''Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned'' is a 1997

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private inv ...

Plot Summary

Ex-

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

Socrates Fortlow lives in Watts, a tough

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

neighborhood, and struggles to stay on the path of

righteousness Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable. It can be considered synonymous with "rightness" or being "upright". It can be found in Indian religions and Abrahamic traditions, among other religions, as a theologi ...

. He befriends a young boy named Darryl, who initially dislikes Socrates but grows to appreciate his mentorship. He counsels Corrina, a pretty 23-year old who works and wants to keep her husband who has no job. He counsels the husband, Howard, to step up lest he lose Corrina. After a few trials and tribulations, Socrates lands a job at a supermarket further on the west side of Los Angeles. He helps Darryl again as he stands up against gang members, and tries to make up for his past misdeeds by reaching out to an old flame. Socrates finds himself in jail, having hit a man who struck a dog with his car and wanted to finish off the dog. Socrates carries the dog to a local vet, who later posts his bail. Through his savvy public defender, Socrates gets a suspended sentence. At the end of the novel Socrates does his final good deed, helping his friend, suffering from terminal cancer, find enough pain medication to end his own life.

Film, television or theatrical adaptations

* '' Always Outnumbered'' – 1998

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

, starring Laurence Fishburne as Socrates.

References

External links

* 1997 American novels American crime novels Novels by Walter Mosley American novels adapted into films Novels set in Los Angeles W. W. Norton & Company books American novels adapted into television shows {{1990s-crime-novel-stub