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

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

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 in ...

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 convicts ...

Socrates Fortlow lives in Watts, a tough

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

neighborhood, and struggles to stay on the path of

righteousness Righteousness is the quality or state of "being morally right or justifiable" rooted in religious or divine law with a broader spectrum of moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beli ...

. He befriends Darryl, a young boy 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 her husband, Howard, to step up or risk losing 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, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by

Michael Apted Michael David Apted (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was an English television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the ''Up (film series), Up'' documentary series from 1970 to 2019). He later di ...

, starring

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...

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