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Fearless Jones #2
Fear Itself
Written with the voice and vision that have made Mosley one of the most entertaining writers in America, "Fear Itself" marks the return of a master at the top of his form.
Audiobook
First published July 1, 2003
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About the author
Walter Mosley
211 books3,814 followersWalter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
August 19, 2022
I like Walter Mosley, I really do. His writing captures that blend of action, description and social commentary that elevates a good mystery into the sublime. I’ve long been a fan of Easy Rawlins, his longest-running series, but Socrates’ stories in Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned were impressive as well (side note: I need to get back to that series). So I was an easy mark for Amazon’s $2 sale of Fear Itself, the series starring bookstore owner Paris Minton and his best friend Mouse Fearless Jones. Alas, it didn’t carry the same level of distinctiveness for me that I’ve found in the other two series.
"Fearless never hesitated unless he knew that he was going to cause problems for someone he cared for. And that someone was almost always me."
All three series are set in Los Angeles; Easy’s stories start in the 1940s and progress to modernity, while Paris’ are set in the 1950s. Since most of the Easy books I read were in the 50s as well, I felt like there were a lot of similarities between the two series, from time period to characters. The deeply conflicted relationships between Easy and Mouse and Paris and Fearless were similar with the back-and-forth lifesaving and physicals skills. What was a little different is that Fear’s cast of characters provided a wider look at African Americans in L.A., from the extremely wealthy beauty mogul down to the man working a Texas watermelon hustle.
"Orrin only allowed classical music on the record player. Because of this aesthetic only a certain kind of customer frequented the place. Members of the church, especially the choir, older ladies who were scandalized by boogie-woogie and rhythm and blues, pretentious white-collar professionals, and world-weary lovers, muggers, and thieves were the regulars"
Regardless, I was there for it. However, the mystery itself has a confusing number of twists, betrayals, and revealations. You know that rule about economy of characters? I was sure Mosley wasn’t following it, because how on earth could he fit them all in? But he does; oh, indeed, he does. I think I was dizzy by the end.
"By then I was pretty sure that I was in a madhouse, or at least in a house that was in the process of going mad."
Was it worth reading another? Meh, not really. I remember the perfection of Devil in a Blue Dress and find myself more tempted to follow Easy through time if I want a mystery. These days, however, I find myself more intrigued by the thought of returning to the moving complexity that was in the Socrates series.
"Fearless never hesitated unless he knew that he was going to cause problems for someone he cared for. And that someone was almost always me."
All three series are set in Los Angeles; Easy’s stories start in the 1940s and progress to modernity, while Paris’ are set in the 1950s. Since most of the Easy books I read were in the 50s as well, I felt like there were a lot of similarities between the two series, from time period to characters. The deeply conflicted relationships between Easy and Mouse and Paris and Fearless were similar with the back-and-forth lifesaving and physicals skills. What was a little different is that Fear’s cast of characters provided a wider look at African Americans in L.A., from the extremely wealthy beauty mogul down to the man working a Texas watermelon hustle.
"Orrin only allowed classical music on the record player. Because of this aesthetic only a certain kind of customer frequented the place. Members of the church, especially the choir, older ladies who were scandalized by boogie-woogie and rhythm and blues, pretentious white-collar professionals, and world-weary lovers, muggers, and thieves were the regulars"
Regardless, I was there for it. However, the mystery itself has a confusing number of twists, betrayals, and revealations. You know that rule about economy of characters? I was sure Mosley wasn’t following it, because how on earth could he fit them all in? But he does; oh, indeed, he does. I think I was dizzy by the end.
"By then I was pretty sure that I was in a madhouse, or at least in a house that was in the process of going mad."
Was it worth reading another? Meh, not really. I remember the perfection of Devil in a Blue Dress and find myself more tempted to follow Easy through time if I want a mystery. These days, however, I find myself more intrigued by the thought of returning to the moving complexity that was in the Socrates series.
July 1, 2014
I'm not a black man. Walter Mosley is, so I assume he's writing from experience and knows what he's talking about. As such, it's nice to read crime drama/detective stories with well-round portraits of black men and women, men and women that the reader can believe in.
Having said that, I didn't know what the hell was going on for half the time in Fear Itself. Now, part of that was intentional. Mosley held the old wool over my eyes for a while on purpose. On the other hand, there were times when the action and dialogue got somewhat muddied up, and I don't think that was intentional. This was not the strongest narrative story the author's ever composed, that's for sure.
It does have its strong points though. The Southern California setting description is enjoyable for someone like myself who's spent some time there. The eccentrics that pop up are delightful distractions.
Here's a point which I'm not sure falls under strong or weak point: the main character. The diminutive and mild-mannered Paris Minton, a bookshop owner, is no hero. In fact, at times he's a coward. However, when the chips are down, the man stands up. The anti-hero is all the rage in literature these days, but the Paris character doesn't feel like a bandwagoner. He seems like the genuine article underdog. He feels realistic. He doesn't always do the right thing. He wants to do the right thing, but he's generally more concerned for himself. I'm kind of disgusted by him at times. All that may have even lessened my overall enjoyment of the book, but by god, I respect Mosley for that!
If you haven't figured it out by now, I like Walter Mosley. From what I've read, his books may not go down amongst the great literary works of our time. They should, however, be considered as valuable in their own right.
Having said that, I didn't know what the hell was going on for half the time in Fear Itself. Now, part of that was intentional. Mosley held the old wool over my eyes for a while on purpose. On the other hand, there were times when the action and dialogue got somewhat muddied up, and I don't think that was intentional. This was not the strongest narrative story the author's ever composed, that's for sure.
It does have its strong points though. The Southern California setting description is enjoyable for someone like myself who's spent some time there. The eccentrics that pop up are delightful distractions.
Here's a point which I'm not sure falls under strong or weak point: the main character. The diminutive and mild-mannered Paris Minton, a bookshop owner, is no hero. In fact, at times he's a coward. However, when the chips are down, the man stands up. The anti-hero is all the rage in literature these days, but the Paris character doesn't feel like a bandwagoner. He seems like the genuine article underdog. He feels realistic. He doesn't always do the right thing. He wants to do the right thing, but he's generally more concerned for himself. I'm kind of disgusted by him at times. All that may have even lessened my overall enjoyment of the book, but by god, I respect Mosley for that!
If you haven't figured it out by now, I like Walter Mosley. From what I've read, his books may not go down amongst the great literary works of our time. They should, however, be considered as valuable in their own right.
November 27, 2012
I have a great deal of affection for the Fearless Jones mysteries, which feature two intriguing characters - Paris and Fearless, working class African American men with hearts of gold and a weakness for sultry women - and an equally fascinating setting - 1950s L.A. The audio version is narrated by Don Cheadle, and I highly recommend it if you've got the time. Cheadle's smooth, sexy voice brings out a Zen-like quality in Fearless that even the author may not have intended. It's wonderful to listen to while driving, or anytime.
Paris Minton is a mild-mannered L.A. bookstore owner who'd prefer to stay out of the action, but his good friend Fearless Jones, an invincible WWII veteran and all-around ladies man, keeps pulling him into trouble.
Mosley is probably better known for his Easy Rawlins series, which is apparently more popular than the few Fearless Jones books he's published. I'm willing to give Rawlins a try, after this initial experience with one of Mosley's books. But I really want to see more of Fearless. Honestly, I'd go home with that guy in a heartbeat!
What is it about Fearless that is so attractive? He is trouble with a capital T, as Paris often points out. He keeps getting himself and Paris in trouble; in this story his inability to say no to an attractive woman's request gets the two hogtied, kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a car (Paris, anyway), threatened with a gun the size of a cannon, and shot at by a huge sexual pervert (whom Fearless takes care of, while defending Paris) with a few well-placed physical jabs. He's not well educated, and spends a lot of time in jail. Plus he's usually broke.
And yet ... we love him. Part of what sets Fearless apart is the way he responds to the trouble that keeps coming his way, and to anyone genuinely in need of help. He's humble about his physical and mental abilities, which are considerable. As a soldier on the front lines in Europe his job was to search for landmines, which honed his observation skills to perfection. In scene after scene he notices seemingly innocuous details which later become important. He knows, long before Paris does, that the pervert is about to shoot at them. As Paris notes several times, Fearless may not have a lot of book smarts, but he can read people better than anyone. He can look someone in the eye and read his soul, Paris, the narrator, tells us. He knows the depth of a person's soul, his or her fears and dreams, even better than the person himself.
The plot, actually, isn't the strongest element of this book. It wanders a bit much and seems to lose some of the steam it creates early on. But the characters are memorable, definitely the kind of people you want to hang around with. And the setting is remarkable. We get an insider's glimpse into the working class L.A. as it was lived by blacks in the 1950s. We meet the kind of people too often overlooked in mainstream fiction, not to mention TV and movies. We meet doormen, servants, cleaning ladies, rooming house managers, waitresses, bartenders, bail bonds men, and chauffeurs. These are the people who kept cities like L.A. running, and still do, unnoticed and unappreciated by those who most benefit from their work.
Paris Minton is a mild-mannered L.A. bookstore owner who'd prefer to stay out of the action, but his good friend Fearless Jones, an invincible WWII veteran and all-around ladies man, keeps pulling him into trouble.
Mosley is probably better known for his Easy Rawlins series, which is apparently more popular than the few Fearless Jones books he's published. I'm willing to give Rawlins a try, after this initial experience with one of Mosley's books. But I really want to see more of Fearless. Honestly, I'd go home with that guy in a heartbeat!
What is it about Fearless that is so attractive? He is trouble with a capital T, as Paris often points out. He keeps getting himself and Paris in trouble; in this story his inability to say no to an attractive woman's request gets the two hogtied, kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a car (Paris, anyway), threatened with a gun the size of a cannon, and shot at by a huge sexual pervert (whom Fearless takes care of, while defending Paris) with a few well-placed physical jabs. He's not well educated, and spends a lot of time in jail. Plus he's usually broke.
And yet ... we love him. Part of what sets Fearless apart is the way he responds to the trouble that keeps coming his way, and to anyone genuinely in need of help. He's humble about his physical and mental abilities, which are considerable. As a soldier on the front lines in Europe his job was to search for landmines, which honed his observation skills to perfection. In scene after scene he notices seemingly innocuous details which later become important. He knows, long before Paris does, that the pervert is about to shoot at them. As Paris notes several times, Fearless may not have a lot of book smarts, but he can read people better than anyone. He can look someone in the eye and read his soul, Paris, the narrator, tells us. He knows the depth of a person's soul, his or her fears and dreams, even better than the person himself.
The plot, actually, isn't the strongest element of this book. It wanders a bit much and seems to lose some of the steam it creates early on. But the characters are memorable, definitely the kind of people you want to hang around with. And the setting is remarkable. We get an insider's glimpse into the working class L.A. as it was lived by blacks in the 1950s. We meet the kind of people too often overlooked in mainstream fiction, not to mention TV and movies. We meet doormen, servants, cleaning ladies, rooming house managers, waitresses, bartenders, bail bonds men, and chauffeurs. These are the people who kept cities like L.A. running, and still do, unnoticed and unappreciated by those who most benefit from their work.
July 1, 2020
This was a great read, interesting characters and interesting mystery. Of course I love books, so a guy who works and lives in his own book store, and enjoys reading his own books, is like a hero to me. But he also solves problems and mystery's on the side for his friends. Perfect.
March 22, 2019
This worked for me as a mystery in post-war LA. Paris and Fearless were interesting, although I was surprised Fearless didn’t become a larger part of the plot. The story did get a bit repetitive. I listened to this on audio, and whenever my attention flagged and came back to the story, our heroes were knocking on a door. There’s a lot of door knocking in this one, and I’ll be reading the next Fearless book counting those doors. The audiobook was narrated by Don Cheadle. That was perfect casting, as I pictured Paris Minton as someone like Don Cheadle. Looking forward to the next one in the series, warily, but glad it’s a short series.
January 7, 2019
One of my favorite authors who tells what it was like to be black in the 1940s and 1950s. Many of the books are based in Los Angeles, some elsewhere. His characters have street smarts and also are educated which was often an unusual thing in those times. There is usually a murder mystery and the outcome is not what you might guess. This book lives up to my expectations.
April 1, 2019
Loved the story and the writing and the narration. What a book. Will definitely read more from Mosley about Fearless Jones and Paris Minton.
it-s-not-you-it-s-me
August 6, 2020this books has a lot of penises. don't go skeezy on me walter mosley.
April 30, 2020
Picked up Walter Mosley at our local thrift shop used book store because I liked his name. One fine tale I might add. It is 1950 Los Angeles. Paris Minton owns a used book store and sometimes finds people that are lost. His friend Fearless Jones comes a knocking on his door bringing some trouble his way.
July 12, 2022
Mosley is always great. Lots of double crossing and red herrings, but enjoyed this one a ton.
May 2, 2020
I love the detective fiction of Walter Mosley. I've read several Easy Rawlins mysteries and can honestly say that they are favorites. I like his characters. In the Easy Rawlins books, Easy is the narrator and from time to time Mouse shows up to save the day. But, Mouse is crazy and Easy is clearly the main show. In the Fearless Jones series, we find more of a Jeeves dynamic wherein Bertie Wooster is the narrator, but Jeeves is the hero of every tale and gives his name to the series.
In Fear Itself, and throughout the Fearless Jones series, Paris Minton is our narrator and main character while Fearless is the hero. Paris is not a comic Bertie Wooster, but he is a skinny smallish man who runs a bookstore he loves. He gets involved in detective work from time to time and this time it leads to murder, money and mystery. I love these characters. Paris is smart and sophisticated while Fearless is a street smart veteran who is not to be tangled with. Together, they are a terrific pair.
While the L. A. Detective duo format is familiar to Mosley fans, Paris and Fearless are unique and fresh. There is nothing re-run about these characters or this story. And, while there are adult themes, neither the violence nor the sex is so graphic that the book would be inappropriate for young adult readers. Just a classic Mosley mystery with great characters, lots of twists and turns and a satisfying ending. Well worth a few hours.
In Fear Itself, and throughout the Fearless Jones series, Paris Minton is our narrator and main character while Fearless is the hero. Paris is not a comic Bertie Wooster, but he is a skinny smallish man who runs a bookstore he loves. He gets involved in detective work from time to time and this time it leads to murder, money and mystery. I love these characters. Paris is smart and sophisticated while Fearless is a street smart veteran who is not to be tangled with. Together, they are a terrific pair.
While the L. A. Detective duo format is familiar to Mosley fans, Paris and Fearless are unique and fresh. There is nothing re-run about these characters or this story. And, while there are adult themes, neither the violence nor the sex is so graphic that the book would be inappropriate for young adult readers. Just a classic Mosley mystery with great characters, lots of twists and turns and a satisfying ending. Well worth a few hours.
January 6, 2018
Once again I found a Mosley book top notch. He is such a master of taking a relatively small story in a very small world and making it seem incredibly vibrant and full.
This was a second book in the Fearless Jones series, which is really about Paris Minton and told from his point of view about the troubles and tribulation he and his friend Fearless find themselves in. As usual, Mosley's main characters are richly developed, with all the flaws and emotions that real people in these very real circumstance would likely find themselves with. There's no superman here and everyone is a shade of grey, and that sort of writing really does allow his stories to resonate with any reader. This series, set in LA in the 50's, follows several different classes of black residents, all of whom are working on finding their way in a slowly changing world. There's laugh, a little love, a good amount of violence, and circles of plots, mostly failed, that keep Paris, Fearless and the reader constantly moving and keeping up.
I always recommend Mosley's books, even some of the real light ones, as his storytelling is superb. This one however continues that trend but also packs in a great plot that has you peeking around the corners of the story at all times. Hard to not enjoy.
This was a second book in the Fearless Jones series, which is really about Paris Minton and told from his point of view about the troubles and tribulation he and his friend Fearless find themselves in. As usual, Mosley's main characters are richly developed, with all the flaws and emotions that real people in these very real circumstance would likely find themselves with. There's no superman here and everyone is a shade of grey, and that sort of writing really does allow his stories to resonate with any reader. This series, set in LA in the 50's, follows several different classes of black residents, all of whom are working on finding their way in a slowly changing world. There's laugh, a little love, a good amount of violence, and circles of plots, mostly failed, that keep Paris, Fearless and the reader constantly moving and keeping up.
I always recommend Mosley's books, even some of the real light ones, as his storytelling is superb. This one however continues that trend but also packs in a great plot that has you peeking around the corners of the story at all times. Hard to not enjoy.
August 2, 2015
I liked it but didn't love this read. He definitely writes in a way that keeps you intrigued and guessing and trying to put the pieces together as a 1000 piece puzzle. The mystery will eventually be solved but takes some twists you were not looking for and normally Paris Minton will figure it out piece by piece towards the end. Fearless Jones is always nearby and willing to help some damsel in distress. It was a pretty good ending, everyone got what they desired or wanted; this time, they got thousands of dollars again and nearly murdered in the process but in 1955 2500 to 10000 is good money. Will start the next book in the series since I grow a bit attached to Paris but he makes you really like Fearless.
June 10, 2011
Having read several of Mosley's Easy Rawlin's mysteries, I wondered whether his other series, Fearless Jones mysteries, would be too similar. I actually enjoyed Fear Itself more than I did my last-read Easy Rawlins mystery (Black Betty). Mosley gives his main characters, Paris Minton (from whose point of view the story is told) and Fearless Jones, sufficiently different traits that you would never make the mistake that you were reading about Rawlins, even though the stories occur in a similar time period and in the same city (Los Angeles). I did notice one mention of a character from the Rawlins books, which was a nice touch. Good mystery story, as usual with Walter Mosley.
April 29, 2015
I liked the book although I did have to pick it up a few times after it being down for a while. It was a Nero Award Winner for 2004. The setting is of the '50s in LA and is quite charming. Dialogue can be tough to follow sometimes as well as what exactly is happening in the plot, but the book is well written. For these reasons I cannot give the book more than 3 stars. If I were given the chance to read another one of Mr. Walter Mosley's book I would probably look into the subject matter beforehand.
September 25, 2017
Enjoyed each character for what they were about. Fearless and Paris, best friends especially in the worst of times. Following the criminals all the way to the realization of who really is the baddest of all. I truly enjoyed the author, Walter Mosley's writing style and his characters - I can see, hear and get them! I listened to this on audio and the reader is fantastic! Will be reading more of Ms. Mosely's books - the ones I haven't read YET!
September 26, 2012
This was the 2nd book in the 'Fearless Jones' series. The main characters were still good to know and learn more about ... but, I must admit that there were so many characters and the plot was so convoluted that I found myself confused after awhile. I enjoyed the book ... but, no where near as much as the first book in the series.
I hope that the 3rd book is better.
I hope that the 3rd book is better.
November 28, 2022
A good book; not perfect, but certainly enjoyable. I think "Lips McGee" is a dumb name for a musician character, and I couldn't ever really read past that.
June 15, 2014
Second Fearless Jones novel. Paris Minton and his friend Fearless get tangled up in the scheming of two wealthy families. Very enjoyable. Will definitely continue with the series.
November 23, 2015
Mosely always drops you into the world and I feel comfortable with his characters.
June 17, 2023
Love this author. This series not my favorite. I will keep with his other series.
May 20, 2024
This one made me wish I'd picked up one of Mosley's Easy Rawlins books instead. The "mystery" at the heart of Fear Itself is convoluted, overpopulated, and a general mess--in a word, unsatisfying. In the Easy Rawlins series, Rawlins routinely finds himself in some tangled webs and gets out of them in often unlikely ways, of course, but he's still a way more evolved and believable character than Fearless Jones, who is presented as a cross between a comic book character and American Folklore's John Henry: "If he had to work, he could swing a twelve-pound hammer all day long.... He was a one-man army who did his duty.... He was like some mythological deity that had come down to earth to learn about mortals"... and "being friends with him was like having one of God's second cousins as a pal." Way, way over the top. Our first-person narrator, one Paris Minton, is, conversely, full of fear and describes himself as being figuratively and literally small (in all ways that matter except, of course, where his appendage is concerned, which he creepily describes and boasts of a few times--even the first of which seemed too often). He is also proud of his book smarts and, in fact, owns a used bookstore, but he doesn't sell a single effing book in the whole course of this tale--doesn't even have a real customer, for that matter--so that part was pretty much just stage dressing. The only real fun is tallying how many different ways Mosley comes up with for describing different hues of skin tone. No character is introduced without mention of his or her skin color, which quickly becomes too noticeable in this cast of what seems dozens--progressing from the regular black and brown to the more creative "high-yellah," "shiny black," "buff-colored," "mule-brown," "medium-brown," "dark olive," "lemon-colored," "auburn," "walnut-colored," and, my favorite, "the color of twilight after a storm." There were many others, though. The few Caucasians involved are called merely white, "ugly white," and, in one case, "faded white," and most of those are presented as pallors of just racist assholes anyway--none being what you'd call an upstanding citizen. At some point it occurred to me that a better title for this one might've been Race Itself.
First line:
"A sudden banging on the front door sent a chill down my neck and into my chest."
First line:
"A sudden banging on the front door sent a chill down my neck and into my chest."
September 14, 2024
Paris Minton's trouble-finding friend Fearless Jones comes crashing into his used book store and says he is, you guessed it, in trouble again. While helping a phony damsel in distress look for her supposed-husband, the cops start asking around where Fearless is, so he knows he's probably found himself in the middle of something bad.
2003's "Fearless Jones" is another of Mosley's immersive street adventures in 1950's-era Los Angeles, this pairing up the smart but afraid book lover Paris with the naive but deadly veteran Fearless in a detective mystery that leads to some thievery, a murder, and a number of suspicious characters who never share everything they know about the mystery.
It might just be me, but I couldn't keep all the characters straight, and many of them are found to be partners in heists or blood-related in non-obvious ways, so when plot twists hit they went right over my head.
Verdict: I didn't enjoy "Fear Itself." Mosley's credibility as a mystery writer is well-earned at this point but this story was hard to even track from point A to point B, a jumbled mess of dialogue-driven beats that left me needing a filter, like I have when I watch a badly-sequenced mystery on TV and need my wife on the couch next to me to explain what the heck is happening lol.
Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
2003's "Fearless Jones" is another of Mosley's immersive street adventures in 1950's-era Los Angeles, this pairing up the smart but afraid book lover Paris with the naive but deadly veteran Fearless in a detective mystery that leads to some thievery, a murder, and a number of suspicious characters who never share everything they know about the mystery.
It might just be me, but I couldn't keep all the characters straight, and many of them are found to be partners in heists or blood-related in non-obvious ways, so when plot twists hit they went right over my head.
Verdict: I didn't enjoy "Fear Itself." Mosley's credibility as a mystery writer is well-earned at this point but this story was hard to even track from point A to point B, a jumbled mess of dialogue-driven beats that left me needing a filter, like I have when I watch a badly-sequenced mystery on TV and need my wife on the couch next to me to explain what the heck is happening lol.
Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
August 22, 2017
The name of the addressee was Ricky Faizad, and name in the ever-growing cast of characters in the Fearless Jones drama.
This was pretty great, moody and atmospheric in that "modern, retro hard-boiled" style that Mosley has perfected. But what made this fantastic was having Don Cheadle read it to me. Dayum! When is he reading another audiobook?? We need more of that! We are thirsty!!
This story is like a big pile of tangled yarns, pluck one end and it leads to another yarn end and that leads to another and another, sometimes they are tied together and sometimes they are loose. So, that made it tough to follow as an audiobook. I probably would have done a better job following the plot if I had been reading an ebook that allowed me to search for names to see when they first showed up. I just let all that confusion slide past me, and enjoyed listening to Cheadle. He was the perfect choice to read this audiobook.
January 4, 2019
The main character in the book is called Paris and his friend fearless that he knew for many years comes to him for help. Paris and Fearless went to through a lot during their friendship. Fearless works for a man that gets him caught up in a lot. Fearless went to Paris asking for help and Paris knew it was not going to end right. Paris and Fearless go on a long and difficult journey to find a particular man for the stuff he did. My favorite character would be Paris because I can relate to him. He wants to stay out of trouble and have friends that leads him into trouble. Readers should learn after reading this book that you should make decisions on your own.
I relate to Paris because me and him have the same agenda. Just keep on living and staying out of trouble. He has a friend that always gets him into stuff and I feel as though I have a friend like that but no matter what you can’t leave that friend because he is also a good person to you.
I relate to Paris because me and him have the same agenda. Just keep on living and staying out of trouble. He has a friend that always gets him into stuff and I feel as though I have a friend like that but no matter what you can’t leave that friend because he is also a good person to you.
August 7, 2021
I love to read Walter Mosley's detective tales from the past. Fearless Jones is as wonderful a character as Easy Rawlins, in his own way. Fearless stories are always narrated by Paris Minton, his best friend and co-conspirator, so we don't actually hear his voice as much - although his righteous sensibilities shine right through. Paris is a book dealer, and of course, that gives him an edge in my fondness for his character. This story revolves around a book - the first handwritten volume of the history of one black family that begins 200 years ago, and has been recorded by the matriarchs of the family down through the generations. I wonder how many such family histories exist - from even one generation. What a treasure! Which is exactly what the thieves think.
I read this out of order - read the first book, then the third, and now this second story. Don't think it mattered in the long run. So good - just go read them all.
I read this out of order - read the first book, then the third, and now this second story. Don't think it mattered in the long run. So good - just go read them all.
April 26, 2022
It takes a while to fully enter the world inhabited by these characters, which is surprising given that it is the same 1950’s black Los Angeles that Mosley’s fans know well from the Easy Rawlins novels. But the narrative point of view is very different. The titular character, Fearless Jones, is prominent, but the book isn’t about him. It’s about lies, deceptions, murders and double-crosses committed by an array of characters, as seen and ordered in the mind of Fearless’ friend Paris Minton, a diminutive bookstore owner and self-admitted coward. The plot is complex and disordered until Paris starts putting two and two together, relying upon Fearless for the muscle and good natured devotion to keep him safe. The outcome is rewarding, but the reader needs some patience and back-references in order to get there.
August 31, 2023
If you ever wonder if you can keep up with a variety of characters lying through their loosened teeth, read a Walter Mosley detective novel. Mosley's stories are so laced with honest pragmatism, love of people, forgiveness for being human and mistrust for the white man, that they just feel right. Paris Minton is timid but unafraid to make a little money being a sidekick for his friend and protector Fearless Jones. In only a matter of days, there are four dead bodies, two ruthless millionaires, hopeless women, slow moving police and a book of rare consequence to the African-American Experience. Always a great adventure, lots of characters described in great detail, plenty of bars, jukes, hangouts and food stands surrounding lives lived in the margins of the mystery. So much fun to read.
June 15, 2024
Two close friends, Paris Minton and Tristan “Fearless” Jones, team up, again, in Walter Mosley’s 2nd Fearless Jones novel, “Fear Itself”. Paris is the narrator and main PI gumshoe, with Fearless dropping into the storyline occasionally. The scene is the 1950s in LA and a certain person is missing and Fearless is doing a private investigation to find the missing. The colorful cast of characters occasionally speak the descriptive vernacular of the era. Mosley keeps the twists and turns coming in this entertaining and puzzling plot, as Fearless moves through differing social strata on both sides of the color line and wealth, homing in on his elusive target. Then he finds that much more is going on than a missing man. Highly Recommended. Five INTRIGUING Stars! Apple Books, 320 pages.
August 9, 2020
I'm so excited that this is a series so I can read more about Paris Minton and his closest friend, Fearless Jones. Paris is the most reluctant detective and a self-avowed coward as well but pushes through for his friend when he asks for help. This mystery is twisted and complicated and just when you think you get a handle on who and when, something new comes along to muddy the waters again. Don Cheadle reads this beautifully and I really hope he reads the rest because Mr. Cheadle and Paris Minton seem one and the same to me. If they don't make a movie of this series, they are really missing out.
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