Call number
MYST MOS
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
Riverhead Hardcover (2009), Edition: First Edition, 320 pages
Description
Leonid McGill, a New York City private detective, tries to put his past life behind him. But it's not that easy when someone like Tony "The Suit" Towers expects you to do a job; when an Albany PI hires you to track down four men known only by their youthful street names; and when your 16-year-old son, Twill, is getting in over his head with a suicidal girl.
User reviews
LibraryThing member BeckyJG
Each time I read a Walter Mosley book--which isn't very often--I wonder to myself why I don't read every Walter Mosley book. Each one I've read is a beautiful, violent gem. In simple, unflinching, often poetic language Mosely writes hard-boiled detective fiction like no one writing today.
The Long
The Long Fall opens with LT tracking down, for a client once removed whose identity he doesn't know, the last of four young men known only by their youthful nicknames. One, he discovers is dead, one is in prison, one is out on bail and awaiting sentencing, and the fourth has made a good life for himself in the straight world. Within days of his finding these men, the two out in the world are dead and an attempt has been made on the life of the imprisoned man as well. Not long after, an attempt is made on LT's life.
The next couple of hundred pages follow McGill's quest to discover why. Why was he hired to find these men, and by whom? Why are they now being killed? Why does somebody want him dead? Why is it so hard to do the right thing? During the course of his investigation LT is beaten, interrogated by the police and even has to go to Albany (he's a Manhattanite born and bred).
The novel is rich with detail, yet there's nothing in it that shouldn't be there. Leonid McGill's home life is as complex as his work life. He's married to a Scandinavian woman and is father to three children, only one of whom is actually his biologically (although they don't know this). His wife recently left him but has now returned, amping up the housewife meter and turning LT's domestic world into a surrealistic dream (or maybe nightmare).
There are several subplots which are nicely resolved, as well as a number of tantalizing references to events in McGill's past. Mosley evokes present day New York as spot-on perfectly as he does the Los Angeles of decades past in his Easy Rawlins novels.
The Long
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Fall introduces a new character, Leonid McGill, an African American private investigator in his fifties. For those who wonder how a black man comes by such a name, McGill--or LT, as most people call him--replies that, "My father was a Communist. He tried to cut me from the same red cloth. He believed in living with everybody but his family. McGill is my slave name." LT boxed in his youth, and still spars to keep in shape; his short compact frame is heavily muscled and deceptively strong. In the past LT pursued a less than ethical career path, working for the mob and other lowlifes, killing--or, at least, being the conduit for information that would lead to death--when the job called for it. In recent years, though, he's gone, well, if not straight, then, as he would put it, just slightly bent. It's a struggle.The Long Fall opens with LT tracking down, for a client once removed whose identity he doesn't know, the last of four young men known only by their youthful nicknames. One, he discovers is dead, one is in prison, one is out on bail and awaiting sentencing, and the fourth has made a good life for himself in the straight world. Within days of his finding these men, the two out in the world are dead and an attempt has been made on the life of the imprisoned man as well. Not long after, an attempt is made on LT's life.
The next couple of hundred pages follow McGill's quest to discover why. Why was he hired to find these men, and by whom? Why are they now being killed? Why does somebody want him dead? Why is it so hard to do the right thing? During the course of his investigation LT is beaten, interrogated by the police and even has to go to Albany (he's a Manhattanite born and bred).
The novel is rich with detail, yet there's nothing in it that shouldn't be there. Leonid McGill's home life is as complex as his work life. He's married to a Scandinavian woman and is father to three children, only one of whom is actually his biologically (although they don't know this). His wife recently left him but has now returned, amping up the housewife meter and turning LT's domestic world into a surrealistic dream (or maybe nightmare).
There are several subplots which are nicely resolved, as well as a number of tantalizing references to events in McGill's past. Mosley evokes present day New York as spot-on perfectly as he does the Los Angeles of decades past in his Easy Rawlins novels.
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LibraryThing member SteveAldous
Character driven PI novel hampered by slow pace and overly introspective passages. The resolution is straight out of Chandler but the character holds promise for future books.
LibraryThing member detailmuse
The Long Fall is the first book in Walter Mosley’s new noir-ish series featuring the fiftysomething New York City private investigator, Leonid Trotter McGill (“LT”).
Like other Mosley protagonists, LT is a smart, reflective observer, complex in his ethics and relationships in ways that
The novel opens as LT seemingly nears completion of his current case -- locating four men who knew each other as boys -- but when accumulating troubles start to test his yin, the story takes off. Unfortunately, it took off without me, as I became lost in unfamiliar minor characters and could only half-follow the storyline. I finally stopped to re-read the first five chapters and discovered why: nearly 40 characters are introduced in those 30 pages, but few are adequately unpacked.
Still, I read Mosley for his settings and main characters, and the ones here have terrific series potential -- people and places that are unlike me in the ways that intrigue … and deeply familiar in the ways that matter. (Review based on an advance-reading copy.)
Like other Mosley protagonists, LT is a smart, reflective observer, complex in his ethics and relationships in ways that
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intrigue readers and make them care deeply. He’s a boxer with a Buddhist philosophy -- “Throwing a punch is the yang of a boxer’s life. The yin is being able to avoid getting hit” -- and admits to having thrown enough yang that he’s now changed his life “from crooked to only slightly bent.”The novel opens as LT seemingly nears completion of his current case -- locating four men who knew each other as boys -- but when accumulating troubles start to test his yin, the story takes off. Unfortunately, it took off without me, as I became lost in unfamiliar minor characters and could only half-follow the storyline. I finally stopped to re-read the first five chapters and discovered why: nearly 40 characters are introduced in those 30 pages, but few are adequately unpacked.
Still, I read Mosley for his settings and main characters, and the ones here have terrific series potential -- people and places that are unlike me in the ways that intrigue … and deeply familiar in the ways that matter. (Review based on an advance-reading copy.)
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LibraryThing member Sararush
Walter Mosley’s The Long Fall is a mystery novel set in New York. The main character and narrator, Leonid, is perfection. A private investigator trying to balance what he believes is right and what is necessary to pay his rent and provide for his family. When he ignores his gut and takes the
The plot is very intricate (sometimes predictable), but the structure and pace become consuming. I had some difficulty understanding how Leonid came up with some of his conclusions, but it could be that I was racing through the pages.
When I wasn’t reading this book, I wanted to be reading this book. The Long Fall is as near a perfect mystery as I have read lately. I am looking forward to the next installment of the series.
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wrong case; inadvertently assisting in murder, he finds himself fighting for his life. Which is only the beginning of his problems, as his youngest son is also plotting a murder. There is a lot of back story and compelling family drama intermixed with the front burner story line—the book is obviously a series launch. The plot is very intricate (sometimes predictable), but the structure and pace become consuming. I had some difficulty understanding how Leonid came up with some of his conclusions, but it could be that I was racing through the pages.
When I wasn’t reading this book, I wanted to be reading this book. The Long Fall is as near a perfect mystery as I have read lately. I am looking forward to the next installment of the series.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
I tried very hard to stay objective while I read this book. But really, it was impossible. The author also wrote “The Devil in the Blue Dress,’ which was made into a film starring Denzel Washington. In “The Long Fall,” he creates a character, Leonid McGill, who is an intelligent, charming,
So yes, I really liked this book and I loved the character. But to be honest, I can’t say if it was Leonid or Denzel I was liking so much. Probably both.
McGill is a private investigator in his early fifties whose work used to be “dirty,” but now he’s trying to go straight. It’s not easy. His past keeps trying to catch up with him. He goes after the stress aggressively. He boxes at the gym three times a week. He keeps trying and failing to give up smoking. With drinking, he doesn’t even try.
He has a Scandinavian wife, and children in a rainbow of colors by a mishmash of fathers, but his love is a father’s love for all of them. The other characters are as multi-dimensional as Leonid. They neither lose your interest nor stretch your belief system.
Mosley incorporates the diversity, rage, and complexity of blackness into his created world in tightly coiled sentences that pack a punch. At one point, McGill walks into an obviously white bar named Oddfellows in Albany. He writes: “It wasn’t 2008 everywhere in America. Some people lived in the sixties, and others might as well have been veterans of the Civil War. In many establishments I was considered a Black Man; other folks, in more genteel joints, used the term “African-American,” but at Oddfellows I was a nigger where there were no niggers allowed.”
His prose is admirable for expressing so much so economically. Take this paragraph: “The best time to kill someone is when they’re going through a door. While passing from one place to another most people are a little off guard, distracted by the subtle displacement separating here from there.”
Mosley’s book is well worth reading, even if you don’t picture Denzel while you read. But especially if you do!
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ex-boxer with killer instincts but a good heart, and somehow, I was just incapable of not imagining him as Denzel Washington. (If McGill were white, I would have had just as hard of a time not thinking of him as Humphrey Bogart.) Mosley’s prose is compact, like his protagonist, and it even reads a bit like a screenplay.So yes, I really liked this book and I loved the character. But to be honest, I can’t say if it was Leonid or Denzel I was liking so much. Probably both.
McGill is a private investigator in his early fifties whose work used to be “dirty,” but now he’s trying to go straight. It’s not easy. His past keeps trying to catch up with him. He goes after the stress aggressively. He boxes at the gym three times a week. He keeps trying and failing to give up smoking. With drinking, he doesn’t even try.
He has a Scandinavian wife, and children in a rainbow of colors by a mishmash of fathers, but his love is a father’s love for all of them. The other characters are as multi-dimensional as Leonid. They neither lose your interest nor stretch your belief system.
Mosley incorporates the diversity, rage, and complexity of blackness into his created world in tightly coiled sentences that pack a punch. At one point, McGill walks into an obviously white bar named Oddfellows in Albany. He writes: “It wasn’t 2008 everywhere in America. Some people lived in the sixties, and others might as well have been veterans of the Civil War. In many establishments I was considered a Black Man; other folks, in more genteel joints, used the term “African-American,” but at Oddfellows I was a nigger where there were no niggers allowed.”
His prose is admirable for expressing so much so economically. Take this paragraph: “The best time to kill someone is when they’re going through a door. While passing from one place to another most people are a little off guard, distracted by the subtle displacement separating here from there.”
Mosley’s book is well worth reading, even if you don’t picture Denzel while you read. But especially if you do!
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LibraryThing member writestuff
I was like a man, shovel in hand, finding himself standing in a freshly dug grave but with no memory of having dug it. I stayed there because at least if you’ve hit bottom you had no farther to fall. - from The Long Fall -
Leonid McGill is a man of contradictions. He has spent much of his life
It becomes clear from the early pages of The Long Fall that McGill has his hands full with his marriage, his errant kids, and a new job which ends up being a little different than he expected.
I still had a family that looked to me for their sustenance. My wife didn’t love me and the two out of three grown and nearly grown children were not of my blood. But none of that mattered. I had a a job to do, and more than one debt to pay. – from The Long Fall -
Mosley writes in a direct way, revealing his protagonist as a man who although willing to do what it takes to get the job done, also struggles with the choices in his life and realizes he must eventually face his demons. I did not love Leonid McGill, but he eventually grew on me. There are few characters in the book who resonated with me – McGill’s children are a mess, his landlady (who wants to be his lover) is superficially drawn, his wife is pathetic, the men who McGill “works” with are cold-blooded killers for the most part, and even his friends are not people with whom I would enjoy an evening. Because of this, I struggled a bit with this novel. I admit, I want to love the characters I spend my time with…and most of Mosley’s characters seem to have been scrapped up from the worst dregs of society.
Despite this flaw (for me) in the novel, the plot itself is interesting enough. Written like a hard-boiled type mystery, Mosley lays out a mess of a plot, and then gradually untangles it. The narrative style – conversational, direct, rapid-fire – works for the novel. The book reminds me of those old 1940s movies which start out with a guy, feet up on the desk and a curl of cigarette smoke wafting to the ceiling, talking about one dark and lonely night.
The Long Fall is the first in a planned series of mysteries featuring McGill so readers who want more will get their wish. Mystery readers who like their books hard-boiled and who want a flawed character who eventually redeems himself, will enjoy The Long Fall.
Leonid McGill is a man of contradictions. He has spent much of his life
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working for criminals as a Private Investigator, immersing himself in the dangerous world of organized crime. But he has a conscience and now wants to live a different life – one where people don’t get killed just because he can locate them. He’s an ex-boxer who appreciates fine art. He’s a no-nonsense, tough guy with a soft spot for his teenage son and a commitment to a marriage that doesn’t work. Sardonic, oddly sensitive, and matter-of-fact, it is Leonid McGill who narrates Walter Mosley’s newest novel The Long Fall.It becomes clear from the early pages of The Long Fall that McGill has his hands full with his marriage, his errant kids, and a new job which ends up being a little different than he expected.
I still had a family that looked to me for their sustenance. My wife didn’t love me and the two out of three grown and nearly grown children were not of my blood. But none of that mattered. I had a a job to do, and more than one debt to pay. – from The Long Fall -
Mosley writes in a direct way, revealing his protagonist as a man who although willing to do what it takes to get the job done, also struggles with the choices in his life and realizes he must eventually face his demons. I did not love Leonid McGill, but he eventually grew on me. There are few characters in the book who resonated with me – McGill’s children are a mess, his landlady (who wants to be his lover) is superficially drawn, his wife is pathetic, the men who McGill “works” with are cold-blooded killers for the most part, and even his friends are not people with whom I would enjoy an evening. Because of this, I struggled a bit with this novel. I admit, I want to love the characters I spend my time with…and most of Mosley’s characters seem to have been scrapped up from the worst dregs of society.
Despite this flaw (for me) in the novel, the plot itself is interesting enough. Written like a hard-boiled type mystery, Mosley lays out a mess of a plot, and then gradually untangles it. The narrative style – conversational, direct, rapid-fire – works for the novel. The book reminds me of those old 1940s movies which start out with a guy, feet up on the desk and a curl of cigarette smoke wafting to the ceiling, talking about one dark and lonely night.
The Long Fall is the first in a planned series of mysteries featuring McGill so readers who want more will get their wish. Mystery readers who like their books hard-boiled and who want a flawed character who eventually redeems himself, will enjoy The Long Fall.
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LibraryThing member mahallett
all the other reviewers really liked this one. i couldn't understand how it got published. so much detail about his personal life(vomit). his son but i don't remember if it's his biological son is ready to kill someone and all this ties up with a case the hero is working on(maybe). so many
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characters, insane asylums, rich people, gyms. i couldn't keep it all straight. i listened to it and found the narrator didn't help. at the end i had no idea what it was all about. i usually like mosley Show Less
LibraryThing member kimreadthis
Plot
Private investigator Leonid Trotter (L.T.) McGill finds the whereabouts of 4 men for a client. Suddenly the men start to turn up murdered. L.T. must find out who is behind the murders, as the investigator unwittingly gave the murderer the information to find his victims. L.T. is also trying to
Setting
New York City, some Albany.
Characters
L.T. McGill is a conflicted private investigator. The book focuses on his troubled relationships with his wife and children. McGill works nonstop and does not find his home restful.
Pacing
Fast paced - MANY characters (confusing number of characters and relationships). Everything is revealed at the end in a climactic resolution, but there are many twists and turns and side stories on the way there.
Narration
First-person from L.T.'s perspective.
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Language - R
Sex - mild, adultery
Homosexuality - hints that some individuals may be homosexual, no real focus in the story
Violence - Gun and physical violence, descriptions of sexual abuse
Private investigator Leonid Trotter (L.T.) McGill finds the whereabouts of 4 men for a client. Suddenly the men start to turn up murdered. L.T. must find out who is behind the murders, as the investigator unwittingly gave the murderer the information to find his victims. L.T. is also trying to
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be a clean P.I., severing his past connections to the NYC underworld. He struggles to accomplish this, as forces try to drag him back into the scene with blackmail and connections from his past. Setting
New York City, some Albany.
Characters
L.T. McGill is a conflicted private investigator. The book focuses on his troubled relationships with his wife and children. McGill works nonstop and does not find his home restful.
Pacing
Fast paced - MANY characters (confusing number of characters and relationships). Everything is revealed at the end in a climactic resolution, but there are many twists and turns and side stories on the way there.
Narration
First-person from L.T.'s perspective.
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Language - R
Sex - mild, adultery
Homosexuality - hints that some individuals may be homosexual, no real focus in the story
Violence - Gun and physical violence, descriptions of sexual abuse
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LibraryThing member kristinabrooke
This book is an amazing first-installment of what I hope will be a long series.
LibraryThing member JFBallenger
I found this to be a compelling launch to Mosley's new series. As with the Easy Rawlins books, Mosley brilliant weaves biting social commentary into the conventions and fast pace of noir fiction. Some reviewers have argued that Mosley spends too much time on character development -- filling in the
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back story on even minor characters. For me this was refreshing. Much of his recent writing outside of the (seemingly) concluded Rawlins series seems rushed with hasty and superficial character development. Here he takes the time to draw his characters fully. And for me, noir fiction is driven by character, not plot (as in who-dunnits). So I'm looking forward to future chapters in the Leonid McGill story. Show Less
LibraryThing member Noreenelizabeth
On MPRs books to read in 2010. Detective stories just aren't my thing.
LibraryThing member flashflood42
First leonid McGill mystery--The murder of 3 hoodlums and a businessman as well as the PI who hired LM to find their identities leads LM to search for the reasons. Read while in Kazakhstan.
LibraryThing member nbsp
Great pace for a debut of a series. I liked Walter Mosley's new character, Leonid McGill. Mosley fluidly introduced lots of characters that will no doubt populate future books. And, they weren't "the usual suspects". Nice twist at the end.
My compliments to the reader of this audiobook, Mirron
My compliments to the reader of this audiobook, Mirron
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Willis. He's perfect in this. Show Less
LibraryThing member bohemiangirl35
Leonid McGill is making a major life change - from being crooked to only slightly bent. His gift is that he can find anyone anywhere. He used to find people for anyone who wanted him to. Now, he doesn't want to find people so they can be killed. When a group of childhood friends that he locates
His family has no idea what he does for a living. At the book's opening, his wife has just come back to him after moving out for another man. The man's business fails, he has to leave town and she comes home. She took one of their three teenage kids when she left, the only one who is blood related to Leonid. The other two kids don't know they are not biologically his and actually like him better than his biological son.
The book is okay. The were a ton of characters and several subplots. The mix of ethnicities seemed a little forced, like Mosley wanted to put as many cultures in the story as possible. Maybe the next one in the series will be fleshed out a little better. I'll probably try another one, but I'm not in a hurry.
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start dying, Leonid starts tracking down the person who wanted them found. Then he finds himself on the kill list.His family has no idea what he does for a living. At the book's opening, his wife has just come back to him after moving out for another man. The man's business fails, he has to leave town and she comes home. She took one of their three teenage kids when she left, the only one who is blood related to Leonid. The other two kids don't know they are not biologically his and actually like him better than his biological son.
The book is okay. The were a ton of characters and several subplots. The mix of ethnicities seemed a little forced, like Mosley wanted to put as many cultures in the story as possible. Maybe the next one in the series will be fleshed out a little better. I'll probably try another one, but I'm not in a hurry.
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LibraryThing member honoliipali
I had a somewhat difficult time staying with the story. The characters, of which there are many, were not that interesting to me. The writing, at times, is witty and interesting just not enough to overcome the mediocre plot. It is an OK read.
LibraryThing member g82hug
I read the Long Fall with my book club. I must first say that I am a Mosley fan, Easy Rawlins snagged my heart long ago, but it took me some time to finish The Long Fall. I enjoyed the character, Leonid, and all his complexity, but I think I may have began the book hoping to find Easy. Leonid is
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definitely not Easy, but I grew to like him by the end of the novel. I will have to read the next in the series before I can say with any certainty. Show Less
LibraryThing member nmele
Walter Mosely has written a "noir" crime novel that conforms to the conventions of the form. His protagonist is very conscious of being a black man in contemporary America, and very conscious of his history of living and working in the grey area where good and evil shade each other, but he is truly
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a hero, one who tries throughout to do the right thing and often succeeds. Show Less
LibraryThing member steve.clason
Mosley introduces Leonid McGill, another of his superbly-named, reflective characters seeking honor amid the necessary compromises of brutish circumstances. An excellent start to what I hope is many stories of this NYC PI.
LibraryThing member bjkelley
Almost seemed like a missing Robert B. Parker book. The main character, an ex-boxer with his on moral creed and and criminal characters he can call on for help, just screamed Spenser. These things didn't distract from the book which was very well written. I had read one other Mosley book in the
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Easy Rawlins series, but found this book much more enjoyable, maybe because the story was set in current time instead of in the late 40s/early 50s. Show Less
LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
This is Mosley near the top of his form, creating a new character with such a complete back story that it's hard to remember this is the first time we've met Leonid McGill. McGill is a tough black PI with some heavy baggage: a communist upbringing, a wife he doesn't love, 3 kids who aren't all his
Review written in September, 2014
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blood, a none-too-pure past, and a death on his conscience. The latter has pushed him to a decision to go "straight", setting him and us up for a classic noir journey through the underworld as Leonid struggles to be upright in a profession that rarely makes that easy. Robert B. Parker called this book "quite simply splendid", which is perfectly fitting, since Parker's Spenser had that white hat gig sewed up for such a long time. McGill is more complicated, less predictable than Spenser; Mosley's prose is denser, much less dialog-driven, and he requires more of the reader than Parker did. But anyone who appreciated Spenser's unwavering adherence to his "code" is going to love watching McGill try to "get there". Live long and write, Mr. Mosley.Review written in September, 2014
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LibraryThing member kristina_brooke
This book is an amazing first-installment of what I hope will be a long series.
LibraryThing member kerns222
Mosley;s characters, no matter how improbable to a middle-class retiree, ring true. His dialogue, no matter how didactic, works. His mix of small detail, no matter how forced, works. This book burns through too quickly. It was not written to ponder, but to sprint. I wish I had a low gear I could
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force when reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member nx74defiant
Trying to go semi-straight he gets drawn in to multiple murders.
LibraryThing member ncoffin
laborious reading.
LibraryThing member Ameise1
That was an exciting thriller. It's just a shame that my library does not have any sequels to this series.
Leonid McGill is a private investigator with a dark past. He was once a henchman and a thug in the NY Underworld. Their arm is long and they still try to pull him into their machinations, even
Leonid McGill is a private investigator with a dark past. He was once a henchman and a thug in the NY Underworld. Their arm is long and they still try to pull him into their machinations, even
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if McGill now only wants to work on the legal side. But he needs the money to feed his family and pay for his luxurious office, so his actions are always a bailout between good and evil. During his investigations, corpses pave his way. Thugs and killers are hired to get him out of the way, but McGill still keeps up with boxing and is better than his opponents. Show Less
Awards
Hammett Prize (Nominee — 2009)
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Nominee — Fiction — 2009)
Pages
320
ISBN
1594488584 / 9781594488580