Walter Mosley Mostly Pleases But Pass on "Ghalen: A Romance in Black"

I've been a fan of Walter Mosley's writing in the crime fiction genre. He's received numerous literary awards including the Nat'l Book Fdtrn. Medal, and Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers' Assoc. It's a sheer mystery to me what Mosley had in mind when writing his most recent novel, "Ghalen: A Romance in Black." I don't recognize any of Mosley's writing in this novel which is a confusing coming of age novel. The novel begins with a serendipitous spark between Robert and Jamilah who share an umbrella which leads to romance. Their idyllic love affair is only marred by a Jamilah's misaligned mother who finds Robert "retarded". Jamilah is studying medicine and Robert is learning to be a chef in a vegan restaurant. They're married and have a son Ghalen. Ghalen is only 10 when his mother dies and steadfast Robert raises his son with the help of friends he's made at the restaurant. Ghalen is incredibly bright and ready to head to Berkley college at 16. This is the last vestige of a cohesive plot which turns to black and becomes muddled in a plot filled with potholes. Numerous people come in and out of Ghalen's life and his sense of obligation to them is unclear. Because he's been a childhood friend of Bruno and slept with Lovely, Bruno's girl (also Ghalen's childhood love) he takes a bullet to the head from him and the fall for a drug conviction by not turning Bruno to the police. It makes no sense going forward, including that he survived being shot in the head at short range. The plotting becomes deranged. Robert's mother is imprisoned in a psyche ward for killing his father. Jamilah's father Night comes back from the dead (Viet Nam) after 20 years and takes his place in the family. The year and a day Ghalen spent in prison is a hellish tale of sexual abuse and mayhem from which Ghalen comes out as if a class valedictorian with a prison graduation.  Only Mosley must know what he intended the reader to glean from this story unconventional of a non-conventional hero who flounders but finds support from his dad, his dad's cohorts and seems to land on his feet. Ghalen: A Romance in Black" was too rambling, too convoluted and too dark for me to recommend.