Joe King Oliver, the protagonist of his new novel Down the River Unto the Sea, is a black ex-cop who was framed for the rape of a white woman. The premise alone is enough fuel for hours of classroom discussion. Add in a wise teenage daughter, a devilish antihero partner and a death-row inmate inspired by Mumia Abu-Jamal, and we have a wild ride that delivers hard-boiled satisfaction while toying with our prejudices and preconceptions ... Despite its serious subject matter, Down the River Unto the Sea is an optimistic noir. A fitting work for a world riddled with dark contradictions.
When reviewing a book by Walter Mosley, it’s hard not to simply quote all the great lines. There are so many of them. You want to share the pleasures of Mosley’s jazz-inflected dialogue and the moody, descriptive passages reminiscent of Raymond Chandler at his best … Mosley’s densely populated novel is full of characters like Frost, many of them African American, who have struggled to rise above unlucky beginnings. Some, like Oliver himself, have more or less succeeded; others, like Leonard ‘Manny’ Compton, have not … Down the River Unto the Sea — his 53rd book — is as gorgeous a novel as anything he’s ever written. And with Joe King Oliver I’m betting, and hoping, he’s given us a character we haven’t seen the last of.
Oliver is inspired to link this new investigation with his own redemption: ‘If Man is innocent and I freed him, then it would be in some way, like freeing myself.’ That doubly daunting mission is made all the more awkward when Oliver must ferret out rotten apples from the police force he still feels part of … Like many of Mr. Mosley’s protagonists, Oliver seems to be as much on a spiritual quest as a crime-solving one.
King has no major sins staining his soul, and since he spent years doing hard time for a crime he didn’t commit, he has no need for redemption. While that makes this disgraced ex-cop an authentic hero, it also puts him at a disadvantage because (let’s come clean) virtuous victims just aren’t as much fun as bad boys … As usual with this singular author, the plot is way over the top; but the vibrant characters and pulsating dialogue are primo Mosley … Great stuff.
Down the River Unto the Sea, which is dedicated to Malcolm X, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr., raises essential questions: What is the proper response to sanctioned hate and violence? What meaning do guilt and innocence have at a time when the law is broken as a matter of course by the people hired or elected to uphold it? … One of the remarkable things about this novel is how soft-spoken and reflective protagonist King remains in recalling the worst moments of his life, employing humor to deflect the pain … Mosley may be outspoken in real life in calling for social and political change. But in his fiction, story and character come first — in this case in exhilarating fashion.
Walter Mosley writes with a voice that flows as easy as that river of the title, and he introduces a series character who is both familiar and new with his latest … If you don’t go in expecting a story in the world of Easy Rawlins or Socrates Fortlow, it’s easier to swallow some of the gadgetry. The story gets pretty dark as Joe digs into the officers A Free Man killed and those who set him up … In the end, it works. Today, we need a fairy-tale element to believe that anyone who follows the rules can do something to be proud of when confronted with grievous injustice.
Walter Mosley is one of America’s great crime fiction authors, and his latest is the start of what may be a new series for the writer. The book takes the author into new territory, Brooklyn, with a new central protagonist. It is grounded in strong detail and has the compelling and conversational first-person tone we have come to expect from Walter Mosley … Down the River Unto the Sea takes a long time to get itself together and take off. Gradually, all paths converge in the second half of this novel … Innovation is important in the genre, and Mosley must be commended for moving away from his iconic character, but the Brooklyn of this novel is not as vibrant as the LA depicted in his Easy series or the New York of the author’s McGill books.
The plot of Down the River Unto the Sea unspools neatly, recounted in a sleek, streetwise and captivating voice. Some of the book’s elements feel overly familiar, however ... Down the River Unto the Sea is a well-constructed crime novel, urgent in its plotting and carefully observed in the behaviors and the voices of its supporting cast.
Former NYPD detective Joe King Oliver, now the owner-operator of King Detective Service, investigates two cases of gross injustice in this excellent standalone from MWA Grand Master Mosley … The novel’s dedication—to Malcolm, Medgar, and Martin—underlines the difference that one man can make in the fight for justice.
So many aspects of this novel are reminiscent of other Mosley books that it tempts one to wonder whether he’s stretching his resources a little thin. But ultimately it’s Mosley’s signature style—rough-hewn, rhythmic, and lyrical—that makes you ready and eager for whatever he’s serving up. It’s getting to be a bigger blues band on Mosley’s stage, with Joe King Oliver now sitting in with Easy Rawlins and Leonid McGill. But as long as it sounds sweet and smoky, let the good times roll.
Down the River Unto the Sea introduces a new detective, New York City habitué John King Oliver, in this enigmatically titled, problematic novel … Mr. Mosley tends to scrambles the plot lines, and…if he occasionally overwrites, he also undercharacterizes. Oliver takes the subway one evening. Next to him is a young woman named Kenya Norman, reading a Hermann Hesse book.
