Inner City Hoodlum

Love it

Everything was fine.

Whilst perfectly readable/entertaining, this was my least favourite book that I have read of Donald Goines' vast selection to date. Described as a 'completed manuscript that was discovered shortly after his tragic and violent death', I don't think Goines would have considered it to be complete and as such, it sadly wasn't up to his usual standard.

It is said (on Wikipedia,so it must be true) that Donald Goines often wrote his novels very quickly. I found this hackneyed and repetitive, as if written on autopilot and in a hurry.

I love Donald Goins books

Good book

Great book I purchased to complete collection of works from same author.

This is my fourth Donald Goines book and so far, this one touched my heart the most. You have 3 teenage boys, not in school, fending for themselves by robbing freight yards. It is sad to see all of their stories unfold,and to see how hard life and struggling effects everyone, and how we all sometimes become products of our environment. My heart went out to Johnny, his sister Leslie, who was so young and naive, and yearned for love so much that she let a much older man get the best of her, without even knowing what was happening. This book is a good read and gives you an in depth look into the perils of ghetto life and what we as human beings will do in order to survive.

This book followed the same formula, but there are some moments in it that separate it from the other books he has written. The ending of this book pissed me off, but besides that, I loved it. Two friends kill a guard in self-defense, and turn to a neighborhood numbers man with a known reputation. Things hit close to home with one of the young cats, and he, along with his friend, seek revenge for the overdose of his younger sister, by the Duke, the numbers man. There are the vivid scenes, the gruesome descriptions, and everything else which makes Donald Goines work stand out. Don't expect a happy ending, because that is not what Donald Goines was all about. He was about presenting reality.