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Book Review By Jack Goodstein
A Red Death by Walter Mosley

Easy Rawlins is threatened with prison for tax evasion, but an FBI agent offers to get him off the hook if he helps get the goods on a Communist union organizer named Wenzler. In the course of Rawlins' investigation, a woman is killed in an apartment building he owns, and the pastor of a church at which he is working is killed together with a woman with whom he is having sex. Rawlins is accused by the police. Later Wenzler is also killed. Rawlins must find the real killer and prove his innocence.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Special suspect? - investigator him/herself
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
United States Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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