When Walter Mosley burst onto the literary scene in with his first Easy Rawlins mystery Devil in a Blue Dressmdasha combustible mixture of Raymond Chandler and Richard Wrightmdashhe captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of readers including future president Bill Clinton Eleven books later Easy Rawlins is one of the few private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called iconic and immortal In the incendiary and fast-paced Little Green he returns from the brink of death to investigate the dark side of LArsquos s hippie haven the Sunset StripWe last saw Easy in rsquos Blonde Faith fighting for his life after his car plunges over a cliff True to form the tough WWII veteran survives and soon his murderous sidekick Mouse has him back cruising the mean streets of LA in all their psychedelic glory to look for a young black man Evander ldquoLittle Greenrdquo Noon who disappeared during an acid trip Fueled by an elixir called Gatorrsquos Blood brewed by the conjure woman Mama Jo Easy experiences a physical spiritual and emotional resurrection but peace and love soon give way to murder and mayhem Written with Mosleyrsquos signature grit and panache this engrossing and atmospheric mystery is not only a trip back in time it is also a tough-minded exploration of good and evil and of the power of guilt and redemption Once again Easy asserts his reign over the City of Fallen Angels.
