Little Green

Like the previous Easy Rawlins mysteries, this is a lively and pleasurable read. The characters are fascinating, the dialog is vivid and often humorous, and the subtext always includes racial tension.  One of the more colorful character's is Easy's likable but extremely violent friend, Mouse.  In this book, for example, Easy is recovering from a near fatal auto accident - Mouse actually found and saved him - and after he has regained consciousness, Mouse takes Easy to his old apartment, which, they find, is now occupied by Jeffrey, who initially refuses to let them in.  Mouse takes out his long-barreled .41 and hits Jeffrey "in the center of his vast forehead."  Mouse again asks Jeffrey what he's doing here and he answers:

"I live here!  The man who owned this place died and I......I homesteaded it".

There was blood coming from Jeffrey's forehead, but we all knew that was the least of his problems."

 Well, in addition to the outlandish incidents, the social commentary is very interesting.  The events of Little Green are set within the hippie community of LA in the '60s and a recurrent observation of Easy's is how the hippies take a much more inclusive view of diversity - and that maybe this holds some hope for future relationships between black and white men. An interesting and entertaining read!