mickeymole's review against another edition
2.0
The main plot of this novel just doesn't work. The who-done-it and why is almost ridiculous. The reader is dragged through a mire of too many characters and meandering subplots, toward an undramatic (Ho-Hum) conclusion. Along the way, Mosely tells you the hue of every character's skin, even if said character is only in the book for one paragraph.
Sometimes it's just as simple as:
"His skin was not quite as dark brown as mine."
or
"...a black man..."
or
"...a white woman..."
or
"...a lanky brown man..."
or
"...a white stranger..." (Wow!)
Sometimes, Mosely gets more specific:
"very dark-skinned"
or
"Ethiopian skin"
or
"Golden-brown skin"
There's the poetic:
"He had a New World Hispanic tint to his skin."
And, there is also the political/poetic/stupid:
"The big white guy read my smile the way Barack Obama read the hearts of the American people."
These descriptions, at first laughable, eventually became highly annoying. Come on, Mosely--you're a better writer than that!
If you're a fan of the "Easy Rawlins" novels, you'll wonder if this is the same author. Although there were some really well-written scenes, this novel, as a whole, was a mess.
Sometimes it's just as simple as:
"His skin was not quite as dark brown as mine."
or
"...a black man..."
or
"...a white woman..."
or
"...a lanky brown man..."
or
"...a white stranger..." (Wow!)
Sometimes, Mosely gets more specific:
"very dark-skinned"
or
"Ethiopian skin"
or
"Golden-brown skin"
There's the poetic:
"He had a New World Hispanic tint to his skin."
And, there is also the political/poetic/stupid:
"The big white guy read my smile the way Barack Obama read the hearts of the American people."
These descriptions, at first laughable, eventually became highly annoying. Come on, Mosely--you're a better writer than that!
If you're a fan of the "Easy Rawlins" novels, you'll wonder if this is the same author. Although there were some really well-written scenes, this novel, as a whole, was a mess.
alisa4books's review
4.0
Mosley consistently entertains with his tales of life as a private detective. The main character is certainly not a saint but is nevertheless fun to root for as he moves through his work and home life.
msjoanna's review
4.0
Walter Mosley can really write. This character, in all his flawed glory, pops off the page. This is the second installment in the Leonid McGill series, which follows a mid-50ish private detective in New York City. He has a rolodex to beat all rolodexes (though, this is modern, so it's not a real rolodex). He has disguises and plans, a checkered past, and hot running emotions. There's a noir feel to this, but it's modern and brimming with details.
The plot of this book left something to be desired. There were many characters floating in and out with little backstory and the overall mystery/puzzle never fully engaged me. It just shows how strong the characters and writing are that I'm willing to forgive plot in a mystery/detective novel, which really should be plot driven.
The narrator for the audiobook did an excellent job. He isn't a narrator that I'm familiar with, but I'll watch for his name in other work.
I'll definitely read the next book in this series at some point.
The plot of this book left something to be desired. There were many characters floating in and out with little backstory and the overall mystery/puzzle never fully engaged me. It just shows how strong the characters and writing are that I'm willing to forgive plot in a mystery/detective novel, which really should be plot driven.
The narrator for the audiobook did an excellent job. He isn't a narrator that I'm familiar with, but I'll watch for his name in other work.
I'll definitely read the next book in this series at some point.
teenytinylibrary's review
4.0
I like Leonid McGill. He reminds me of Luther (from the BBC show of the same name....what? You haven't seen it? OMG GO CHECK IT OUT NOW!). Known to Evil was definitely a good read - since I listened to it, I had a little trouble keeping up in places. I couldn't always remember who was who and who was working for who, but it all fell together in the end. I enjoy Leonid's consultations with Hush, and with the other assortment of shady characters from his wrong-side-of-the-street days, but I'm not enamored with his family. I don't know why he stays with his wife or why she stays with him or what her purpose is, besides making him irritated and causing him problems. I'll definitely keep picking these up.
nonna7's review
4.0
This is the second in the Leonid McGill series and it cleared up some of the questions I had in his later books. Leonid continues to try to forget his criminal past and the associations he made, but they keep pulling him back in.
He is asked by a very powerful man to find a young woman and make sure she is ok. The instructions are specific. Leonid is not to contact the man, just make sure she is ok. However, like so many of his cases this turns into far more than just a simple wellness check. Soon he is following leads that bring him into more danger and into the offices of people so powerful that they are unknown to the ordinary citizen.
At the same time he has a problem with one of his sons, Dmitri. He has fallen for a beautiful young Russian prostitute who is trying to get out of the life and graduate from college. He is in love with Aura, the building manager where his office is located, but she has a boyfriend. He also discovers his wife who has been unfaithful to him through most of his married life is carrying on an affair with a young man who is a friend of her son’s.
To complicate things even further he has to help a man he once set up for a crime he didn’t commit to get exonerated for a crime he has been set up for by someone else. As usually, Mosley sets up a situation that is both amazing and terrifying at the same time. This was really a terrific read as always. I’m waiting for my turn at the ebook of the latest Leonid McGill and a new Easy Rawlings comes out in February.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Walter Mosley is such a versatile writer. While most famous for his Easy Rawlins mystery series, he’s worked in just about every genre one can think of: noir, hardboiled, scifi, fictional bio. The guy can do it all.
The Leonid McGill series is the first series of his I’ve ventured from Easy Rawlins in his oeuvre. And it’s like they were written by two different people.
Mosley got his writing start in the 80s. His books would get progressively better. As much as I enjoy Devil In a Blue Dress, his latter Rawlins novels are far superior in plot and pace (I’d love to see him write that one nowadays). By the time he sat down to pen the Leonid McGill novels in the mid-to-late aughts, he was at the top of his craft.
Just as the Rawlins novels are less of a mystery and more of an examination of what it meant to be black in post-WWII Los Angeles, the McGill novels, while still featuring mysteries, is more of a tale of what it means to be consistently remorseful and desiring reconciliation. Leonid McGill is trying to right the wrongs of his past life as a mob fixer but he can’t do that without trafficking in Manhattan’s murky underworld. Hence books one and two.
There’s no way to know what’s coming in these novels, either in McGill’s personal life or with the case he’s working on. Mosley throws so much at you, it’s hard to keep up. There are three threads that the protagonist is dealing with. But as I got deeper, I once again felt less interested in the mystery and more interested in the world Leonid operates in. It’s the underworld but it’s the underworld controlled by mysterious men. Mosley is essentially pulling back the curtain to let you see the show.
This is not a conventional mystery whodunnit, although the case looms over everything and has a resolution. This is an exploration of a man’s life and his city. Make sure you know that going in.
The Leonid McGill series is the first series of his I’ve ventured from Easy Rawlins in his oeuvre. And it’s like they were written by two different people.
Mosley got his writing start in the 80s. His books would get progressively better. As much as I enjoy Devil In a Blue Dress, his latter Rawlins novels are far superior in plot and pace (I’d love to see him write that one nowadays). By the time he sat down to pen the Leonid McGill novels in the mid-to-late aughts, he was at the top of his craft.
Just as the Rawlins novels are less of a mystery and more of an examination of what it meant to be black in post-WWII Los Angeles, the McGill novels, while still featuring mysteries, is more of a tale of what it means to be consistently remorseful and desiring reconciliation. Leonid McGill is trying to right the wrongs of his past life as a mob fixer but he can’t do that without trafficking in Manhattan’s murky underworld. Hence books one and two.
There’s no way to know what’s coming in these novels, either in McGill’s personal life or with the case he’s working on. Mosley throws so much at you, it’s hard to keep up. There are three threads that the protagonist is dealing with. But as I got deeper, I once again felt less interested in the mystery and more interested in the world Leonid operates in. It’s the underworld but it’s the underworld controlled by mysterious men. Mosley is essentially pulling back the curtain to let you see the show.
This is not a conventional mystery whodunnit, although the case looms over everything and has a resolution. This is an exploration of a man’s life and his city. Make sure you know that going in.
julieb's review against another edition
5.0
I think I liked this one better than the first in the series. But I may never get used to Mosley in New York.
Great read.
Great read.
nealalex's review against another edition
3.0
The main thread — finding the daughter of a NYC eminence grise — doesn’t quite cut it but the McGill character is strong enough for the sub-plots, including a glimpse into the descending circles of the PATRIOT state, to take the strain.
bdplume's review
4.0
I'm not ready to anoint Leonid McGill as my favorite Mosley character yet, but he is climbing the ranks. A couple more installments of this quality should do it. Mosley has achieved a marvel in a radically different but equally moving voice to his previous hero. The pacing of these mysteries is a bit quicker than some of his others...for one the setting is New York City and for another there is much less street language. I am almost always captivated by Mr. Mosley's tales, and this was no exception. He has the rare talent of bringing deep understanding to folks without a real point of reference with his pen. The world needs more authors like him and more readers interested in their works.