Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Socratic Method

Walkin' The Dog by Walter Mosley

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Read as part of CBR12 Bingo: UnCannon. Walter Mosley is black. This book continues what I believe to be Walter Mosley’s best work: these series of small, wrenching looks into the life of Socrates Fortlow, an ex-con trying to make a new life for himself in Watts, Los Angeles. He lives with the mentality of one who is permanently imprisoned. Every step is a hazard, every chance encounter a threat. His actions are extremely measured and guarded. This was written when Mosley’s talent and ambition […]

Don’t Mess With Her

Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall

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I read a lot of mystery fiction and one of my recurring criticisms is how much I loathe the tough talking’, hard drinkin’, angry-at-the-world male detective. It’s beyond cliche at this point; these folks always act like the world owes them something. What do you have to be so mad about? Anyway, Rachel Howzell Hall’s Elouise Norton could easily fall into this trap but she’s a black woman and that in and of itself is refreshing. She’s witty and not scared and knows how to […]

Let It Burn…Wanna Let It Burn…

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

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Steph Cha has a hell of a tightrope to walk with this one. A fictional retelling of the murder of Latasha Harlins, she breaks down the impact of it between both families impacted: the black family that mourned her and the Korean family that produced her killer. Writing black characters, specifically in a context such as this, is a tall task for a non-black writer. But Cha is successful. She navigates this with a less-is-more approach, focusing on how grief and racial trauma impact both […]

Ain’t No Love In the Heart of the City

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley

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Whew. I don’t even really know where to begin with this one. Not because it’s a complex book. On the surface, it’s rather simple: 14 tales of an ex-con trying to make it in the underbelly of south central Los Angeles. No more, no less. No central plot except a man trying to survive. But hell, man, this is a tale of living. James Weldon Johnson once wrote in a poem: “Make me a world.” Walter Mosley does that. I’ve had an interesting journey with […]

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Lost Light by Michael Connelly

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For my part, I like picking around the edges of the Harry Bosch catalogue, either when I need a Los Angeles tale or a mind-numbing read. I don’t usually go for airport paperback fare but Michael Connelly has always felt like a cut above. I don’t mean that to condescend anyone who enjoys the James Pattersons and Jeffrey Deavers of the world. But for me, Connelly has always felt slightly above their level, with just enough sophistication to feel refined yet not too much to […]

To Live and Die in LA

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley

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After going through most of Walter Mosley’s Leonid McGill series, I decided to switch back to the books that drew me to his work in the first place: good ol’ Easy Rawlins. Having read most of the McGill books (and unlike the Rawlins series, they’re mostly the same in terms of plot and tone) I have a fresh perspective on the Rawlins ones and Mosley’s evolution as a writer. McGill has always felt like the character Mosley wanted to write but didn’t get to until […]



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