Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
Fearless Jones is a gritty, noirish thriller set in 1950s' Los Angeles. When sultry Elana Love walks into mild-mannered Paris Minton's bookshop, he knows she spells trouble. Elana is trying to escape her boyfriend Leon, who is 'three kinds of bad' - which doesn't bode well for Paris when he is seduced by her. Soon afterwards Elana disappears and Paris's shop is burned to the ground. He calls on war hero and jailbird friend Fearless Jones to come to his aid. Together they set off to find Elana so that Paris can get his life back on track again.

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones. Phoenix, ISBN 075381837X (April, 2004), 312 p., £6.99.

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Bookshop owner Paris Minton is minding his own business when a brief encounter with a beautiful stranger gets him beaten, shot at, robbed, and then burned out of store and home. Paris needs help but his secret weapon - brave, reckless WWII hero Fearless Jones - is in jail. Vowing to dish out some heavy justice, Paris plots to get Jones back on the street. But when these two men come together, they'll find themselves trapped in a bewildering vortex of sex, money, and murder - and a dicey endgame that's littered with dangerous players...

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones. A New Mystery. Warner Vision, ISBN 0446610127 (June, 2002), 351 p., $7.50.

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones (UK 2001)

From the Publisher:
Paris Minton is minding his own business - a small used-book store of which he is the proud proprietor - when a beautiful woman walks in and asks a few questions. Before he knows it, Paris has been beaten up, slept with, shot at, robbed, and his bookstore has been burnt to the ground. He's in so much trouble he has no choice but to get his friend Fearless Jones out of jail to help him. Things get scary fast as they look into this woman's past, and the more they learn, the harder it gets - as black men in 1950s L.A. they have few rights, little money, and no recourse under attack.

Fearless Jones is written with the dazzling pace of noir classics like The Maltese Falcon, but with the humor and brilliant insights into American times, places and morals that have made Walter Mosley's novels bestsellers.

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones. Serpent's Tail, ISBN 1852428031 (October, 2001), 312 p., £15.99.

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
Paris Minton is minding his own business -- a small used bookstore of which he is the proud proprietor--when a beautiful woman named Elana Love walks in and asks a few questions. Within the next twenty-four hours, Paris has been beaten up, made love to, shot at, and robbed, and his bookstore has been burned to the ground. He's in so much trouble he has no choice but to get his friend Fearless Jones out of jail to help.

Fearless Jones is an army veteran, a man who is proud of his accomplishments during World War II, and refuses to step into the background now that the war is over. Violence dogs Fearless's every step, and Paris has tried to keep his distance. But there's no friend like the one you need.

The two set out to find the elusive Elana Love, and every step leads them deeper into a bewildering vortex of money and betrayal. Their questions bring out a ruthless and racist cop, a gang of vicious ex-cons, and an elderly Jewish woman who is as determined to help the two friends as others are toharm them. These two Black men in 1950s Los Angeles have few rights, little money, and no recourse under attack. But they have their friends, their wits and their knowledge of the way the world really works to help them prevail.

Written with the blazing pace of noir classics like The Maltese Falcon, Fearless Jones also possesses the humour and original insights into American places and characters that have made Walter Mosley one of the most admired writers of our time.

Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones. A New Mystery. Little, Brown, & Co., ISBN 0316592382 (June, 2001), 312 p., $24.95.