I enjoyed Fear Itself by Walter Moseley and spending more time with Paris and Fearless and their friends and enemies. I felt a little lost as the con game revealed itself but I was discovering it along with our heroes. Moseley’s carefully crafted world plays a role as well as the deep understanding of the worth of a Black man in that world. But Paris and Fearless have carved out a place for themselves and can even use the police to their own advantage now and then. Looking forward to the third book in the series.

Fearless Jones is at it again, getting his friend Paris Minton in trouble. Since we last saw Minton he was trying to rebuild his life after his bookstore was burned to the ground and he was beaten and shot at in Fearless Jones. Now, in Fear Itself Minton has been able to rebuild his bookstore and get back to a quiet life, thanks to a settlement from the last book. He still doesn't want trouble, but yet Fearless soon finds a way to get Paris in the thick of it. This time, the wealthiest woman in Los Angeles is missing her nephew. She tricks Fearless into looking for him and Fearless pulls Minton into the mystery. You will meet a whole host of strange characters in Fear Itself. There are so many plot twists I almost needed a flow chart to keep everything straight. ( )

Fearles Jones leads Paris into convoluted case of murder and theft

Wow! I was sucked right into this dated tale of everyday odd-balls and super schemers. Best of all, for me anyway, was that the nerd was heroic and there were loads of plot-twists. I like to read tales of, justice being meated-out, clear-cut answers to my who-done-its and happy endings. ( )

This is the second of Mosley's Fearless Jones books. Actually, the main character, or narrator at least, is a guy named Paris Minton, whose only interest in life is reading books. He has a small second-hand book store in which he sits reading all day. Well, he would sit reading all day, except occasionally his friend, Fearless, shows up and embroils him in some kind of improbably adventures. It's a fun read, mostly. The commentary on the race issues the characters had to live with in the 1950s are rather saddening. Even more saddening is that things have changed so little. Young black men still can't trust the cops or other authorities. ( )