I didn't find this very compelling. I haven't read any of the other Easy Rawlins novels--I only saw the movie with Denzel Washington--so this sort of background coming of age story was mostly interesting for the author's observations of life for black Americans during that pre-war period. The plot, concerning the crazy Mouse, wasn't that interesting at all, nor were Easy's encounters with the oddball characters the novel is full of. Things were made worse by Paul Winfield's muddled narration, which was not of the crystal clear quality I'm used to from first-class audiobooks. Not recommended. ( )

Corre el año 1939 y Easy Rawlins tiene diecinueve años, vive en Houston, Texas, y está buscando su camino en el mundo. Son tiempos duros para los jóvenes negros y su amigo Raymond Alexander, más conocido como Mouse, aparece un día en su vida, pidiéndole un favor. Mouse va a casarse con la codiciada EttaMae, pero está sin blanca y quiere que Easy lo acompañe a Pariah, a pedirle a su padrastro un dinero que según él le pertenece porque es la herencia de su madre muerta. Mouse es peligroso; allí donde va deja un rastro de cadáveres, y es mejor no asociarse con él. Easy lo sabe, pero en una ocasión su amigo le salvó la vida y además él ha pasado una noche loca con la codiciada EttaMae, y las deudas se pagan. Pero lo que Easy Rawlins no puede prever es que aquel viaje será un descenso al infernal corazón de los pantanos del Sur, a un tenebroso mundo de vudú, sexo, venganza y muerte que marcará para siempre su entrada a la madurez.

This is a prequel to the Easy Rawlins series, in which we meet Easy and his friend Mouse as quite young men. Mouse, about to be married to Etta Mae, recruits Easy to drive him back to his home turf in the bayous to claim what he feels is rightfully his of his Mama's property from his miserable no-good step-daddy. As you can imagine, this doesn't go altogether well. There's death and black magic and hot love, and we learn a lot about why Mouse is who he is. This is a heck of a good story, but I almost wish Mosley hadn't told it to us. Mouse works so well as Easy's mysterious alter-ego---the man with no inhibitions and very few scruples who can do the things Easy will not do. Hawk to his Spenser. Knowing nothing about him would seem to work better than learning his back story and feeling some sympathy. HOWEVER, Mosley may have been up to something he felt necessary before carrying the series forward; I have read [Bad Boy Brawly Brown], and I know that Mouse dies, or at least Easy believes him to be dead, so the history may turn out to matter going forward. ( )

Good for a prequel. ( )