Down the River Unto the Sea (King Oliver #1) by Walter Mosley

Down the River Unto the Sea (King Oliver #1) Reviews

• 
  Paromjit

  I am always going to read the latest Walter Mosley book as I have read every single thing he has written. His books have a special place in my heart and even though there is much that feels familiar in this one, I still loved it. It might not quite be there with the Easy Rawlins series, but Mosley still has me with his ability to create a large cast of memorable characters, even when they only have minor roles and his exceptional skills in writing and dialogue. Our central character here is Joe King Oliver, a proud, gifted and upstanding black cop with NYPD, who ends up incarcerated in Rikers Island Prison for rape and sexual assault charges after being framed by shadowy forces in the police force. Prison breaks him completely and he only survives after being transferred to solitary. He is shaken to find he has a killer within him and traumatised as his life falls apart, his wife disowns him, refusing to bail him. After a little more than 90 days, he is released as charges are dropped. Sergeant Gladstone helps him piece together a life as a private investigator, and 10 years later he is being helped by his precious daughter, Aja-Denise.
  
  Oliver is a troubled figure, still experiencing a form of PTSD after NYPD insisted on letting him go with no pension or benefits. His past rears its ugly head when he receives a letter from the woman who set him up, expressing her guilt, how she was forced to entrap him and her need to put things right publicly. She has a name of the cop behind it. Joe now feels he can take on his own case, especially as Aja has now grown up. He begins to pull at the threads of the leads he has, looking for a partner to work the case with him. To this end, he hones in on sociopath and killer, Melquash Frost, who feels he owes Joe, and Mel proves his worth as Joe is forced to drop below the radar when his life is threatened. However, Joe feels a dissonance in his values and identity, leading to a shift from his previous conventional morality, to more ambiguous terrain, pushed there by his implacable, powerful and ruthless enemies. Simultaneously, Joe takes on the case of A Free Man, a man convicted of the shooting of 2 cops, on death row, but a man, who like him, has been framed. It slowly becomes apparent there are connections between the two cases and it appears that justice in either case is beyond reach.
  
  Mosley writes a compelling tale of injustice and a police force unwilling to acknowledge its murderous and corrupt history amidst a New York that includes gangsters, heroin addicts, damaged souls and the survival of indomitable spirits, against all the odds. I imagine Joe King Oliver will have other outings, at least I hope so. I found his complex character, with his loving relationship with his daughter and the criminal Melquash, so utterly gripping. He was once a true blue NYPD cop, circumstances propel him to evolve his sense of identity and his perception of what is going to be his new place in the world. Always a pleasure to read Mosley, and for me, it always will be. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.
• 
  Andrew Smith

  If you want to understand Joe Oliver, Mosely’s front man in his latest offering, then look no further than his tastes in books and music. He took to reading when he was locked up on Rikers Island, having been framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Throughout this tale he’s ever reaching for a book and most often it’s Remarque’s 1929 tome All Quiet on the Western Front – a story of the extreme mental stress imposed on German soldiers during WWI and how they often found themselves detached from civilian life after returning home. For easy listening he returns time and again to the taciturn jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Christened ‘the elephant on the keyboard’ by Philip Larkin, Monk was known as a man who did his own thing, and this included often hitting discordant notes – for which he refused to apologise. Yes, Oliver certainly is his own man, he seems pretty well detached from civilian life and he has a habit of hitting a few discordant notes of his own.
  
  The prose here is terrific. I really liked Oliver and had sympathy for his plight. The character development is brilliantly done and his interactions with people are sharp and funny. In fact, the whole mood of the book is like listening to an old favourite song – it just flowed over me (literally, as I was listening to an audio version). But therein lies the problem too. The plot just didn’t capture me. It befuddled me and frustrated me.
  
  There are two strands:
  
  1. Joe wants to find out who set him up and settle the matter.
  2. In his new occupation as a PI, he’s approached to look into the case of a radical journalist accused of killing two on-duty police officers who had been involved in trafficking drugs and women.
  
  There’s a cast of thousands here (well, it felt like that anyway) and the book constantly jigs back and forth between the two strands. I’m not great at dealing with complex plots – my preference is the linear approach adopted by Michael Connelly and John Sandford – and I was lost in the mire very quickly. What kept me going here was the constant, soothing rhythm of Mosley’s writing. I loved the style, even if I was confused by the substance.
• 
  Michael Slavin

  Yes, 5 stars! This book made me think. I am an author; so I compare everyone to my own writing, forgive me.
  
  First of all, I only read this book, by Walter Mosley, because the black main character of Grisham’s novel The Racketeer was reading a Walter Mosey book. By the way, The Racketeer was a very good book (see my review).
  
  Mosley, a black author, is very prolific with about 51 books published and one play. I hope none of my review sounds racist, forgive me again if it does, it was just very interesting to me and I do not mean it to be racist at all.
  
  The main character, Joe King Oliver, was a black NY cop, disgraced, imprisoned, and released with no criminal record. After getting his head together and being forced off the police force, he became a PI. His own case of being set up intersects with another case and is a good story. But the story is not what interested me the most. It is Oliver’s world and how Mosley describes it all.
  
  Almost every person Mosley introduces he describes their skin color. What a detail? I never really do that in my own writing, but I will pay more attention to it. But I don’t think a white author could get away with all the detailed descriptions of the people of color like he describes. It seems there are a lot of black people in his world, which should not be unusual, but just a different perspective from my own. Also at times, it is a little hard for me with his character’s speech. It is very subtle, a dropped word here and there. He also makes comments of how he feels others (white people) may perceive him and react to him.
  
  When the hero, Joe Oliver, meets anyone new you not only get their skin color but he also gives you a pretty good detailed description of what they are wearing. I just have not noticed this detail done as much as he does. I must say as soon as I became aware of the skin color and clothing descriptions, I became very interested to see what the next character’s skin color would be and what he or she’d be wearing.
  
  There are three powerful scenes in the book, at least one, maybe two, I will remember forever.
  
  I strongly recommend this book or maybe one of his other books. It is a different style and you will be pulled into a different world than you may have been used too. This is a very memorable book and author. Try it!
  
  Review by Mike Slavin author of award-winning Kill Crime (action-packed thriller on Amazon to buy or KU. As of this writing 93% 5 and 4-star reviews on Amazon with 290+ reviews)
• 
  Tim

  Dear Mr. Mosley. Why all the misery? Isn't there anything good in life besides the daughter? I suppose the money is alright, except for all the pain and suffering it took. 3 of 10 stars
• 
  Mary

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 5 rounded up.
  
  First of all, thank you to Little, Brown and Company for sending me a review copy of this book! All opinions are my own.
  
  I had a REALLY hard time rating
  Down the River Unto the Sea by
  Walter Mosley. I knew I was going to give it a 3.5, but figuring out whether to round up or down was incredibly hard for some reason.
  
  I think this book could easily be read in a couple of days by most people, if not 1. It was very quick to read, and I thought it was pretty fast-paced as well. There was definitely a lot going on in this book.
  
  Down the River Unto the Sea is about a cop named Joe King Oliver (or King as he is usually called) who ends up getting set up by someone (else) in the NYPD for rape. He goes to Rikers and ends up getting out many weeks later, but not before a lot of damage has been done to both his spirit and life as he knows it. Years later King is a detective who ends up getting an interesting case which in turn ends up being linked to the same people who set him up so long ago. The stories are told alongside of each other with King investigating both his new case and the set up that got him kicked off the force. He also gets help from some pretty sketchy characters.
  
  There are a lot of players in this novel, and not all of them stick around for very long. Even though the story is only told from King's viewpoint, all of the different characters (many with nicknames) got to be very confusing which took away from the reading experience for me. I also had a hard time understanding some of the dialect in the book, and had to really focus a few times on what was being said.
  
  I really loved the character Mel in this book. Mel is one of the people that ends up helping King in his cases even though he is a vicious criminal. He was such an interesting character, and pretty badass even though I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley! I couldn't really connect to King, but he did begin to grow on me. He was pretty crass, especially when it came to women. But he did love his daughter a lot and was so sweet with her in all the scenes they are together.
  
  Final Thought: While I definitely don't think this book is going to be for everyone, I thought it was a very interesting detective fiction / police procedural. It got to be a little confusing with all the character names, but I think it was definitely worth the read for me. I would also be interested in reading something else from Mosley in the future. This was my first time reading one of his books.
  
  Down the River Unto the Sea in 3 words: Gritty, Engaging, Dark
  
  *This title was published on 20 Feb 2018*
• 
  Patrice Hoffman

  Since this is not my first roll in the hay with Mr. Walter Mosley's writing I expected exactly what I got. What I got was a gritty, police procedural of an ex-detective, Joe King Oliver, making his way in life as a Private Investigator on the mean streets of Brooklyn. Let's refer to him as King from now on.
  
  King narrates as he investigates two cases that may or may not be connected, yet are still extremely personal. His investigation into the frame-up that essentially took the life he had as a cop is deeply personal. Someone orchestrated bringing him down and it appears that plan is still in play. What he wants to know is the why and who.
  
  Simultaneously, but seemingly peripherally, King agrees to work on helping to free Man, who's currently on death row. What entices him about the case is that word on the streets is that there may have been corrupt police officers who set this guy up as well. The nightmares or solitary confinement still haunt King, along with the disappearance of a key witness for Man urge King to poke around despite the caution not to.
  
  What Mosley does best here is introduce us to a complex character in so little pages. Because this novel is less that 300 pages, Mosley doesn't spend time with any unnecessary words, yet, there's so much detail and intrigue that totally captivates the reader. Yes, Down the River Unto the Sea moves at an alarming pace, still it does not leave the reader feeling deprived.
  
  Mosley allows King the space to change and develop as a character. We see King dive deeper and deeper into a world he really doesn't want any parts of. He's tried to maintain being an honorable and respectable police officer, even without the badge, up until these cases beg him to choose a side.
  
  Ultimately, Down the River Unto the Sea is my favorite read yet of 2017. It's only my second read, but I know what I like. I've only read a few Walter Mosley novels but I'm a fan. There's grit. There's grime. There will even be pages you want to turn away from. No this novel is not for the faint of heart. No I won't be sending Walter Mosley up the river. He's too worth reading to do that.
  
  Copy provided by Mulholland Books via Netgalley
  
  
  
• 
  David Putnam

  Not for me. Too many names. Names everywhere. Too many sideline stories that stops the forward motion of the story almost as if its a series of unrelated short stories stringed together with a weak transition. I gave it a hundred pages. The first chapter is a whirlwind of movement in narrative, a dope deal, a grand theft auto investigation, a tryst, one on the job (while married that does not leave the protagonist in a good light), he's accused of rape, he goes to jail, fights, segregation...and it goes on. Too much that is told and not shown. And I did not like the protagonist. There wasn't anything to endear the protagonist to the reader.
  I loved his other works this one just didn't hold my attention and I really wanted to love it.
  He's one of my favorites for voice and I will definitely pick up his next hardcover.
  David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
• 
  HBalikov

  I have read a fair number of Mosley’s books; you may have, too, starting with the Easy Rawlings novels set in Los Angeles.
  
  Beginning in the 1950s. Mosley has gradually shifted his focus from L.A. to New York City with his characters, Leonid McGill, John Woman and, now, Joe Oliver.
  
  Oliver has some similarities to other Mosley African-American protagonists. He is a detective, but in this case an ex-police detective, who had to leave the force under a cloud. He is well-read. And, he has a roving eye for “the ladies.” He displays a fair amount of self-insight. For example:
  “Sitting there I wondered about my life up until that moment. Those many years I had progressed steadily but always on the wrong path. As a lone-wolf cop and a resentful PI I was spry of step but blindered. It occurred to me that my whole life had be organized around the guiding principle of being completely in charge of whatever I did…”
  
  The story deals with two periods: his downfall as a cop; and ten years later when he learns more about that “set up.” The story may slow at a point or two but it never drags. There are plenty of interesting characters, as always in a Mosley yarn. There is violence and brutality but not a constant barrage. The ending is “fast and furious” but not quite as satisfactory as a McGill or Rawlings. Perhaps it is because Mosley has created such a complex of interrelationships and ambitions and unresolved subplots.
  
  Is this the first of a series or, like John Woman, a “one off?” I would read another but this isn’t on the level of “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” or “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned.” Fortunately it is better than “Charcoal Joe.” 4*
• 
  Kirsty ❤️

  This is an interesting but ultimately disturbing noir from the Easy Rawlins author. It's quite a complex story and I'm still not sure I've understood the ending. There are two strands of story; one where King is trying to find out enough information to get a an off death row and the other strand is an investigation into the frame job that happened to himself. There's a whole cast of characters to help him on these journeys.
  
  One of my problems is I just didn't like most of them. I'm not entirely sure if I was meant to. King himself is a flawed individual struggling with the PTSD from his incarceration. He regularly has to decide whether to cross the line to murder in his quest for answers. I found the violence a bit too much for me. I've read a couple of Rawlin's books but it was a while ago so can't remember if there was as much in them.
  
  The book flows well, there is a lot of action. Mosley is an excellent writer but at the end of the day I think this just wasn't a book for me. 
  
  Free arc from netgalley
• 
  Brandon

  Accused of rape a decade ago that led to several months in prison and his subsequent dismissal from the NYPD, former cop turned P.I Joe King Oliver receives a letter in the mail from his accuser stating she was paid to set up the frame by another detective. Joe decides to follow up and meet with her in an effort to finally clear his name. At the same time, he accepts a case involving the murder of two on-duty cops by a radical black journalist. Prior to their deaths, the cops had been throwing their weight around and abusing vulnerable citizens in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. The woman who hired Oliver believes the accused to be innocent.
  
  Down The River Unto The Sea is my first Walter Mosley experience. He comes highly regarded for his Easy Rawlins series as well as a few other signature characters and acclaimed stand-alone books. When I heard he won the Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America last week for this book, I decided to check him out.
  
  To say that this really didn’t do anything for me would be putting it lightly. I had a miserable time reading it and I have no idea how in the world it won any award, let alone Best Novel. Then again, the MWA gave Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes Best Novel in 2015, so what do they know?
  
  One of the reviews I had read said that while the plot wasn’t all that great, the writing saved it from being an average read. I totally get that, I’ve been there before. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novels are an exercise in frustration when it comes to following the plot. However, the writing here was just.. bad. I can’t count the amount of times a character said something “with a smile” or “with a smirk” or “with a sneer” or “with a smirk that quickly turned into a sneer”. It happened so often it became distracting and bordered on parody.
  
  Something about his 17 year old daughter constantly calling him “Daddy” just rubbed me the wrong way. There was also a weird part where she wore something skimpy to the office and after telling her to cover up with a coat, he referred to her as his “trench-coated blood”. What the hell is that? Just head-shakingly weird.
  
  Joe King Oliver is an awful protagonist. Mosley shoehorns in several books and albums Oliver is reading and listening to that ultimately feel forced because they have nothing to do with the scene. When they happen, we have to stop and listen to Oliver’s thoughts on a specific writer or band. It halts the progression of the story and comes across like the author is showing off. Also, Oliver seemingly takes no responsibility for his actions. Sure, the fact that he was framed for rape is definitely no laughing matter, but Mosley paints Oliver as this uncontrollable sex-maniac who wants to bed every woman he meets. They’re all introduced into the story based on Oliver’s opinion of their figure or how badly he wants them in the sack. He hates his ex-wife despite the fact that he admits he was cheating on her constantly (which he believes she was aware of) and she only left him after she was confronted with pretty undeniable evidence he raped a woman. Like, sorry dude. I don’t feel bad for you and I certainly don’t blame her.
  
  Look, a lot of people seemed to enjoy this book, but I have no idea what the hell they were reading because it can’t be the same story. I’m not about to write Mosley off entirely because I don’t believe him to be a bad writer based on his track record. I plan to at least check out the Easy Rawlins books at some point, but not anytime soon.
• 
  Karl Jorgenson

  Mosley has magic on many levels. His characters are complex, worldly, and always erudite and cultured. In the Easy Rawlins books he creates an unseen (by white society) Black world of successful criminals connected like the best fictional Mafia families. 'Down the River' has some of that, but also an even more imaginative world where skin tone is not a dividing line, where white criminals partner with Black and Black bosses hire thugs of every shade. Mosley's plots are complex right to the edge of ridiculous, the underworld violence is every-present, and he is the undisputed master in describing clothing, skin-tone, and eye color.
• 
  Aditya

  Peoples have been suggesting me Mosley for a long time. Easy Rawlins series is the preferred jump in point but I went with his latest standalone because it was fresh off winning the top Edgar prize. And the general consensus was right. Mosley has got everything I like in crime fiction - great prose, complex plots, gritty setting and most importantly engaging characters.
  
  Joe Oliver was a good cop with one problem - his inability to keep it in his pants. He got framed for a rape and by the time the charges were dropped, his life went kaput. Ten years later, he is a disgruntled PI, the kind whose inner monologues bridge the gap between genre fiction and literature. The woman who framed him sends him a letter saying she is willing to testify he is innocent. In a unrelated case, he has to find out why the lawyer of a radical black activist is hanging his client out to dry. Mosley makes both the cases feel important. A lesser author would have struggled to justify why Oliver will care about a secondary case when he has a chance to clear his name. Mosley does that by drawing parallels between the two plots. Both feature pervasive police corruption and an innocent man being buried alive by the system.
  
  One can see Mosley is an old hand, a master at the top of his game. New York's rotten underbelly inhabited by powerful fixers and street level hustlers come alive, in a way that has not been seen, since the seventies in movies directed by Lumet or Scorsese. He also seamlessly weaves a tremendous amount of character development for Oliver without ever hampering the pacing. I loved how Oliver progresses through the narrative. His morality reshaping itself and his growth as a character feels organic. His demented sidekick, named after a demon - Melquarth Frost is the sort of character I would love to see more of, if this turns into a series.
  
  Mosley does not merely write metaphors, he orchestrates them which makes them occasionally overwrought. But it is not a worry as most of them are great. Some examples.
  After bribing works I secretly cheered for my country, where, over and over again, the almighty dollar proves its superiority
  Noir PI refrains, Mosley version Life was coming down on me like grain filling up an empty silo & Looking for answers I didn't want, propelled by forces I could not control
  
  There are minor issues. I easily guessed who entrapped Oliver in the first case. Oliver's teenage daughter is one of the main supporting characters but she is so perfect that it becomes irritating. Incidentally writers like James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly suffer from the same issue. They obviously use their own children as inspiration, and make the characters so cloying sweet that they start to grate. Also I had no problem in believing most cops are corrupt. But Mosley insinuates the whole department would give their tacit approval to prostituting homeless children as long as it brings in the dollars. Seems a bit far-fetched to me. It was not an issue for me but some readers might have trouble with the ending not wrapping every last thing. Personally I was satisfied by the resolution of the major plot lines.
  
  Even without counting classic noirs, I have read more gritty crime fiction than most. Read almost everything by Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, most of what James Lee Burke, James Ellroy, Lawrence Block has written and a bit of guys like Robert Crais, John Connolly among many others. And I will keep it simple, Mosley is among the best I have read. Rating - 4/5
• 
  Raven

  Although he ranks alongside James Lee Burke and James Ellroy in Raven’s trinity of favourite contemporary American crime authors, it is highly unusual for me to post a review of his work, as he is always read in a vacuum of serenity outside of critical reading, and imminent reviewing- my hygge zone if you will. So I’ll keep this review of Down To The River Unto The Sea as brief, and as objective as I can, but frankly Mr Mosley probably writes more interesting post-its than a substantial of self published tosh, we as readers, are assailed with. Every word, image, theme and plot contrivance are perfectly done, and as the first book in a new series, I can only salivate with anticipation as to what is to come for Oliver in future books.
  I don’t know if there is any technical term for this, beyond him being a supreme practitioner of observation, but every description of a character imprints a visual image of that person on the reader’s mind. I love the way he shapes and draws his characters, from their way of dressing, to their gait, to the timbre of their speech, underpinned by wit, pure sassiness and razor sharp dialogue. I love the way his characters always seem to walk that line between doubt and certainty, morality and immorality, strength and vulnerability, and the blurring of these credos that always underscore his protagonists, most notably in Oliver himself. In true Mosley fashion the book hums and sings with a rough-edged lyrical intensity, and encompasses all those big powerful themes of racism, political and police corruption, and subjugation that are so redolent of Mosley’s oeuvre to date.
  Objectivity is overrated. I totally loved this and cannot fault it.
  Mosley is a master. End of.
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Celia

  I belong to 52 Weeks Around the Year Group which provides a prompt a week to be matched to a book which should then be read. ;-)
  
  Week 19: A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand Master author
  
  OK, let's look into this:
  The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year.
  
  The Grand Master Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Mystery Writers of America. It recognizes lifetime achievement and consistent quality.
  
  At the beginning of April, Walter Mosley, Grand Master Author, was interviewed on CSpan Book TV's new monthly program featuring a fiction writer. OK, I think I would like to read one of his.
  
  So.... I opted for Mosley's latest book, Down the River Unto the Sea. I was in for a treat.
  From the Book Browse Review:
  
  The protagonist, Joe King Oliver , is a former New York City policeman. He's divorced with a teenaged daughter named Aja-Denise who works for him part time at the front desk of his private detective agency. He's a man carrying a heavy grudge and it weighs on his every move. It began over a decade ago when, as a cop, he was dispatched to arrest a car thief. But he was set up. Thrown in jail, he suffered horrible cruelties.
  
  Ten years later, still suffering from his incarceration, he is now a PI. A new client wants to hire Joe to investigate why a Black activist is being framed for the murder of two cops. He decides to take both cases on, this new one and his own.
  
  *******
  
  I was really entranced with Joe's thought processes. I have highlighted a few phrases that caught
  my attention and am sharing them with you, the reader of this review.
  
  Walter Mosley has a unique style all of his own. This book is stand alone but he has also written at least 3 series and 30 works in all.
  
  4 stars
• 
  Mark Stevens

  Cue the mournful saxophone. Sink down into Walter Mosley’s boiled-clean prose. And get to know a new protagonist in Mosley’s ever-growing stable, former New York cop turned private detective Joe King Oliver.
  
  Yes, the cop-turned-P.I. bit is an old one in crime fiction, but King’s career switch wasn’t a matter of turning in the badge one day and hanging out a shingle the next.
  King spent time at Rikers—rough time. He emerges a changed man. Why was Joe King Oliver in prison? Because he was framed.
  
  And soon the King Detective Agency (Joe King and his daughter, Aja-Denise) gets two cases. One is his own—and that’s because a key witness in the case that led to his time in Rikers wants to atone for her false testimony. And there’s also a black militant journalist on death row who had been arrested, three years prior, for killing two police officers. The man is Leonard Compton but goes by the moniker A Free Man.
  
  King still bleeds blue, at least a little. Should he take a case to help an alleged cop killer go free? “I still considered myself a cop. In my days on the force I’d been sucker-punched, spit on, shot at, and singled out by a thousand videophones. Every time I’d make an arrest the community seemed to come out against me. They had no idea how much we care about them, their lives.”
  
  Was A Free Man wrongly accused? King knows his own story, so isn’t it at least possible? “I knew that three was no direct link, but the similarities might be a way for me to solve a case close enough to my own so that I might feel some sense of closure without returning to Rikers.”
  
  Free the guy known as A Free Man, King thinks, and he might be able to free himself.
  
  Maybe.
  
  There’s a thematic connection to both cases and King Oliver (named for Louis Armstrong’s mentor) pursues leads and conversations and sources where the trail leads, often involving long walks or putting around in his Italian-made Bianchina, “a microcar that’s so small it almost brings its own parking place with it.”
  
  King is a brooder. He has experienced betrayal on every level. He’s a dedicated reader and he knows his jazz. He knows good food. He’s got a wary eye on his daughter (who is a terrific character). He’s partial to Thelonius Monk. “Monk always had a good group of talented musicians with him, but while they played deep melodies, he was the madman in the corner pounding out the truth between the fabrications of rhythm and blues.” King keenly accounts for the endless variety of skin tones in New York’s endless sea of humanity. He deploys disguises and ends up in gleaming offices and the darkest holes of New York City.
  
  Shot through with keen observations about race and class, and carried along on Mosley’s smooth prose, Down the River unto the Sea never gets ahead of itself. The pace is steady. King walks and thinks and walks some more. King’s work is dogged, but its never so frenetic that he can’t stop for a quick meal, sip a cognac, or whack the heavy bag at a boxing gym. even if he knows he’s going to die.
  
  King’s knowledge of inside prison workings comes in handy. He bounces back and forth between the two cases with a steady drumbeat. King starts to feel more and more like he’s regaining his old vigor. And we get the feeling that King will be back—he’ll be the guy in the corner pounding out the truth amid all the fabrications and outright lies.
  
• 
  ColumbusReads

  Walter Mosley is one of the very few writers writing in any genre that I would read without knowing anything about the book. He’s normally pretty consistent in his writing and though he typically writes similar-type mystery potboilers he uses different P.I.’s in a number of different series and they’re all well written.
  
  This one just didn’t work for me.
  
  The private investigator in this procedural is Joe King Oliver and he’s investigating duo cases simultaneously: one where he was personally framed for a sexual assault as a long time NYC police officer and another where a radical journalist, A Free Man, as he’s known, is on death row and is accused of killing 2 police officers .
  
  This book is only 336 pages long but it feels much longer. It’s rather bloated with an excessive list of characters that seemed to just grow, and grow and grow. It was rather difficult for me to keep up with this motley crew.
  
  The writing is pure Mosley though and the action is fast and swift. There are quite a few hilarious moments and King Oliver is an interesting enough character albeit no Easy Rawlins. I also loved the fact that he’s a fan of literature and jazz/classical music (referenced Monk,Yardbird and Debussy).
  
  Suffice to say, not at all one of my favorite Mosley books but might work better for someone more patient in reading a fast-paced potboiler with a ridiculously large list of characters.
  
  Thanks to the publisher Mulholland Books and Netgalley for the ebook ARC.
  3 stars
• 
  Jay

  Walter Mosley has long been one of my favorite authors, especially in regards to his mystery novels. The first several Easy Rawlins novels, as well as the Socrates Fortlow and the Fearless Jones series', are among my most beloved books. Unfortunately, his more recent works, while solid, haven't lived up to this legacy.
  That is as true here as it is with the Leonid MacGill series. While there are several interesting support characters and a nice father-daughter dynamic, the main character just didn't connect with me. It didn't help that his voice was indistinguishable from Leonid's. This despite an intriguing, and tragic, backstory.
  The same holds true for the story itself. There are two main plots, thematically linked rather than literally. Both are topical, as well as politically charged, yet neither had any sense of urgency.
  Still, this is a Mosley novel, so it's well- written and has crackling dialogue. He's always worth a read, and this is no different. Still, one hopes for a return to his earlier form.
  I thank Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an e-arc of this book. All opinions are my own and are honest.
• 
  Lou

  First person narrative of a man not in blue no more and then orange and then as a pi from Queens in a one man service, King Detective Service.
  There are simple truths and there are more complex truths and there is freemen in sense of no longer in prison and following his days to exonerate himself and another in a case brought to his attention.
  The author successfully engages the reader and walking in this protagonists shoes at odds with conflicts and the dealings with the discoveries and how and why there can be any exonerations.
  Our pi is up against it, caught in a web of conspiracy and corruption that spread far and wide.
  Clear and present dangers within, inner-city men in need for survival with some hard choices to be made, clear and present skill and mastery in telling from Walter Mosley.
  A seasoned writer with a well seasoned pi tale of redemption revitalised in a Walter Mosley strain of telling.
  Excerpts and review @
  https://more2read.com/review/down-the-river-unto-the-sea-by-walter-mosley/
• 
  Brian

  This book is the story of private investigator Joe King Oliver’s attempts to fight injustice on two parallel tracks. First, he wants to prove that he was unjustly dismissed from the police force more than a decade earlier. Second, he wants to prove that a Black activist who called himself “A Free Man” was wrongly convicted of murder.
  
  I have mixed feelings about the book. My previous experience with Walter Mosley’s writing was limited. I read the first two of his Easy Rawlins books more than a couple of decades ago but haven’t read any since then. As best as I can remember, I enjoyed those books quite a bit (it was before Goodreads, so I didn’t review them). I expected to like this book very much, but it only partially delivered for me.
  
  On the positive side, I really like Mosley’s prose style. The narration flows smoothly, sometimes even poetically, through a very complicated plot. He conjures some great images. For example, he describes New York City’s Port Authority bus terminal as “the big building that made humanity seem like the last dying colony of prehistoric ants.” Having been there numerous times, I think that’s perfect.
  
  Second, I think that a couple of the main characters in the book are vividly drawn and intriguing. Joe narrates the story. He is not an entirely appealing character, but the reader gets a real sense of the pain that permeates his life. Another intriguing character is Melquarth Frost, a possibly reformed criminal whose help Joe enlists. Even though Mel now works as a watchmaker, how far away is he really from his criminal past?
  
  Third, Mosley offers some insightful comments on human nature, law, and society. At its essence, the book is a story about society’s rules and about what happens to individuals without power, especially people of color, if they run afoul of them. Joe’s experiences have made him realize that “[n]ot everyone sees the rules the same. The law is a flexible thing—on both sides of the line—influenced by circumstance, character, and, of course, wealth or lack of same.” Near the end of the book, he tells a friend from his cop days, “‘I get it now. Back then I didn’t understand. I thought I knew the rules, but now I see that the rules don’t cover every damn thing.’”
  
  Joe’s elderly grandmother is a lodestar for him. She encourages him to pursue his dual quest for justice. “‘You got to do it, baby,’ she said when I was through. ‘All a man got is his sense of what’s right and what’s not. If you know you been done wrong and you know how to make it right, then you don’t have no other choice.’” His grandmother has also always told him that “a man gets what he deserves.” If Joe does try to make it right, will he in fact get what he deserves?
  
  On the negative side of the equation, I found the plot of the book to be too complex. At times it was difficult to remember which of the two investigations Joe was working on. I couldn’t always figure out why a certain action was happening, maybe because it wasn’t clear which investigation it was part of. Too many minor characters were introduced, and I found it challenging to keep track of them. In one section near the end of the book, Joe met with one witness who led him to another, and then to another, and so on. After a while, when the name of the initial contact was mentioned, I couldn’t even remember who that was.
  
  Despite these aspects of the book, overall I enjoyed reading it. I also have to give Mosley kudos for the subtle way he has Joe plug the first Easy Rawlins book, Devil in a Blue Dress: “Willa was wearing a blue dress reminding me of the femme fatale of one of my favorite novels.” Maybe I’ll go back and read that one again.
• 
  DP Lyle

  Joe Oliver had once been a respected NYPD homicide detective. He had also been a convicted felon. Framed by his enemies, beaten and broken in prison, he is suddenly and unexpectedly released. None of it makes sense but Joe accepts his fate and moves on, becoming a private investigator. But, a note comes his way, from a woman who says she had been paid to help frame him. What follows is vintage Walter Mosley. A twisted and dark story that runs through the underbelly of NY and is populated with characters of all types—evil and treacherous, heroic and compassionate. To ferret out the truth, Joe hooks up with his smart and sociopathic friend Melquarth Frost. But, nothing is as it seems. Neither friend nor foe is easily discernible and Joe quickly finds himself in a world he barely understands. And one that could end his life in a NY minute. Love this story.
  
  
  DP Lyle, award-winning author, lecturer, and story consultant
• 
  J.R.

  We are defined by our weaknesses.
  For Joe King Oliver the weakness has always been his sexual drive. It compelled him to disregard "...duties and promises, vows and common sense" and ended his career as an NYPD investigator.
  Disgraced and haunted by losses, his beloved job and his wife, he scrapes by as a private detective. The few joys left in his life are Aja-Denise, the teenage daughter who assists in his office, and Sergeant Gladstone Palmer, the one friend from the force who's stood by him since his fall from grace.
  It's Palmer who informs him the incident which got him in trouble was a frame, apparently triggered by officers in the department who weren't as inclined to follow the rules as he.
  This information fuels Oliver's desire to be reinstated, though he doesn't know how to do it unless he can identify those who betrayed him and prove the frame. Hope arrives in the form of a letter from the woman involved who is now a born-again Christian and ready to testify on his behalf.
  At the same time, he takes on a case in behalf of a radical black journalist accused of the murder of two cops, a killing he claims was justifiable self-defense.
  Oliver's pursuit of justice and redemption in these two cases puts him up against corrupt cops, conniving lawyers and others who would destroy him and those he loves. His allies are a sociopathic criminal and other victims who've suffered at the hands of his enemies.
  Like other Mosley novels, this one has crisp dialog, a gritty plot, an array of colorful characters and the usual jazz and book-infused themes. One minor drawback to me is the host of characters. There are so many at times it becomes a chore to keep the names straight.
  
• 
  Cynthia

  Though this isn’t the best of Mosley’s books is still darn enjoyable. His writing style is more reminiscent of Chandler in Down the River unto the Sea and though the characters lead live distant from most of us common mortals they’re relatable with an emphasis on the gray area between right and wrong. As a new character The former New York cop turned PI aka survivor Joe Oliver leads a lonely life in the shadows. He’s still recovering and trying to make sense of who set him up to take a fall landing him in jail.
  
  He loves his seventeen year old daughter and lives for her as well as to vindicate his arrest and to help others who have or might in the near future suffer because of a corrupt penal system. The plot is hard to follow at times which helps make opaque enough to keep the reader guessing and though Joe and some of his associates operate in moral shadows it’s hard not to root for them.
  
  Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance reader’s copy.
• 
  Susan

  A satisfying Noir detective story set in the Greater NYC area. Gritty - yes, but the characters are great. I reread it in anticipation for a new book in the series coming out soon. Walter Mosley is a genius. It was just as good on the second read as it was the first time around.
• 
  Amos

  This is the first book of a new series but it's basically an Easy Rawlins story only set in the present and with differently named characters. Formulaic and a bit overstuffed but enjoyable enough to burn through on a rainy day. Keeping my fingers crossed for a stronger and more insightful book two.
  
  3 Similar Stars
• 
  Andre

  Walter Mosley is simply a master of his craft. He consistently manages book after book to bring a reader right into the story and doesn’t let go until the last page. The lush depictions of person and place, the sly social commentary, speaking volumes, while saying very little, “America was changing at a snail’s pace in a high wind, but until that gastropod mollusk reached its destination I had a .45 in my pocket and eyes on all four corners at once.”And this one is no exception containing all of Mosley’s supreme touches. Joe King Oliver was a NY city detective until framed for sexual assault which landed him in the notorious Rivers prison for 90 days but the cost of that prison stay was prohibitive, costing King his career and...(no spoilers). King, though brought to the edge by his prison sojourn manages to find solid ground and years later he is in the private detective business and employs his daughter Aja, as receptionist and confidante.
  
  He describes her, “She was standing at the door to my office. Five nine and black like the Spanish Madonna, she had my eyes. Though worried about my state of mind, she still smiled. Aja wasn’t a somber adolescent. She was an ex-cheerleader and science student, pretty enough not to need a regular boyfriend and helpful enough that other teenage girls with boyfriends knew she was the better catch.” That kind of prose is always one of the best things about Mosley’s novels. He is very descriptive in his writing, composing like a great jazz musician in a way that just paints a clear mental picture for readers. Master.
  
  King finds a chance at redemption when he happens upon the case of a black militant journalist who has been arrested for shooting two police officers, in self defense the militant and his followers have claimed. It is in working this case that King revisits his own case and he is itching to find out who was behind his own framing. The reader will meet an array of characters, some sweet, some savory, one a delicious mix of both. The quest to clear his name is action packed and swift moving, while of course accompanied by jazz music and literature references aiding readers on this highly enjoyable ride, while never leaving any doubt that the driver is a master.
• 
  Mahoghani 23

  Police corruption, murder, drugs, sex, violence....in the life of former police detective Joe Oliver. They took his badge away but not his knowledge and when he unravels the truth, heads need to be aware that they will be like Humpty Dumpty.....they will fall!
  
  Walter Mosley will always be one of my favorite authors. His leading characters may not have much in life; the system seems to keep them at a standstill, someone's out to kill them or they put themselves in harm's way but they are the most charismatic, intelligent, dedicated, connected, loves knowledge and reads constantly men. This character, Joe, is well versed in knowledge and provokes a sense of trust to whoever he's talking to. Joe loves his daughter and at one time his ex-wife. He's true to his word
  
  This author brings life from the pages. His stories will make you turn the page automatically. These plots are plausible and will make you think it's truly happening there as we read. I enjoyed this story very much. It poses an issue immediately with arresting Joe for sexual misconduct and then explodes into two different investigations that have similarities but Joe is determine to resolve both together. Get ready for one good ride while reading.
• 
  Kevintipple

  Joe King Oliver has been out of prison for 10 years as Down The River Unto The Sea by Walter Mosley begins. A disgraced NYPD detective, these days he runs a small private investigative agency consisting of himself and his wise beyond her years teenage daughter. He does so from small office on the second floor of a building on Montague Street. Progress, as some would define it, is coming to the neighborhood which means rents are going up and the old places are being replaced increasingly by fancy condos, shops and, the like for above the pay grade of those who walk these streets and built the neighborhood. While Oliver got a sweet deal on the place and is fine for now the way he got it is just a small part of the hellish backstory his life was a decade ago.
  
  The fact that he never did what he was accused of didn’t matter because the frame was so good. He should have been killed. He wasn’t and yet the person he was died in prison. What happened to him is a case that will never be resolved. That is until he gets a letter that changes everything.
  
  At the same time, he gets another case that also involves crooked NYPD officers. Two of them were gunned down several years ago. A man wounded in the shootout with officer is headed for the death penalty despite the efforts of well-known attorney Stuart Brown. It had looked like Brown was doing everything to prove his client known as “A Free Man” innocent of the murder. That is until the lawyer backed off, a witness disappeared, and more. A person involved in the case wants Joe’s help in proving A Free Man’s case.
  
  Doing so might also be a way in for his own case.
  
  What follows is an incredible read as Joe Oliver deals with repercussions from his past, the legacy of family, and the criminality of the moment. Author Walter Mosley, has a style in this read, as do the works of James Lee Burke, where the storytelling carries incredible impact with just a few words and at the same time paints a world rich in color and nuance. The two cases and a few other tangentially related matters slowly converge in one giant maelstrom that threatens to ensnare everything Joe Oliver has worked for these past years.
  
  The read is intense, emotional, and powerfully good. A read that is so layered this review barely touches the surface. Down The River Unto The Sea: A Novel by Walter Mosley was my first experience with this author and it certainly won’t be my last. Highly recommended. This is one of those books you just have to read. Period.
  
  
  
  Down The River Unto The Sea: A Novel
  Walter Mosley
  
  http://www.waltermosely.com
  Mulholland Books (Little, Brown and Company)
  
  http://www.mulhollandbooks.com
  2018
  ISBN# 978-0-316-43998-5
  LARGE PRINT Hardback (also available in regular print hardback, audio, and eBook formats)
  440 Pages
  $29.00
  
  
  Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library and specifically the wonderful staff of the Lochwood Branch. While both Scott and I miss our old stomping ground at the Haggard Branch up in Plano, the people of the Lochwood Branch have been very good to both of us.
  
  
  Kevin R. Tipple ©2018
• 
  Ben

  “Down the River Unto the Sea” is one of the darkest and most brilliantly written novels of any genre I have read. It is only the second novel of Mister Mosley for me, so I have lots to catch up on. I look forward to it.
  The author tells the story of Joe King Oliver, a black ex-NYPD cop , was framed by fellow officers because he was gettin too close to exposing their lucrative sideline in drugs and other nasty stuff Oliver never really knew about. For his trouble, Oliver lost his job and wife, got thrown into solitary at Rikers , beaten and broken. Then charges were dropped. A almost ruined man tried to pickup what remained of his life. Then one day, Oliver, now a private investigator gets a new client, a pro bono lawyer who hires him to try to get her client, a Black activist accused of killing two cops a new trial by looking into the evidence against him. This fits into the burning for revenge that burns in, and darkerns, Oliver existence. It also starts off a train of events that leads down into the darkest crypts of his soul.
  This is a really great book. More than a crime noir, but a life noir. Bitterness, love, fear and a sense of right . The author created not just one notable lead character but gives the reader a super supporting cast to enjoy. Especially the character “ Mel” , definitely not a good guy, but anyone in deep trouble would like by his side. He has a slight resemblance to Hawke in Robt. Parker’s “ Spenser ”novels, but is much amplified and defined as a threat walking.
  A must read. Note: not a good fit for lovers of cozy mysteries.
  
• 
  Asheley T.

  This was an awesome introduction (for me) into the work of Walter Mosley. These days, I live for complicated cop or detective stories and Joe King Oliver fits solidly into that category. King is a former NYPD cop that was unfairly framed by someone else on the force. He was sent to Rikers where he was initially placed in the general population with many of the criminals he helped put away. After sustaining some life-threatening injuries at the hands of other inmates, which left him scarred both emotionally and physically, King was placed in solitary confinement for his own safety. He spent several long, lonely months there before he was finally set free by his partner, Gladstone. Unfortunately, King lost not only his position with the NYPD but also his retirement and pension. His former partner Gladstone helped him establish his own business as a private detective, which is where King currently works. His teenage daughter, Aja-Denise, works in the office with him.
  
  King takes on two jobs as a private detective: that of an accused cop-killer with a complicated case and no representation plus the investigation into his own case from when he was framed and sent to prison. King hires Melquath Frost, a hardened criminal with some mental issues and a complicated past history, to help him with these investigations. These two set out on a pretty dark and twisted path to exposing the truth -- learning that these two cases are connected.
  
  I love that King and Mel are willing to go all out to seek out the truth. Sure, the law is the law, but King is out for actual justice and that's hard to come by when you're bound by a corrupt law enforcement agency as your support. His partner Mel is already a bit on the shady side, what with his questionable past, his proven disregard for the law, and his delicate mental status. One thing that I love about King and Mel working together is that they trust one another - their rapport was established early on and neither of these two men have much to lose. They are really a powerhouse when they work together except for that little shady spot of -- the legality of what they are doing at the moment: is this the right thing or is it the legal thing?
  
  I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT.
  
  As much as I love King's relationship with Mel, his relationship with his daughter Aja-Denise genuinely stole my heart. (I have a soft spot for father-daughter relationships.) Aja-Denise was a young child when King was sent to prison, and his ex-wife left him and took Aja-Denise because of the nature of his 'crime' - it took a long time for King to re-build a healthy relationship with his daughter because his ex-wife made things so difficult for him. Now that they're close: they are really close and it is delightful. The interactions King has with Aja-Denise are great for breaking up some tense moments and conversations throughout the rest of the story. She's such a great, fun character and I genuinely loved all of the scenes these two shared. There are some wonderful quotes and thoughts that King has about Aja-Denise in this story, just little things that he thinks to himself or maybe utters to someone else, and I think these feelings really show how nuanced he his as a character.
  
  King is coming from a very broken place, he has so much anger and resentment to work through because of was done to him and what he lost, and yet he is able to love his daughter so purely and unconditionally that it overshadows everything else and he has this remarkable working relationship with Mel that is something unique and spectacular. I'm really hoping to see more from these characters. I think (I hope) there is more to Joe King Oliver's story.
  
  This was a quick read, and simple. I can't get over how much I loved the ending - I wasn't expecting things to work out in that way at all, but I'm so excited about how everything turned out. My only reason for not giving five stars is that there are so many characters - secondary characters with small roles - that I had a hard time keeping up with them all and who they were exactly to King's two ongoing investigations. I eventually had to stop trying to remember why every character was important and just pay attention to the main characters instead. This worked, but it made reading a little more cumbersome. 
  
  Audiobook Notes: Once I realized that I was having trouble keeping up with the characters in this story, I looked up the audiobook information. When I saw that Dion Graham narrates, I one-clicked and bought my own copy via Audible. Dion Graham is just fabulous and his narration is so worth the credit spent. He brings the voice of a cop/detective to this story so well, and the emotions he used when King felt angry or betrayed were perfect. The scenes between King and his daughter were my favorites; Dion's narration was fantastic for that of a father speaking to or about his daughter that he loves so much.
  
  Title: Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley
  Narrated by: Dion Graham
  Publisher: Hachette Audio
  Length: 7 hours, 44 minutes, Unabridged
  
  
  I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I also purchased a copy of the audiobook from Audible using my own money. Receipt of a review copy from the publisher did not affect my opinion of this book nor did it affect the content of my review in any way. Thank you, Mulholland Books!
  
  Find this review and more like it on my blog,
  Into the Hall of Books!
• 
  Oliver Clarke

  This is gripping, hardboiled detective fiction with some enjoyably sparse prose and a lot going on. It has some entertaining characters, but I couldn’t help feeling the multiple investigations made it overly complicated. A few times I lost track of which case the detective was investigating, which is never a good sign. On the plus side, there’s interesting commentary on racial politics in the US. Unfortunately the handling of gender politics wasn’t as strong, with the female characters being the usual noir mix of whores, damsels and nagging wives.