Crime Partners

This book brings Billy and Jackie, two hit men to the forefront. However, it wasn't until they ran into Kenyatta when they realized what they were truly capable of. The book is kinda short, but it also sets the tone for the Kenyatta series. There's plenty of murder in the book, but not simply senseless murder. Once you read the book, you'll see what I am talking about.

I was introduced to Donald Goines when I heard about the movie version of "Never Die Alone". I'm a fan of DMX so I saw it and was amazed by the story and the movie. So when I found out that the movie was based on a book, and that there was lots more, I decided to give them a try. Since I'd already seen the movie, I didn't wanna get the "Never Die Alone" book first(I will eventually). So I came across "Crime Partners", the first installment of the Kenyatta series. This book introduces us to Jackie and Billy, two stickup partners who are tired of not being recognized for their crimes. So they team up with Kenyatta, a sort of general to an army he's built up to stop crime and corruption by using it. On the other side of the law two detectives, Benson and Ryan, are angered after four fellow police officers are murdered and they're out to find out who did it(it was Jackie, Billy, and Kenyatta's gang). As Jackie and Billy's hits get bigger, so do their hearts as they fall in love with two women in Kenyatta's organization. I liked this book. This, like I said, is my first Goines book, and it surprised me. It was so real, from the sex, to the drugs, to the cussing, and finally to the brutally true violence. I've heard people say that Benson and Ryan are corrupt cops and I haven't found them to be in this book. True, the book did end quick(along with Jackie and Billy's story), but this book had a first installment feel to it. It's like you almost expect the next book to be Kenyatta's revenge against those who ended his friends' lives. He's an odd character in this book. Sometimes you don't like him at all, and then sometimes you laugh at his charm(especially the part where he walks in on Billy and his newfound honey sleepin together). I hope that Kenyatta is explored more in the other books, because he hasn't effected me like King David did, where you were at a loss of feeling sorry, sickened, or charmed. Anyways this is a good book, and I suggest everybody read it and read Goines' other books, like I will. Was this review helpful to you?

THIS WAS ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT LOYALTY! I ENJOYED THIS BOOK! AT FIRST I WAS LIKE, HERE WE GO HE IS TRYING TO SAVE THE STREETS! WHEN I GOT INTO IT I COULD NOT STOP UNTIL I WAS DONE! CRIME PARTNERS WAS JUST WHAT THAT WERE UNTIL THE END. THEY DID CRIME TOGETHER, LIVED TOGETHER AND DIED TOGETHER! THIS IS A MUST READ! I LIKED THE BOOK!

"Crime Partners" was my first exposure to Donald Goines, but I'm already putting some of his other books in my shopping cart. The book is dynamic with a capital "D"!The opening chapter draws you in, paragraph after paragraph until you reach the end of the chapter. You take a deep breath, trying to work through what you've read, trying to tell yourself that you don't know people like the characters but you know you do, then you begin chapter two. Chapter two ups the stakes by introducing two new characters.Characters. That's what drives this action-packed tale of ghetto justice. Realistic, emotion-filled, hardened or soft, passionate, CHARACTERS. Goines has a way of getting inside a character's head like few authors can. You understand the motivations behind their actions. You feel their pain, their joy, their disgust. What more can you ask for from a writer? The next book!

I could not put this book down once I picked it up. I grew up in Detroit, and Mr. Goines mentions streets in the story that I have seen in person. The characters are well developed and the story never has a dull moment. It is very graphic in detail. For example, He decribes one shooting victim as having brain matter ooze from his head after a point blank shot. This book is full of emotion, from the first paragraph to the last. Some parts of the book made me chuckle, but this book is as realistic and hardcore ghetto as it gets. He writes how people talked in the mid-70's. He follows up crime parters with a sequel called death list which is another classic of this genere. If you really want to know what went on in the inner city ghetto behind close doors, this is a must read!!!