world: having a sense of humor is the best test of intelligence, black men who kill innocent people in far-away countries are no better than the whites who lynched blacks. Finally in Easy's own words when he and Mouse, as they are making a call from a phone booth, are approached by two white cops and questioned: "Most Americans wouldn't understand why two well-dressed men would have to explain why they were standing on a public street. But most Americans cannot comprehend the scrutiny that black people have been under since the days we were dragged here in bondage." Even though Mr. Mosley always writes about race his characters are not just black and white. He has as many ways to describe skin color as Eskimos have of names for snow. In addition to just "brown," there is "medium brown," "toasted brown," "coffee brown," "high brown like a polished pecan," "light brown sugar," "sepia hue." Then we have "light-skinned," "sandpaper toned," and "high-yellow." Darker colors go from "walnut shelled," "almost jet skin," "dark-colored," the "color of tree bark," "dark-skinned," "very black,"-- and my favorite-- "skin black as an undertaker's shoes." Finally there are the reddish tones: "reddish-brown plantain" skin, "reddish hue," "terra cotta colored" and of course the beautiful character Cinnamon Cargill whose skin is described as "cinnamon red." It is such a pleasure to read a new Rawlins mystery. Easy in a beautiful passage describes missing Bonnie and loneliness. "Never before could I fully trust another human being. If it was five in the morning and I'd been out all night I could call her [Bonnie] and she'd be there as fast as she could. . . Being with her made me understand how lonely I'd been for all my wandering years. But being alone again made me feel that I was back in the company of an old friend." Reading Mosley is just like being with an old friend. I have never read

Tough, gentle. Melancholy, euphoric. Actor/writer Michael Boatman is able to convey all of these emotions with his voice, and he does it to perfection in his reading of Walter Mosley's latest in the popular Easy Rawlins series. Many will remember Boatman from his numerous TV appearances, especially in the role of Carter Heywood on "The Administration." However TV appearances are just the tip of the iceberg for this talented actor. His stage credits include such diverse plays as "The Seagull" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." A native of Colorado Springs, he is now at work on his second novel. Doubtless the iconic Easy Rawlins is one of the most popular characters in crime fiction. While some series protagonists may tend to become stale, that is never the case with Easy. With "Cinnamon Kiss" listeners are once again returned to the 1960s as Easy faces one of his most daunting personal crises - his young daughter, Feather, has contracted a rare disease. This may be fatal for the girl unless Easy can come up with $35,000 for treatment at a Swiss clinic. It seems to be an unattainable figure. His pal, Mouse, has a quick fix - they could rob an armored car. Easy backs away from that and accepts a job to find two missing persons. One of the now-you-see-him, now-you-don't persons is a well to do lawyer, and the other is his gorgeous assistant, Cinnamon. Sound easy? Never so for Easy. He travels to California for his first look at communes and hippies. However, that's about all he sees - no signs of the missing. What he does find is murder trailing in his wake, and he has no idea why. No one crafts a crime thriller like Walter Mosley - listen and enjoy. - Gail Cooke