Down the River Unto the Sea (Mosley) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Great stuff.… The vibrant characters and pulsating dialogue are primo Mosley.
Marilyn Stasio - New York Times Book Review


Walter Mosley is back with a whole new character to love.… 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 see the last of.
Richard Lipez - Washington Post


Gritty.… The plot soars.… Few mystery writers can examine issues of race-how it divides and binds people-as clearly and unflinchingly as Walter Mosley.
Oline Cogdill - Associated Press


A wild ride that delivers hard-boiled satisfaction while toying with our prejudices and preconceptions.… The darker and uglier the story gets, the more Joe King Oliver comes alive.… The journey is fun and joyful.… A fitting work for a world riddled with dark contradiction."
Steph Cha - Los Angeles Times


Remarkable.… Walter Mosley's latest novel [is] all the more relevant in Black Lives Matter era.
Lloyd Sachs - Chicago Tribune


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. Mosley makes it all look simple, creating in Joe King Oliver another fascinatingly flawed detective brimming with potential.
Michael Berry - San Francisco Chronicle


This is one of those books that leaves you a little breathless—not only while you're reading, but once the back cover's closed, too. For anyone who loves hard-bitten PI thrillers, reading Down the River unto the Sea couldn't be more right.
Teri Schlichenmeyer - Miami Times


(Starred review) [An] 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.
Publishers Weekly


In this latest from Mystery Writers Grand Master Mosley, a stand-alone and possible series launch, top NYPD investigator Joe King Oliver is framed by bad guys on the force and ends up at Rikers. Now he runs his own agency with teenage daughter….
Library Journal


(Starred review) [R]emarkable energy…. Mosley writes with great power here about themes that have permeated his work: institutional racism, political corruption, and [how both] affect… society at large [and] individual men and women.
Booklist


[S]o 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.
Kirkus Reviews