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Fear of the Dark
Fearless Jones series #3

by Walter Mosley



      In his third novel featuring Los Angeles bookseller Paris Minton and his friend, Fearless Jones, Walter Mosley turns out another top novel in Fear of the Dark. Actor Michael Boatman brings Paris Minton, Fearless Jones and the other characters to life with a sterling performance as he reads the unabridged story.

In the Los Angeles of the 1950s, a black man’s life can be lost if he so much as looks at a white man the wrong way. So, Paris Minton is very careful not to open his door to the wrong person. That is especially true if the person is his con artist cousin, Ulysses S. Grant, known as Useless by everyone but his mother. Thus, when Useless shows up at his door saying he’s in trouble, Paris keeps his door firmly closed. When Useless got in trouble, everyone who tried to help him was putting his own neck on the chopping block. Paris wanted no part of that mess, thank you.

But when Auntie Three Hearts shows up on Paris’ doorstep looking for her son, Paris has no choice but to help her. In her mind, Useless could do no wrong. And, though Paris was not a superstitious man and his aunt denied having any such power, Three Hearts Grant could give him the evil eye. Either way, helping Useless was practically suicidal. Paris Minton was doomed.

The language in Fear of the Dark is rough, but the story is engaging. Mosley brings the Watts district of 1950s Los Angeles to life as Paris Minton looks high and low for his wayward cousin. Useless seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth. Between Useless’ predilection for trouble and Paris’ proclivity for women, trouble can’t be far away. Read Fear of the Dark and find out why Paris Minton is always terrified of the dark.

The Book

Hachette Audio
September 19, 2006
Audio CD
1-59483-572-1
Mystery/Thriller - historical (1950s)
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: African American Interest
Contains violence, sex, foul language

The Reviewer

Jo Rogers
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com