Book Review- Stained Cotton

Author: Quentin Carter
ISBN: 978-0-9799517-1-8
Publisher: Triple Crown Publications
Date: 2008
Pages: 290

In Stained Cotton we are taken to the mean drug streets of Kansas City, Missouri where in Westport. In this part of town, everybody knows you’re a big time hustler if you’re rolling on 20’s or higher, women are plenty, and your drug empire is covering the city.

Qu’bon is a drug hustler and a playa. He loves all types of women, but he wants a white woman because he thinks that black women are too ghetto and full of attitude even though he has one at home. A white woman is someone that you can chill with and not give you too much lip. There is a lesson ion his naïve thinking—it doesn’t matter what the color of the woman is because if you pick the wrong woman trouble is just around the corner.

O’bon is Qu’bon’s older brother and runs drugs with him. He has a more mellow side to him then his brother, and many have said that he was not really cut out for the drug game, but O’bon is already a player whether he likes it or not, and he must throw the dice in order to stay alive or he will pay the ultimate price.

Besides the drug dealing these two brothers are sent on a wild and deadly roller coaster ride when they meet Katrina and Nancy, two white girls who want to experience the life of a black female.

Katrina is in the game full blast when she meets Qu’bon, turning from a college girl to a street girl running. She runs the clubs, sells drugs, and stealing cash, but she learns a hard lesson which runs the risk of her meeting her demise.

Nancy has always admired the sass and strength of the black woman, but she still keeps her head on and tries to tell her sister to slow down. She is unsuccessful in her pleas and finds herself being dragged into danger. Can she keep her head on straight long enough to change the downward spiral that her and her sister are caught in the middle of? Is the life of the black woman really this hard?

The overall message of this book is that a woman can be drama no matter what color she is because when a woman is filled with drama, then drama will follow and that if you have the heart and the mind of your woman, she is in fact your woman. The color of a woman’s skin does not make her less a problem it is the mind state. Qu’bon and O’bon both thought that getting white women would be different, but Qu’bon quickly found out that wasn’t true.

Although some of the situations in the book seemed a little too far fetched, it does not take away from the book because hey, its fiction.

Check it out!!!

Book Review- Amongst Thieves

Title: Amongst Thieves
Publishers: Triple Crown Publications
ISBN: 978-0-9799517-2-5
Author: Quentin Carter
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 316

Reading Amongst Thieves is like watching a movie. If you liked the movie Scarface, Casino, and Ocean’s 11 then this is a book that will keep your interest. It is filled with so much action that it keeps you reading to the very end.

Ramon Delay is a ruthless thief who loves money and he won’t let anyone get in his way of it—not even his own daughter, Trishay. After serving 15 years for the murder of his ex wife’s brother, Ramon is back on the streets of Kansas ready to announce his arrival. He gets back in touch with his crew so that they can continue where they left in their crime sprees, but Roman has a bigger plan brewing.

Ramon’s childhood friend, Snug Brim has been riding with him since the beginning as they kill and rob making the streets of Kansas hot. Also in the crew is Bobby who scouts the targets of their desire; AJ who supplies the artillery; Chico who drives the getaway car and Yawni who is used like a cunning spider who creates an incredible web of distraction for their victims entangling them to be left as bait and kill for the crew.

The crew is ready to make the big leagues earning more weight (money) then they have ever gotten before, but with more money comes... you guessed it, more problems! Greed makes these close friends become very distant from each other. Do they turn on each other? Do they seek revenge for the money that they have lost? Of, course otherwise this would not be an interesting story.

Suddenly, a young woman by the name of Jayde enters the life of Ramon and she is all that he can think about. She seems to be the woman of his dreams but Jayde is holding back a secret that when exposed could mean the death of Ramon and her guilty pleasure. Their relationship takes Ramon on an emotional and physical ride that leads to a shocking end.

I was pleased with the realness of the story because it was not about a bunch of teens that were making millions in the game because that is so played out and definitely not as lifelike as the other books make it out to be. You can see that just by watching the news. This book is based on gangstas in their forties and it takes quite some time for them to come up to the millions status.

One thing that drove me crazy was how Jayde entered the scene... it almost didn’t make sense. It was when the secret was revealed that it made the book that much more interesting.

Be sure to check out this book and be sure to let me know what you think of the ending and Jayde’s secret...

Agasa Elitou- Reviewer