Racial tensions and America's civil rights movement have previously figured into Walter Mosley's series about sometimes-sleuth Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. But Bad Boy Brawly Brown turns what had been a background element into compelling surface tension. The year is 1964, and though Easy seems settled into honest work as a Los Angeles custodian, he's having other problems--notably, his adopted son's wish to quit school and lingering remorse over the death (in A Little Yellow Dog) of his homicidal crony, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander. Yet he remains willing to do "favors" for folks in need. So, when Alva Torres comes to him, worried that her son, Brawly Brown, will get into trouble running with black revolutionaries, Easy agrees to find the young man and "somehow ... get him back home." His first day on the job, however, Rawlins stumbles across Alva's ex-husband--murdered--and he's soon dodging police, trying to connect a black activist's demise to a weapons cache, and exposing years of betrayal that have made Brawly an ideal pawn in disastrous plans.

Mosley's portrayal of L.A.'s mid-20th-century racial divide is far from simplistic, with winners and sinners on both sides. He also does a better-than-usual job here of plot pacing, with less need to rush a solution at the end. But it is Easy Rawlins's evolution that's most intriguing in Brawly Brown. A man determined to curb his violent and distrustful tendencies, Easy finds himself, at 44, having finally come to peace with his life, just when the peace around him is at such tremendous risk. --J. Kingston Pierce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Finally. Five years after the last taste (1997's Gone Fishin') and six years after the last full meal (1996's A Little Yellow Dog), Easy Rawlins makes a very welcome return. Now 44 years old, Easy no longer makes a living from doing people "favors." Now he owns a house, works for the Board of Education in Los Angeles and is father to a teenage son, Jesus, and a young daughter, Feather. It's 1964, and while some things have changed, the process is slow and uncertain. Too slow for some, including Brawly Brown, the son of Alva, the girlfriend of Easy's friend, John. Hotheaded Brawly has become involved with a group calling itself the Urban Revolutionary Party, and John and Alva fear the group's unspoken aim is violence and revenge. Friendship and loyalty being still sacred to Easy, he agrees, as a favor, to try to locate and talk to Brawly. As usual, Easy's path is not easy. When a body surfaces, Easy finds himself in the middle of a vicious puzzle where lives are cheap and death the easiest solution. As always, Mosley illuminates time and place with a precision few writers can match whatever genre they choose. He also delivers a rousing good story and continues to captivate with characters readers have grown to love, including the now "dead" Mouse, who still plays an important role in Easy's chronicle.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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37 Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars . . . And on the other side of the equation . . ., Oct 26 2003

By	Larry Scantlebury (Ypsilanti, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bad Boy Brawly Brown: An Easy Rawlins Mystery (Hardcover)

It seems more often than not that the heroes of the mystery genre are white. So for many of us to go back into a racially subjugated time, here in the early sixties, we may realize that we never heard the other side of the story. We missed the other background. No longer with Walter Mosely.

Mr. Mosely brings us back to the past, the very recent past, where the black detective really had all the problems the white detective had, i.e. the bad guys would attempt to put him in harms way, plus the subjugation of the (for the most part) white police force.

So it would be a mistake for us to say that Mr. Mosely brings a "refreshing" view. Painful, perhaps. Unfortunate, certainly. But always very well written.

Here Ezekial Rawlins is asked by his friend, John, to help his girlfriend Alva's son stay out of the limelight or rather, the searchlights of the police department. Brawly has been influenced by a Black Group named the First Men. Whether they truly seek only the leverage and subsequent parity that equal education can bring (the 1960's in Los Angeles was only a few years after Brown vs. Board of Education) or as the police believe, they were but a front for gun running, bank robbery and revolution, is denied to us as it has been in the last 40 years.

However, Mosely doesn't pass judgment on this. Who's to say that in some arenas of social justice the end . . . But we're not asked to go there. We follow Easy, troubled by a violent past he cannot avoid, haunted by the sins of omission and commission, as the bodies turn up. Easy is a noble man who struggles, like Marlowe before him, Spenser and Cole, to maintain his own sense of integrity. Like some of the music of that time, "(you) who are on the road, must have a code, that you can live by."

And Easy has that code, not always accepted by the people who love him or even by himself. But the code works and Mosely has another winner on his hands. John, the friend who first asked Easy Rawlins to help, says at the end that he is grateful for Easy's help in sorting out justice and greed, insult and victory, but all the while John wouldn't mind if he never saw Easy again. And it makes sense.

Outside of George Pelecanos, few tackle the task of racial injustice but more, the painful "getting along" in the novel genre as a background to murder and the mystery. Highly recommended stuff.

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5.0 out of 5 stars THE RETURN OF EASY!, Jan 25 2004

By	montralatrice "montralatrice" (CORPUS CHRISTI, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Boy Brawly Brown (Mass Market Paperback)

What can you say-the return of one of my favorites street wise detectives. Easy Rawlins is a everyday, hardworking, street smart houstonian, who moved to L.A. for a change but instead has only encountered changes and drama every where he turns. He is the guy you call when you need help in your neighborhood. His best friend was shot and left for dead some years back but now Easy has returned. Thank you Walter Mosely. Once again Easy is helping an old friend find his stepson. The stepson, Brawly, has gotten involved with a bunch of mislead and misguided group of youngsters who want to change the world but is going about it the wrong way. All of this is taken place during the turbelant 60's when race relations are not even measured on the ricter scale. What does Easy do? So many choices and very little time. The Return of Easy-I can't wait for the next Easy Rawlins Novel.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Still confused about the ending, Sep 2 2003

By	Southfield "kmitchel@tir.com" (Southfield, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Boy Brawly Brown: An Easy Rawlins Mystery (Hardcover)

I agree this was an exceptional work - I've read all of the Easy Rawlins mysteries - except for the ending. I re-read the last 2 chapters twice, but I still can't figure out how John ended up at the finale scene wherein Easy commits the act that prevents Brawley from getting killed eventually (not trying to give away the story ending). And for that matter, what/where is the building from which Brawley/John emerge in this most crucial scene of the book?

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Love WM, but this one didn't do it for me.
It took me forever to get through this book. The only reason I stuck with it was because of the author's track record. Read more

Published on Feb 2 2004 by c. m. miller, author Taxes Dea...

5.0 out of 5 stars Mosley back in his old form
Walter Mosley appears to have written himself into a trap, or something like this. He seems to like the era and the atmosphere of post-war Los Angeles, the setting of the early... Read more

Published on Aug 28 2003 by David W. Nicholas

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Easy Helps Hard Bad Boy
Walter Mosley makes 5 stars again with this book, bringing Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins and the memory of Mouse back to his fans. This was, as usual, a great read! Read more

Published on Jun 12 2003 by B. Carter-Cox

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy is becoming Bourgeois
"Bad Boy" is a traditional Easy Rawlins mystery, taking place in the 60's. Frankly, I liked the earlier Rawlin's books cuz the character had more energy and had a more licentious... Read more

Published on Jan 29 2003 by J. Schroeder

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Does It Again!....
Mystery fiction readers already hip to Walter Mosley's penchant for capturing the uniqueness of time and place, will readily recognize variations of a familar theme in his latest... Read more

Published on Dec 17 2002 by Alvin C. Romer

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Back!
Easy is Back!

Brawley Brown is missing and Easy Rawlins is hired to find him. It seems so simple but if you know Easy like I know Easy, nothing is ever that simple. Read more

Published on Dec 4 2002 by K. Kimbrough

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy Rawlins and the Civil Rights Movement
The mystery in "Bad Boy Brawly Brown" serves as a device through which the black perspectives of the 60's civil rights' movement are explored. Read more

Published on Oct 14 2002 by FictionAddiction.NET

5.0 out of 5 stars Flesh and Ghosts
Mouse is not dead. In "Bad Boy Brawly Brown" Mouse's spirit pervades nearly every page, certainly every chapter and, ultimately, Mr. Read more

Published on Sep 21 2002

2.0 out of 5 stars Not he Best Murder Mystery Detective Story
... Mosley decides to write more about aethetics than about he actual mystery...I felt that the book was very very slow and very particular to details about items that looking... Read more

Published on Sep 18 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling characters in 1964 Watts--excellent
Easy Rawlins has a real job now, but he still helps his friends, and when his friend John calls on him, Easy means to come through. Read more

Published on Sep 8 2002 by booksforabuck