Starred review from February 4, 2013
Many of Mosley's heroes are men who are or have been brutal and are certainly still dangerousâmen like Fearless Jones, Leonid McGill, Easy Rawlins, and Easy's friend, Raymond "Mouse" Alexanderâand all have their redeeming qualities. Xavier "Ecks" Rule may be the worst, having "beaten, raped, and murdered my brothers and sisters," until he meets Father Frank, whose Seabreeze City, Calif., congregation consists of 96 similarly lost souls. Father Frank gives Ecks a mission to aid Benol Richards, who as a young woman 23 years earlier helped her lover, Brayton Starmon, kidnap and sell three babies. Now Benol wants to make amends, and Ecks reluctantly agrees to help. Sordid tales mingle with trials, redemptions, and philosophy grounded in gritty experiences as Ecks follows cold clues into hot action. Ecks's world is populated with some of Mosley's most colorful and memorable characters, from Father Frank, who never invokes God, to the edgy parishioners who make up his flock. No Mosley fan should risk missing this scintillating novel. Agent: Gloria Loomis, Watkins Loomis Agency.