Mystery Book Reviews

Book Review: Blonde Faith

By Sandy Amazeen Oct 23, 2007, 2:57 GMT

Easy Rawlins returns a tenth time in this gritty bit of detective work set in 1967 Los Angles, still reeling from driving off Bonnie, his great love. Arriving home from locating a missing teenager, Rawlins discovers his good friend Christmas Black has dropped off eight-year-old daughter Easter Dawn before disappearing. Even more disturbing, Raymond Mouse has dropped completely out of sight with a murder rap on his head. Black and Mouse are the most dangerous people Rawlins knows, totally capable of handling anything that comes their way but with the addition of a paramilitary squad hunting them down, it is clear his friends are in serious trouble. When bodies begin turning up, Rawlins knows he is getting close in more ways then one, but when a lovely dalliance turns up dead, it gets personal. Throughout his adventures, he can’t quite shake the despair of losing Bonnie, a feeling that isn’t helped by a face-to-face meeting.

One gets the overall impression that Easy is growing tired in this tale involving drugs, money and murder, where the bonds of friendship and family figure strongly. Occasionally the many remembrances slow the current storyline that resolves with a neat piece of double-teaming by Rawlins when he orchestrates the climax just before self destructing in what might be close to the last Easy Rawlins tale.