• Bad Boy Brawly Brown

  • An Easy Rawlins Mystery
  • By: Walter Mosley
  • Narrated by: M. E. Willis
  • Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (404 ratings)

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Bad Boy Brawly Brown  By  cover art

Bad Boy Brawly Brown

By: Walter Mosley
Narrated by: M. E. Willis
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Publisher's summary

Los Angeles: February 1964. Chill winds whisper through the city streets - gusts of racial tension and change. At the heart of the gathering storms is the First Men, a group that some fear wants to whip those winds into a fiery insurrection. Easy Rawlins is working as a high school custodian, caring for his children Jesus and Feather in their cozy West L.A. home, living a life of relative calm. But when Easy's friend John asks for help with his strapping young stepson Brawly Brown, Easy is catapulted back into the restless streets.

John thinks Brawly may be caught up in a dangerous situation. He's right. Brawly has become involved with the First Men. And when Aldridge Brown, Brawly's father, is murdered, Easy soon finds himself again under suspicion by racist cops, again in the company of desperate, dangerous men. Through it all, Easy is guided by the spirit of his old lethal ally and friend Raymond "Mouse" Alexander. Mouse speaks to Easy from beyond the grave, guiding him, cajoling him. And it is something Mouse once said to him that may help Easy save Brawly's life - without costing him his own.

Hear more of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins mysteries.
©2002 Walter Mosley

Critic reviews

"Mosley's crime novels take their vitality from the racy language and boisterous humanity of his characters, so these neighborhood encounters provide their own joy." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Mosley illuminates time and place with a precision few writers can match." (Publishers Weekly)
"Stands on its own as a powerful human drama and a vividly re-created historical moment." (Booklist)

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What listeners say about Bad Boy Brawly Brown

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Mazing

This book was great !!! Strong suggest listening to it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Missing Mouse

I really love the books, this is the first one of the series I've heard on tape...wasn't real keen on the reader's voice. Didn't like the way he did Juice or Primo's voice. A good read though I'm missing Mouse.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

More classic Mosley--without Mouse

It's amazing to me how much Mouse--Raymond Alexander--haunts this novel. There's some odd revision going on---prob'ly only noticeable if, like me, you're listening to the books one right after another.

The narrator, ME Willis, is pretty good. He uses more accents to distinguish between characters, especially the women. It can be a bit jarring, since characters from previous novels (with different narrators) suddenly have these whole other ways of talking. The accent for Primo is lousy---pure Frito Bandito. Plus, I guess I just got hooked on Stanley Bennet Clay's characterization of Mouse and Primo.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Masterpeice

This story is masterpiece; definitely one of my favorite, if not my favorite Easy Rawlins books. I gave the narration 4 stars simply because I felt that the narrators voice for Easy's kids are a little off., but besides that, he was amazing. 5 Stars

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Standard

This was an interesting story in keeping with a typical Easy Rawlins twist but the performance was little to be desired.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story. The performer was okay.

I loved the story however the ending was anticlimactic and confusing. The performers voices seemed stereotypical.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narration a bit over the top at times

I thought the storyline was pretty good but not sure why Easy keeps getting himself arrested over and over and OVER again but still continues to take these detective jobs. The narrator is a nice rich baritone but his interpretation of all the "ethnic" voices (i.e. Black, Latin, Asian) were extremely exaggerated, esp Jesus and Feather.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent storyline

This was a good plot but found myself having to backtrack to follow some of the characters and their roles in the story. I agree with another review in regard to narration. His version of Easy was pretty good. and that of john and Brawley but i didnt at all care for his characterization of any of the female characters or Primo. Bonnie Shays voice was too overly accented and wooden. I read all of Mr. Mosleys stories and much prefer Michael Boatmans narration.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining!

This was my fav Easy book so far. Some very good writing and the narrator was outstanding.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Story is just okay

The narrator was much better than Book 6. Though his acting was decent, Paul Winfield’s voice was so old and raspy; he sounded like a 90 year-old man with throat cancer. It was way off and I couldn’t finish listening to Gone Fishin’ Maybe I’ll get back to it at some point but so glad that book was a standalone and not tied into the series. Though I miss Michael Boatman, M.E. Willis was way better than Paul Winfield. Willis did a pretty good job actually. Michael Boatman just has a way of drawing you all the way into the story. I don’t care that they’re giving Bonnie an accent but thinking they will have to keep it up since they started, regardless of the narrator. I get it, she’s from the Caribbean that’s enough for me, I’d rather use my imagination, I don’t need the accent. The story was okay but confusing at times and especially at the end. I had to re-listen to understand what happened. I really don’t like the statutory rape that appears to be so cavalier. It’s not just this book but in other books in the series. It’s one thing to have it in the storyline but it’s rather disgusting that especially the main characters seem to be okay with it. The incest makes it that much worse. However, I do love Easy and enjoy reading about him. I like that Easy isn’t perfect. He’s a nice guy, street smart, and enjoys investigating. He’s not very romantic which is fine. The way he snapped at the kids and Bonnie because he needed a cigarette was so real. I just like that about his character, it’s real and down to earth. I like that his friends will do anything for him and he will do anything for them, but that they don’t have to speak to each other or see each other all of the time. They’re willing to help each other with just a phone call or a visit. Then afterwards, they go on about their business. I really want him reunited with Edna so he can pour the same amount of love, energy and attention into her that he does with Feather and Juice. Hoping a future book will include her. I miss Mouse but really like the way they gave him a strong presence in the storyline.

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