Rose Gold

Walter Mosley's Rose Gold received an astonishingly accurate review in the Los Angeles Times. It's satisfactory, draws the reader into LA's various social classes and geography, and is always entertaining and keeps one on one's toes. That said, the novel was uneven and not as well-written or interesting as the earlier Easy Rawlins novels. Despite naming the novel after the missing Patty Hearst-like character behind Easy's case, Rosemary remains largely unknown and we barely hear her in her own voice. The same could be said about the radical group that "abducted" Rosemary, who are not anywhere near interesting like previous cases Rawlins took involving radicals (A Red Death). In addition, this novel could have cut maybe 20 or 30 pages by removing some probably superfluous sub-plots or minor cases Easy takes on the side. If it is unclear what I am alluding to, I am referring specifically to the Percy Bidwell problem and the issue regarding a white mother and her black baby, but at least the latter was relevant to the central case in a small way. Nevertheless, Mosley is a master of the trade and never fails to write addictive entertainment and interesting social commentary.