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Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley
Features
Hardcover
(Large Print)
Amazon.com
Penzler Pick, June 2001: Those of us who have been waiting for Walter Mosley to return to mystery writing--and there are many of us--have cause to rejoice. Not only has Mosley written a mystery, he is introducing a new character who could turn out to be as popular as Easy Rawlins. Fearless Jones has a lot in common with Easy, but he also has some characteristics reminiscent of Socrates Fortlow, the "hero" of Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. When the story begins, the reader is transported to the Los Angeles of the 1950s, a dangerous place and time for a black man. But Paris Minton seems to have beaten the odds. He owns a moderately successful and very satisfying business--a used book store. He spends the time he's not in the store scouring libraries for discarded books and selling them in just enough quantity to be independent and happy. Yes, he is visited on a regular basis by members of the LAPD who want him to prove to them that he did not steal the books, but that is a small price to pay for independence. Minton's peaceful life is interrupted one day when a beautiful woman walks into his store and asks for the Reverend William Grove. In no time flat, Paris has been beaten into unconsciousness by a man following her and has been rewarded by the woman with sex. The lovely Elana Love is obviously trouble, but Paris jumps in feet first and, as a consequence, his store is burned to the ground. It is obviously time to call in Fearless Jones, a man well named. Jones is afraid of nothing, but there is a little matter to be taken care of before he can help. He's in jail and Paris must raise bail to get him out. Once he does that, the pair embark on a wild ride through Los Angeles on behalf of Elana Love. As always, Mosley depicts the hard-boiled L.A. in a powerful and distinctive way, and we can only hope that this is the first of a series. --Otto Penzler
Reader Reviews
A Little Piece Of Black Justice, August 19, 2003
Reviewer:
Spri
from usa
this novel closely parallels "devil in a blue dress," switching the roles a bit. instead of easy rollins out finding justice with his tough little pal mouse, it's little pal paris minton with his tough buddy fearless jones out trying to find the same. poor paris gets roped into some bad luck when a misunderstanding gets his bookstore burned down in 1950's california. basically, paris feels cheated, no livlihood and no home as he lived in his store, and refuses to go out like a sucker. he gets his tough best friend fearless jones to help him find the villians that are trying to keep him down and they fully expect to get what they have coming to them. this is no ordinary day in a black man's life, but it is written as such. the layman reading this piece might even feel like black men had to deal with garbage like this every day. though that was not the case, it wasn't far from it let me tell you. reading this gives a lot of insight to those not in the know and moseley is one of those rare writers who chooses to educate us while entertaining us. the lingo is indicative of the era and the characters are nicely fleshed out. ironically enough, fearless jones was my least favorite, probably because it wasn't really about him to begin with. he plays out like this hardcase with a heart of gold, brandishing his own private view of right and wrong. paris is the real deal here. a mealy-mouthed sort with no real manly confidence, but he's not about to take his new misgiving lying down. he's no tough guy so he gets his tough guy friend to help. but by the end of the story, he changes nicely for the better and it was nice to see the little guy get some guts. there is also a lot in there about a strange relationship the guys strike up with an older jewish couple, which i found pretty charming in the face of the rampant bigotry of the time. just like mosely to put together an intriguing whodunnit filled with pitfalls and plot switches at every turn. nice read here for when there's just nothing on the tube.
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition
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