Out of the Easy
It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.
Why did I like this book; I really don’t understand. Why? Why did I like it so much? I couldn’t stop reading it, even though I really wanted to. There is so much about this book that frustrates me, even now. When I read, I like to have a good story that is an escape into a world with resolution; the bad are punished, the mystery is solved, and everything just falls into place. I didn’t get any of that with this book. Seriously, it felt too much like real life.
First off, this girl’s mother is a total bitch who robbed her daughter of thousands of dollars she was going to use for college and ran off with an abusive murderer, but they never get caught. The mob boss they swindled came after her daughter and what happened? The daughter paid off their loan debt…. what the hell?
Then there’s the murder that never gets solved. Sure the reader knows who did it, but it’s never settled with the cops so even at the end of the book they are still patrolling the area looking for clues.
This book left so many question unanswered; was the debt with the mob boss ever settled, did Josie’s mother and Cincinnati ever get caught, will anything happen with Patrick and James, will the city never solve the murder, ect.
It’s hard to believe with all my complaining that this book was worth it, but surprisingly I liked it a lot. I want to believe that there is a sequel where all my questions will be answered, but I doubt that is the case. Would I recommend this book? Yes, yes I would. Will it be a happy read? Hell no, it’s majorly depressing.
