Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
"Sexy, dangerous, with a smattering of smart-aleckiness." -- Washington Post
BAD BOY BRAWLY BROWN
Easy Rawlins is trying to stay as far from crime and its consequences as a black man can in 1964 L.A. But trouble still finds a way to his door. An old friend asks Easy to find his stepson, Brawly Brown, a good kid gone angry and missing. Too quickly Easy finds himself riding with a revolutionary group out to fight racism, dodging the police, who want to pin him for murder, and looking for the right kind of answers from the wrong kind of women. With little help from this world, Easy gets it from the next -- from Mouse, his greatest friend and worst betrayal. But while Mouse's legacy may help Easy save young Brawly's life, it may cost him his own.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown. An Easy Rawlins Mystery. Grand Cenral Publishing, ISBN 0446198226 (August, 2008), 311 p., $13.99.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
An Easy Rawlins Mystery - from Bill Clinton's favourite novelist.
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.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown. An Easy Rawlins Mystery. Phoenix, ISBN 0753818353 (April, 2004), 311 p., £6.99.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
From master storyteller Walter Mosley, author of the New York Times bestsellers Devil with a Blue Dress and Little Yellow Dog, comes the eagerly anticipated return of private eye Easy Rawlins, in a dazzling new novel of passion and justice in a time of upheaval... BAD BOY BRAWLY BROWN

Taking himself as far from crime and its consequences as a black man can in 1964 L.A., Easy Rawlins is out of the P.I. business. But trouble still finds a way to his door. An old friend asks Easy to find his stepson, Brawly Brown, a good kid gone angry and missing. Too quickly Easy finds himself riding with a revolutionary group out to save the race, dodging the police, who want to pin him for murder, and looking for the right kind of answers from the wrong kind of women. With little help from this world Easy gets it from the next, in the form of an astonishing legacy from his friend Mouse-one that may just save young Brawly's life without costing Easy his own.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown. An Easy Rawlins Mystery. Warner Books, ISBN 0446612316 (June, 2003), 338 p., $7.50.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown (UK 2002)

From the Publisher:
Easy Rawlins is out of the investigation business and as far away from crime as a black man can be in 1960s Los Angeles. But living around desperate men means life gets complicated sometimes. When an old friend gets in enough trouble to ask for Easy's help, he finds he can't refuse.

Young Brawly Brown has traded in his family for The Clan of the First Men, a group rejecting white leadership, history, and laws--and they're dangerous. Brown's mom, Alva, needs to know her baby's okay, and Easy promises to find him. His first day on the case Easy gets harassed by the cops and comes face to face with a corpse. Before he knows it he is on a short list of murder suspects and in the middle of a frenzied police raid on a Clan of the First Men rally. The only thing he discovers about Brawly Brown is that he's the kind of trouble most folks try to avoid. It takes everything Easy has just to stay alive as he explores a world filled with promises, betrayals, and predators like he never imagined.

BAD BOY BRAWLY BROWN is the masterful crime novel that Walter Mosley's legions of fans have been waiting for. Written with the voice and vision that have made Walter Mosley one of the most important writers in America, this book marks the return of a master at the top of his form.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown. An Easy Rawlins Mystery. Serpent's Tail, ISBN 185242365X (September, 2002), 311 p., £12.00.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
For the first time in six years, Easy Rawlins is back working a case on the streets of Los Angeles, looking for justice and sometimes managing to create his own.

Easy Rawlins's old friend John shows up at his door one morning, looking for the kind of help only Easy can provide. John's stepson, Brawly Brown, has left home and John has reason to think this well-meaning boy is caught up in a situation that's more dangerous than he knows. It doesn't take Easy long to find Brawly and to learn that John is right -- but getting Brawly to see things that way is another matter.

Brawly has joined a political group that he believes is out to make things better for the residents of Compton. With years of seeing how things really work, Easy recognizes that young Brawly is just a pawn in a battle between forces as old and hard as the city's streets.

Through it all, Easy's old friend Mouse is there to help him -- even though the last time Easy saw Mouse he was lying still and cold, and Easy is certain he's dead. Still, the memory and reputation of Mouse accompany Easy everywhere, earning him second looks from beautiful women and respect from hardened men. And in a world where logic is only a small element in life-or-death calculations, it is something Mouse once said to him that could help Easy save Brawly's life -- without costing him his own.

The worldliness, relentlessness, and passion of Easy Rawlins have been sorely missed from the world of fiction. This thriller is proof that Walter Mosley is one of the masters of crime fiction, and as original a voice as any writing in America today.

Walter Mosley: Bad Boy Brawly Brown. An Easy Rawlins Mystery. Little, Brown, & Co., ISBN 0316073016 (July, 2002), 311 p., $24.95.