From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. It isn't an easy job for an actor to bring to audio life all the many facets of Mosley's Easy Rawlins—the street smarts and survival skills that make him a good detective; the devoted family man who works as a junior high school custodian; the shrewd and compassionate historian of L.A.'s black community. Easy walks the razor's edge between the straight, property-owning life he aspires to and the crime and violence that surround him. Boatman, who did such a solid job on Rawlins's
Little Scarlet, works harder and shines even brighter here. Desperately needing more money than he can raise to send his adopted daughter, Feather, to a Swiss clinic to treat her rare blood condition, Easy almost agrees to join his deadly best friend, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, in an armed robbery. Boatman catches all the nuances of their first scene together—Easy full of moral qualms and practical fears; Mouse as calm and reassuring as a shoe salesman. When Rawlins gets a job in San Francisco, Boatman gets the chance to play crooked detectives and lawyers, mysteriously sexy females and that now-familiar gallery of supporting characters only a black Balzac could create.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Actor Michael Boatman's second appearance as narrator of a Mosley novel is cause for celebration. It's San Francisco during the "summer of love," and Easy Rawlins is in deep trouble, as his beloved daughter needs an expensive medical procedure to save her life. Boatman shines as he adds both tension and pathos when Easy and his lifelong friend, Mouse, contemplate robbing an armored car to save the girl's life. Evocative music bookends each disc as Boatman portrays one unforgettable character after another. Take special note of the sneering tone in the voice of Easy's employer, ace detective Robert, and the sensuous subtext Boatman brings to femme fatale Cinnamon Cargill. R.O. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
by Walter Mosley
