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    Jack Strong: A Story of Life After Life
    Jack Strong: A Story of Life After Life
    Jack Strong: A Story of Life After Life
    Ebook66 pages57 minutes

    Jack Strong: A Story of Life After Life

    By Walter Mosley

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    In a Las Vegas hotel room, a man awakes to confront his destiny

    Dreaming, Jack hears voices: a frightened child in a hospital, a woman cheating on her husband, a death-row inmate. When he wakes, the voices recede, but they do not vanish. He is in a luxurious hotel room on the Vegas strip, and his body is covered in scars. Jack Strong is a patchwork man, his flesh melded together from dozens of men and women, and his mind is the same way. Countless lifetimes are contained within him: people whose time was cut short, and who see their place in Jack as a chance to make things right.

    On behalf of one of them, Jack reignites a feud with corrupt casino bosses. Drawing on the skills of another, he beats the life out of two bodyguards. Jack fights for control as he lurches from impulse to impulse, certain that somewhere within him exists a soul. The answers may lie with whomever is tailing him in a sleek black car—if Jack can somehow confront him.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateJul 29, 2014
    ISBN9781480489141
    Jack Strong: A Story of Life After Life
    Author

    Walter Mosley

    Walter Mosley is the acclaimed author of forty-three books, including the internationally bestselling Easy Rawlins series. His best known Easy Rawlins novels include Devil in a Blue Dress, A Red Death, White Butterfly, Black Betty, and Little Yellow Dog. He is also the author of the collection of stories Always Outnumbered. Always Outgunned featuring Socrates Fortlow, which was the basis for an HBO feature film. A former president of the Mystery Writers of America, he was named a grand master by the organization in 2016. He has served on the board of directors of the National Book Foundation and is a recipient of the PEN American Center Lifetime Achievement Award. A native of Los Angeles, he now lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for Jack Strong

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    • 5/5
      Jack Strong comes slowly to awareness in a Las Vegas hotel room. His vivid dreams are seemingly coming from different personalities at home within his mind. But when he awakens, becoming aware of his physical body, he sees that he is patched together...predominantly in appearance a white male, but when he examines his hand, he sees that one finger of his left hand seems to be that of a black man and one on the right is from a woman. The voices in his head remain, but he can control, with some effort, which personality will dominate at a given time.Author Mosley has stepped away from the urban detective genre that he does so well, but his skills make him at home in any genre. This short story incorporates some sci-fi elements with enough of a criminal action element to keep it exciting. We are not told how Jack came into being, but there is a hint that he has been "created" by some organization or out of this world power. All these personalities within Jack are beings who have previously died, but have some unresolved issues to deal with. This may be their opportunity for redemption. When they pool their capabilities some can help others by providing physical strength or specific knowledge to help right a wrong or gain an edge against the bad guys.The great thing is that this open ended tale can go so many directions, depending on which personality steps up to the "podium" to take control for awhile. In this sequence a professional in the gambling world, Lance Richards, was killed by his partner after they were discovered skimming from the casino profits that their boss was skimming from the big boss. The partner had assumed that Lance's safety deposit key would be on him when he died, but the knowledge of it's whereabouts died with him. After Jack/Lance has creatively dealt with this situation, he decides to hitch hike out of town...Jack's not sure why until he realizes that the personality taking over is a hitch hiking serial killer...don't you want to know what happens next?!Received an early digital copy courtesy of NetGalley, and hope that this intriguing story has a sequel in the works.
    • 4/5
      I would like to thank NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for the opportunity to read this story. Although I received the e-ARC for free, that in no way impacts my review.Goodreads Blurb:In a Las Vegas hotel room, a man awakes to confront his destiny.Dreaming, Jack hears voices: a frightened child in a hospital, a woman cheating on her husband, a death row inmate. When he wakes, the voices recede, but they do not vanish. He is in a luxurious hotel room on the Vegas strip, and his body is covered in scars. Jack Strong is a patchwork man, his flesh melded together from dozens of men and women, and his mind is the same way. Countless lifetimes are contained within him: people whose lives were cut short, and who see their place in Jack as a chance to make things right.On behalf of one of them, Jack reignites a feud with some corrupt casino bosses. Drawing on the skills of another, he beats the life out of two bodyguards. Jack fights for control as he lurches from impulse to impulse, certain that somewhere within him lies a soul. The answer may lie with whoever is tailing him in a sleek black car--if Jack can somehow confront him.Mr. Mosley certainly hit upon a creative concept, which he did an excellent job of executing. This is one very original story, with interesting characters and plot developments that keep both the protagonist, Jack, on his toes, as well as the reader. The mystery is one that grabs hold of you and won't let go.The premise of the story is vague enough that it may be different for each reader, yet for me it seemed to be about redemption and the associated cathartic emotions. Even with a vague premise the story hooked me early in, which meant the first couple of pages, seeing as this whole story is completed in a mere 52 pages. However the ending offers hope for a follow-up, sequel, or just plain continuation of the storyline. Well worth the read!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the many characters rolled into one, very interesting. I was really disappointed by the grammatical errors and missing words. Walter always has me looking up a newly discovered word or two in every book of his that I have ever read. I hope that he continues to flesh out this character(s) and that we discover why LA beckons?
    • 4/5
      Walt Whitman, in “Song of Myself”, said “I am large….I contain multitudes.” Earlier in the poem, he provided some context and another relevant link to Walter Mosley's story when he said, “And as to you life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, /No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.” Of course, Whitman was talking about the feeling of being one with all things and the sharing of atoms, a new theory at the time, but what if the conceit were actual? In Jack Strong, Walter Mosley explores that possibility. What if a person were actually, physically, made up of other beings - men, women, maybe even an animal or three? What would the body be like? More critically, what would the mind be like?Freud gave names to the sources of the primal urges that arise in one's mind. He called them “Id” and “Ego” and “Superego”. Well, those are just names. Why not 'Lance Richards' and 'Tamashantar Mortman' and 'Ron Tremont' and 'Minna Achet'? Mosley posits, in Jack Strong, that the parts of the body that had been patched together from dead donors still contain their experiences and attitudes and personalities and could still state their opinions or try to fulfill their desires through the host, as voices in his head or physical urges.Jack died, was killed, but awakens in a Las Vegas hotel room with a flood of voices in his mind and foreign experiences in his memory and consciousness. (“O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!”, Whitman said.) He has seams zigzagging across his body, a Negroid ring finger on the left hand and a tapered, feminine baby finger on the right. He is a patchwork man, built, like Frankenstein's monster, out of parts of other people and animals.His memory is jumbled (one can just imagine!) but he seems to be familiar with the Steadman Casino, so he decides to go there. Of course, that isn't such a great idea and Jack finds himself embroiled in the same difficulties that led to his earlier death. The story feels like a noir P.I. novel as the plot moves toward resolution, with Jack finding inner resources that he didn't realize that he had as he tries to avoid getting killed again.The story is taut, occasionally humorous, sometimes erotic, but always entertaining. I just wish that it were longer - there are a lot of possibilities inherent in a patchwork man. Maybe this relatively short story is the harbinger of a series. One can hope!I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      I’ve never actually read any Mosley even though everyone keeps telling me I’d like his work. They’re right. This was an entertaining novella about a man with extreme multiple-personality issues. Witty, exciting, sexy. I hope this the first of many.
    • 3/5
      “I was some kind of abomination set loose upon the world for reasons unknown.”Jack Strong was a very interesting story. With only a mere 52 pages, Walter Mosley created an original concept and manages to execute it wonderfully in that short amount.I had never before read anything by Mosley, but now I really think I’m missing out. His writing style is really wonderful. It was captivating from the very beginning. You could actually feel how each “voice” inside Jack’s head has a distinctive personality.Jack as a main character was an enigma. He was Jack, but he was also Lance, he was also Rod, he was also Johnetta. Jack would sometimes let some of his other “personalities” appear and “take over” and it was really interesting seeing how each life had different experiences and set of skills. It was interesting that Jack didn’t just see himself as Jack; he saw himself as a combination of all his other “previous” lives.“It came to me that it wasn’t so different being man or woman. We all slept and woke up, felt heat and cold, got hungry and aged over time. Our senses approximated each other’s, and memory offered up images that had more meaning than anything real.”As a short story, it is definitely well developed and wonderfully written. It even opens up a window to be continued later on if the author so desired. If you haven’t read a book by Walter Mosley before, this is definitely a good story to start with.

    Book preview

    Jack Strong - Walter Mosley

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    PRAISE FOR THE WRITING OF WALTER MOSLEY

    Blue Light

    New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year

    and Los Angeles Times Bestseller

    A writer whose work transcends category and qualifies as serious literature.

    —Time

    "More evidence that Mosley is the Gogol of the African-American working class—the chronicler par excellence of the tragic and the absurd."

    —Vibe

    "Blue Light takes him on a mind-bending trip into the brave new world of science fiction, and Mosley proves that good writing is good writing, regardless of genre."

    —USA Today

    "A quirky mix of action, up-to-date speculative tropes and New Age spiritualism poured into a quasi-mystery mold, Blue Light offers plenty of thrills, both visceral and ideational."

    —San Francisco Chronicle

    [Mosley] makes words sing on the page … a read that’s shiny-new but a surprisingly comfortable fit.

    —The Austin Chronicle

    Both classic sci-fi and classic Mosley … Mosley once again uses his flawless literary technique to examine the question of racial identity and what it means to humanity.

    —The Source

    "Blue Light is a new venture into ‘science fiction’ … In Blue Light, Mosley details meticulously the grainy, disoriented insanity of being high on something-or-other in San Francisco during the Vietnam War years. He describes with mesmerizing clarity the hallucinatory twilight world of nightmares and euphoria inhabited by losers and drifters who move from one fix to another."

    —The Times (London)

    Mosley has created an enthralling sci-fi story while managing once again a close observation of Americans of another era interacting among racial and class lines.

    —Mosaic

    [Mosley] strives mightily for mythic resonance here, and he achieves it often enough to give the novel undeniable power.

    —Locus

    "Mosley himself is not only a skilled writer, but an uncommonly intelligent and thoughtful one … [Blue Light] is compellingly written … a story that transcends novelty."

    —Space.com

    "Blue Light provides the social history, character studies, humanity, and vivid violence for which Mosley is justly praised … Well-drawn characters as well … ordinary people made extraordinary, and Mosley knows how to make them believable and sympathetic … A success."

    —Denver Rocky Mountain News

    A beautifully written, deeply spiritual novel. Recommended.

    —Library Journal

    Futureland

    "Beneath the high-tech gadgetry and noir atmosphere, the stories here are thoughtful explorations of race and identity … Futureland is populated by assassins and revolutionaries, and it is filled with suffering. Yet Mosley also peoples his stories with working stiffs and scrappy fighters. Against a bleak landscape, their resilient spirits feel like rays of hope."

    —The New York Times Book Review

    "A truly formidable stylist and thinker … The more I think of it, the more I admire Futureland."

    —The San Diego U-T

    "If you think the next century’s going to be all phaser guns and pointy-eared babes, then Futureland is the harsh dose of alternate reality you need … this is sci-fi without the sugarcoating, a suggestion that the years to come will be less ‘Live long and prosper,’ more ‘Live fast, die young.’"

    —Maxim

    A vivid, exciting and, on the whole, well-executed take on cyberpunk that measures up to the work done 15 years ago by the Gibson and Bruce Sterling.

    —Kirkus Reviews

    Jack Strong

    A Story of Life after Life

    Walter Mosley

    Jack Strong

    Nigger tried to tell me he wasn’t into something back there behind Willie’s house on a Wednesday, noon. Me and Tyler and Beckwith Smith kicked holy shit outta that coon. Left him so beat that he’ll never walk inta no white man’s yard ever again—that is if he can walk at all.

    …

    I never meant to do it. Never meant to betray our vows. But then Winston came over to me across the living room. He pressed his body up against mine and I felt his, felt his manhood, and it was like everything went red. All the things I refused Ralph came up and out of me. I was another woman … another woman.

    And God help me

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