Hustler's Dreams, Federal Nightmares


Book Description

The game once had three major rules that were never to be broken or compromised, regardless of how serious things got in one's life. Death before dishonor was more than just a code; it was the law of the streets, written in the blood of the OGs who killed and died upholding it. Back then, there were many rewards for those who followed the codes. On the other hand, the penalty was death for anyone who violated the laws, and anybody close to him. At the very least, that person would be blackballed from the hood and any illegal street ventures. Clearly the game as we once knew it has been changed by today's hustlers, gangsters, and crooks. Most of them have strayed far from the script. The majority of them would rather save their asses than save face. They would sooner live with shame and disgrace than die with honor and respect. With the current status of the game and the sheisty individuals who are playing it, is there anyone who will honor the past and acknowledge the rules of the game for what they used to be? A newcomer to the urban lit scene, Amir Sanchez delivers a realistic, gripping story of life on the streets, where hustlers still rule, but honor and loyalty have taken on new meaning.




An American Dream


Book Description

An American Dream The Life To the majority of America, the infamous State of Ohio is just made up of farm fi elds and politics, but in the quiet city of Columbus is a major money market in the criminal underworld where every drug from Mexican marijuana to Afgan heroin fl oods the economy on a monthly basis. And every small time hustler to every international dealer wants a piece of the pie. For Sizalino and his notorious mentor Michael Pettway, they’re looking to control it all, forming an outfi t similar to the mythical mafi a’s ‘Commission’, called the West Side Firm; teaming up with the most powerful heads of the East and North Side, creating a conglomerate organization stretching all the way down to South Florida and into South America. With the connection to Emmanuelle Mendez, a close associate to the Columbian Godmother, they go on an unstoppable path to obtaining the ultimate American Dream of money, power, and respect. By any means necessary! Overnight their success becomes legendary. Th ey quickly create a takeover like no one in Ohio has ever done or ever seen. But with success comes hate and envy, from everyone tojealous locals, to local State and Federal Law Enforcement Offi cials. And that envious attention comes crashing down right when the Commission hits the peak of its success. Everyone from the Law to bitter rivals begin to try and attack and penetrate their concrete wall of solid structure and silence. Sizalino feels the heat, and tries to take his business mind and savvy in a diff erent direction for the benefi t of his related family and the foundation of their future. But his Mentor, Mike P., and the Commission, have other plans for him. And they’re not the only ones. Will Sizalino make it out? Will the Commission and its Firms survive the storm and the war against them, threatening to cripple and destroy their organization? Th ey say for hustlers that the American Dream has two faces; an American Dream and an American Nightmare! What will Sizalino’s American Fate be?




Playing with Fire


Book Description

To make her dreams of becoming a great lawyer come true, Yoshi, brilliant, calculating and reckless, infiltrates the privileged circle of the school's wealthiest students until she gets too close to a secret she isn't willing to keep, which could cost her more than her life.




The Great Los Angeles Swindle


Book Description

Here is a saga of the roaring twenties, with its glorification of business, its get-rich-quick mentality, and its paucity of government regulation--which bred speculation, corruption, and corporate chaos throughout the country. The Great Los Angeles Swindle exposes the schemes of C. C. Julian and his Julian Petroleum Corporation, known familiarly to thousands of Los Angeles residents as Julian Pete, thanks to Julian's folksy weekly newspaper ads. The Julian Pete swindle ranked with Teapot Dome as one of the great scandals of the era and symbolized the failure of 20s boosterism and speculation. Here is a saga of the roaring twenties, with its glorification of business, its get-rich-quick mentality, and its paucity of government regulation--which bred speculation, corruption, and corporate chaos throughout the country. The Great Los Angeles Swindle exposes the schemes of C. C. Julian and his Julian Petroleum Corporation, known familiarly to thousands of Los Angeles residents as Julian Pete, thanks to Julian's folksy weekly newspaper ads. The Julian Pete swindle ranked with Teapot Dome as one of the great scandals of the era and symbolized the failure of 20s boosterism and speculation.




Ironweed


Book Description

The beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, basis of the film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Francis Phelan, ex-big-leaguer, part-time gravedigger, full-time bum with the gift of gab, is back in town. He left Albany twenty-two years earlier after he dropped his infant son accidentally, and the boy died. Now he's on the way back to the wife and home he abandoned, haunted at every corner by the ghosts of his violent life. Francis; his wino ladyfriend of nine years, Helen; and his stumblebum pal, Rudy, shuffle their ragtag way through the city's bleakest streets, surviving on gumption, muscatel, and black wit. estiny is not their business. 'The premise of Ironweed was so unpromising, that in marketing terms the writer still to this day finds it funny: the story of a bunch of itinerant alcoholics, knocking around Kennedy's hometown, falling out, having visions, trying to pass for sober to cadge a bed for the night in the homeless shelter.' Guardian 'But for all the rich variety of prose and event, from hallucination to bedrock realism to slapstick and to blessed quotidian peace, ''Ironweed'' is more austere than its predecessors. It is more fierce, but also more forgiving.' Quoted from the classic New York Times review of Ironweed, which made it an overnight sensation.




Playing Dirty


Book Description

Playing dirty is a skill that Yoshi Lomax has perfected. By bribing cops and officials, sleeping with her boss and convincing her friend in the DEA to make evidence disappear, Yoshi has become a top criminal defence attorney - and she has the multi-million dollar Miami pad and Aston Martin to prove it. But when she takes the case of badass Haitian mob boss Sheldon Chisholm, her usual way of doing business - by any means necessary - doesn't quite work. Now she has no choice but to defend a dangerous murderer with nothing but her brains and the law - and risk losing her life.




That's the Joint!


Book Description

Spanning 25 years of serious writing on hip-hop by noted scholars and mainstream journalists, this comprehensive anthology includes observations and critiques on groundbreaking hip-hop recordings.




Hell's Angels


Book Description

Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angels—Hell’s Angels, that is—in this short work of nonfiction. “California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.” Thus begins Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid account of his experiences with California’s most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell. His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, “For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson’s book is a thoughtful piece of work.” As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.




Awake in a Nightmare


Book Description