Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, by Walter Mosley (Used)

In every man’s soul lives a hero

'Socrates thought about a promise he'd made. He swore to himself that he'd never hurt another person - except if he had to do it for self-preservation. He swore to try and do good if the chance came before him. That way he could ease the evil deeds that he had perpetrated in the long evil life that he'd lived.'

Socrates Fortlow has spent 27 years in prison and can kill a man with his bare hands. But now he's out and determined to use his strength for good, to help the downtrodden and oppressed of the Los Angeles ghetto. Tough, tender and wise, Socrates goes to work, running a killer out of town, turning a young man away from a life of crime, restraining himself when the wrong kind of women tempt him.

Like his Greek namesake, Socrates Fortlow asks questions in an attempt to understand his world. His attempt to find morality in poverty and deprivation makes Socrates a modern-day hero.

In this novel of subtle beauty, Walter Mosley shows himself to be the American writer best able to capture the moral ambiguities of the epoch.

'A startling exploration of the poverty and violence of black ghetto life...stunning' The Good Book Guide

'Unputdownable tension... I doubt you'll read another book this year that will imprint itself on your memory like this one' Independent

'An extraordinary portrait of a sub-society made up of no money, petty crime, basic sex and ambivalent morality' The Times

Condition: good