THE RIGHT MISTAKE

Walter Mosley's third book featuring the philosopher ex-con Socrates Fortlow jumps around a bit but ultimately satisfies. Ezra Knight's narration of the novel is musical, a street opera about a flawed man trying to help people even more flawed than he is. The dialogue sounds true, the slang real. Mosley forgoes grammar for that realism, and it's a fair trade. While struggling to keep his own complicated woman happy, Fortlow runs "The Big Nickel," a place where people can talk about their frustrations, kind of a pressure-release valve for the oppressed. Mosley nibbles away at the corners of the story—Fortlow is being investigated for murder—as he tells the bigger story of a man trying to make a difference. M.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]