Red Death (Paperback)

Shaft, maybe even Black Ceasar, et al. for the action and "givin' it to da man!" undertones. Mixed in with a little bit of "Cotton Comes to Harlem" and "Mohagany" for the occasional romance and levity. In fact, his works don't seem much different than what you would see on the 1973 big screen in a theatre packed to the back with black faces. Note the similarities...

1. You've got your classic hard brother, be he a private dick or just a good guy out to get what's coming to him. Easy, in classic Easy fashion, is a guy trying not to do what's wrong because he's seen enough of that. A hard drinker because of the pain his past has caused him, this fellow with kill only if he has to.

2. There's always the white folks who turn out to be the bad guys. They're cops or ganglords or jerks with a ton of dough. Here we have Lawrence, a tax agent who comes down on Easy because of tax evasion. Second we have Craxton, the FBI guy who wants to use Easy for his own purposes, but makes a deal with him - do my bidding and I'll chill out that tax thing. Finally, there is Officer Fine, a bit player who lusts after the cries and screams of anything black.

3. Can't forget how nobody else "understands him but his woman." And she's black, no way around that. With Easy, he's messing around with a woman who can get him killed as sure as the day is long: Mouse's wife. Now if that's not a mistake, I don't know what is. Mouse is Easy's friend, for one thing. For another, he's a cold-blooded killer. But Easy's willing to risk it all for love.

4. Must mention the white woman he cheats on her with. This is thrown in soley to annoy the white man. In 1970, this act of spite was a given. And it's in this book too.

5. Jive talk. Nothing but jive talk. It simply must be indicative of the era and this novel plays out perfectly as a piece choc full of blacks who were taught how to talk by their 1930's parents, who were taught to talk by THEIR 1900 former slave parents, who, before that, were educated in grammer and English by Africans who weren't even born here and ignorant overssers. Mosley is obviously no stranger to this snowball effect that whites have come to call "ebonics." As the credo goes, "write what you know."

6. The hard brother has to be a vigilante type. No way is he an angel. Easy has taken lives and he regrets it. He drinks like it's going out of style and he needs it. He cheats The Man out of his money to keep things balanced. He can be a sinner, but he must be able to rationalize it believably or the reader (watcher) won't sympathize with him. No problem with that here.

So yeah, it's like a blaxploitation movie with one catch: the white friend. I've never seen that in the movies, yet I've read two of Mosley's books and in both he seems to project his antagonists with an affinity for Jews, similarizing their plights in doomed histories. This approach is effective in that it shows open hearts and opened minds during an era of rampant hate. I liked this book because I could identify with many of the characters, some of whom I am ashamed to say I feel like I've known well in my lifetime. But there's just something about the story that keeps it average...

The main story of the novel is the same as Devil in a Blue Dress, Easy, a good man, comes into some trouble and has to use his wits, his fists, and his crazy friend Mouse (who conveniently has no problem with any moral questions that may arise on the streets of L.A) to get him out.

Mainly what a Red Death lacks is the tension, the overbearing sense of danger that hangs over every page of his first novel. The classic mystery elements of the plot are niether as complex nor are they as well defined as in Blue Dress. Too many details of the mystery are kept from the reader, therefore the audience is not as engaged during the story and not as satisfied with the resolution. These little disappointments however, will not keep me from following Easy Rawlins in White Butterfly!

Easy Rawlings is a funny character, though a little too stupid. He acts before he thinks. Mosley thinks this is a means to provide action in the book and it works well, but I thought Easy was rather obtuse sometimes. But maybe Mosley just wanted to create a story as close to reality as possible. As in "Devil in a blue dress", the most interesting character is Mouse, Easy's friend, a murderer without scruples, who should get a book of his own.

I'll give a try to "White Butterfly", the next book in the series.

Grade 7.3/10