Nicholas McCane

*Between the World and Me*, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is my first book by him. It’s a letter to his son about being black in America. Coates shares his experiences and advice. The book is similar to James Baldwin’s, “The Fire Next Time”. I enjoyed it immensely. I started reading the synopsis and ended up finishing it in one sitting. Coates describes growing up in Baltimore and realizing his powerlessness within a caste system. He learned to protect himself. This resonated with me. Growing up in Chicago, I felt like prey. My primary goal was survival. To protect my body from police, gangs, drugs, and the government. This brilliant book offers valuable insights. I plan to reread it. While I wish it weren’t necessary, I’m glad it exists. It’s beautifully written.

This is a 149 page novella written by Victor LaValle. It’s a black man’s retelling of HP Lovecraft’s “Horror at Red Hook”. The setting is 1920s New York. The author did a great job at capturing how America was during the Jim Crow Era. It has a historical feel to it. I felt like I was walking down the street with Charles Thomas Tester. No spoilers, but I’ll tell you this. Half the book is told from one character, the second half is told from another. This book was amazing. I put it in the same category as Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark.

This is a pretty good historical fiction novel written about the holocaust. As expected, it has some really horrific scenes. If you get triggered a lot, do your research before reading this one. What I didn’t expect was a love story. So, to wrap up this review, this is a great love story told in one of the worst times in world history.

Things I disliked:

1. It was too fast. Left me with questions.

2. Should have been written as nonfiction.

Things I liked:

1. Loved the characters.

2. Had me invested in their relationship.

Can’t wait to read books two and three.

“House of Bone and Rain” is my first read by this author. I loved the beginning chapters. The book centers on a group of five friends. The murder of one of their mothers drives them to seek revenge on those responsible. Two of the friends, Bimbo and Gabe, are the focus of the story. This book contains many violent scenes (which I immediately fell in love with). However, the novel takes a strange turn about halfway, and I found it rather boring. The hardcore street elements were enjoyable, but then the plot veered into the supernatural. And fish, let’s not forget about the fish. Initially, it was a five-star read, but the rating eventually fell to 3.75.

I’ll start here. This is the first book I’ve read by this author. This is because many reviews criticize the book for being unlike his previous two. Well, this is exactly what I was looking for. Don’t let the cello and mask on the cover deceive you. This is not simply a book about music. This novel blends crime, mystery, and coming-of-age themes. I really enjoyed it. If you’re a fan of the great S.A. Cosby, this is something I think you’ll really enjoy. The book hooked me from the start.

This book tells the story of Curtis, a cello prodigy from DC. All is well until his dad, a drug dealer, snitches on some truly awful people. Unfortunately, that’s bad news for his son. Larissa, Curtis’s stepmother, is my favorite character.

Read the Prologue and author’s note. The book is fantastic. I listened to the audiobook while reading my physical copy. Ronald Peet did a fantastic job! I just picked up his other two books.

Arc Review: NetGalley

Release Date: July 1, 2025

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

No spoilers (Whatever I mention will also be in the book’s summary)

You are probably thinking, dude, why are you reading a middle-grade mystery novel? I’m glad you asked that question. I requested it for three reasons:

1. The author is Tiffany D. Jackson

2. The cover looks outstanding.

3. I wanted to see what the author could do with a middle-grade mystery book.

This book is about a 12-year-old girl from Brooklyn named Kaylani. A summer with friends and family takes an unexpected turn when she becomes involved in a murder investigation. I am going to leave it at that.

I assumed that this was going to be too elementary for me, and I was wrong. It was enjoyable. I loved the protagonist’s intelligence, devotion to her parents, and commitment to the investigation. She is a favorite author of mine, and this book did not disappoint. I think preteens will love it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NetGalley ARC Review: The Man Made of Smoke.

Release Date: 5-13-25

Author: Alex North

No Spoilers

I purchased the physical book from Book of the Month. I then requested the audiobook from NetGalley and they approved it. That complete experience is something I crave. The cover, summary, and the author’s reputation immediately sold me. It’s my first book by him.

Things I loved:

1. The creepy factor. This book felt super dark.

2. The narrator’s voice matched the creepiness.

3. Multiple POV’s

Things I disliked:

1. I didn’t like the pacing. It felt like it was all over the place.

2. I couldn’t connect with the characters.

3. Chapter one was suspenseful and horrifying, but the rest of the book lacked that intensity.

4. I loved the multiple POVs, however; it became difficult to follow. I reread chapters.

Unfortunately, the book was a little underwhelming. I think many will love it, but it fell short of what I needed. My next read is The Whisper Man. The reviews have been excellent. My rating for The Man Made of Smoke is ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I literally just closed the book, then rushed to give my review. Wow, is the first word that comes to mind. I feel ashamed as an African living in America that I waited so long to read this. I was one of those ignorant people who allowed the American school system to teach me about him. Well, that and the movie “Malcolm X” directed and co-written by Spike Lee.

I couldn’t put this book down. And while I read it, I listened along to Laurence Fishburne who narrated it. The minister’s words, with Fishburne’s voice, created a masterpiece.

Malcolm X began serving a prison sentence in 1946. While inside, he read everything possible and ended up educating himself. In prison is also where he converted to the Nation of Islam. Man, oh man, I wish that the holy city of Mecca would have taught him Islam instead.

I truly believe that Malcolm X was a sponge who was only attempting to soak up the truth. All he wanted to do was build an all black organization whose ultimate aim was to help create a society in which there could exist honest white-black brotherhood. Unfortunately, the Nation of Islam did him in. I learned plenty of things from this book, but one of them is this:

Put your trust in God, not man, because man can never be a god.

I wanted to love this so bad. The Perfect Marriage was my book club’s first book. Our club loved it and most of them ranked it 4 to 5 stars (I gave it 5). We own her entire catalog and couldn’t wait for The Perfect Divorce. I had it preordered and everything. My wife bought the blood red version, and I got the signed copy with sprayed edges. We also got the audiobook. We wanted the full experience. WELP, that was a mistake.

Let’s start with what I like:

1. Adam Lazarre-White narrated Sheriff Hudson’s character (He does S.A. Cosby’s Books).

2. Short Chapters

3. Quick read

What I disliked:

1. The all men are idiots and/or cheaters trope. Authors really need to develop male characters. There are a million ways to make your reader hate a character.

2. The all police are idiots trope. I believe these tropes are only used to make Sarah's character appear extremely intelligent. In one scene, Sarah’s husband (Bob Miller), who is a successful lawyer, has to be interviewed by law enforcement. Bob and his attorney agreed to the interview (which would never happen). While speaking with law enforcement, Bob makes incriminating statements. He also has text message conversations with a killer about a murder he set up (including incriminating photos).

3. No character development. A decade has passed in the book and Bob and Sarah are the same people they were in The Perfect Marriage.

4. Predictable ending.

5. And of course, Bob and Sarah’s rich ass hired a guy to do some work around their home. You probably already pictured him. If not, let me help. A Hispanic male named Alejandro. He’s full of tattoos and an ex-inmate. Rich people stereotype of Hispanics.

6. Sarah said that during the case with her ex-husband (Adam), Sheriff Stevens gave her sensitive information. She said that the new sheriff (Hudson) wouldn’t do that because he’s professional. For the rest of the book, Sheriff Hudson shared sensitive information with her.

7. There were multiple POVs which I have no issues with. But all the characters had the same voice. It was like they were all Jeneva Rose. It was ridiculous. Sheriff Hudson, Sarah Morgan, and Bob Miller all talked the same. It was this one phase that they all used repeatedly, “Matched my gaze”. OMG, it was so annoying. “He met my gaze,” “She met my gaze”, “he matched my gaze”, “she matched my gaze”. This was almost in every chapter of the beginning and middle of the book. Why is everyone saying the same thing? I’ve heard no one say that in real life, so I find it hard to believe that everyone speaks like that. Anyway, I DNF’d multiple times. I only continued reading so I could discuss it with the book club.

The sequel proved unnecessary, and hopefully, there won’t be a third one.

Dear authors: Women readers don’t like to read about women being overly sexualized and made to look unintelligent in books. And men don’t like to be stereotyped as being all cheaters and lack common sense. That is all.

I’m giving it a generous ⭐️⭐️⭐️

To be honest, I didn’t like this book. I stuck it out because it’s one of my book club picks. I really enjoyed the first chapter. I was 100% invested. But then the book got extremely boring. I found myself not connecting with any of the characters. The protagonist was unlikable and a little annoying to me. The antagonist was meh and didn’t scare me. The twist at the end was predictable. I just wanted it to end, but unfortunately, it just kept going.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ARC Review: NetGalley

Release Date: 6-15-25

Author: S.A. Cosby

No Spoilers: (Whatever I mention is in the book’s summary)

Yes, I realize how lucky I am, lol. I’m a huge fan of this author and have read his entire catalog. On 2-7-25, I preordered the physical copy. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I requested an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This crime thriller novel features a Virginia man (Roman), who has to come home and help his brother, who has gotten into some trouble. Roman ends up getting involved with two brothers (Torrent and Tranquil) who are leaders of a gang. Torrent is my favorite character, by the way.

As you can imagine, all kinds of crazy stuff happens which translates to action for us readers. I could not put this book down. There’s also a twist at the end. This author gets better and better every time. King of Ashes have taken over my top spot. Here’s my new rankings.

1. King of Ashes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2. Razorblade Tears ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3. All the Sinners Bleed ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

4. Blacktop Wasteland ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5. Brokedown Prophets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

6. My Darkest Prayer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me start by saying, S.A. Cosby does it again. This is a quick audiobook, 4 hours and 9 minutes. This book is about three hustles who are in possession of a bad of money. The money belongs to a Russian mob boss. And yes, all kinds of stuff goes wrong. I didn’t immediately take to it because it felt corny, and one character (Digit) was annoying. But that quickly changes and the writing dramatically improves. I was hooked. If you’re looking for something quick, action packed, and feel like a movie, look no further. The actors did amazing. An easy 4 stars. I recommend it!

This book was right on time. I just started writing a crime thriller novel and I’m finishing up on the first draft of my memoir. Walter Mosley addressed what I needed help with, but more importantly, motivated the hell out of me. I will take everything I’ve learned and apply it. Outstanding book. It was short and to the point. No complaints.

I try my hardest to give honest reviews of everything I read, even if it’s from my favorite author. If you know me, I’m a huge fan of S.A. Cosby and have rated none of his books less than four stars. That changes today. The only thing I enjoyed about the book was the plot.

A pastor dies from an alleged suicide. Suspecting murder, some church members hire an ex-cop to investigate. There’s action, violence, murder, and everything else I love about his books.

So what’s the problem you may ask?

Now, this might be odd for some women who think all men are alike, but hear me out. The protagonist who is an ex-cop spoke and behaved like a juvenile. His attitude towards women was stereotypical of men. Most of us don’t talk like this. The author overly sexualize every female character in this book. It’s pretty cringy, and I absolutely hated it. It occurred too often and took away from the story. For the people thinking I’m describing smut, I’m not. Just creepy juvenile BS. I almost DNF’d several times because of it. It made the plot take a hit. The only reason I kept reading was because I knew it was his first novel. I repeatedly had to tell myself that this is the guy who wrote Razorblade Tears, All the Sinners Bleed, and Blacktop Wasteland. I’m still a huge fan and can’t wait for King of Ashes. With all that be being said, I’m giving this book three stars, and it's clearly my least favorite.

This is the last book in this emotional roller coaster of a series. Although it was 614 pages, It didn’t feel like it. The book is dark, very dark. I remember only one scene that wasn’t, but it was right after a mass killing so…With that being said, I have such a love/hate relationship with Rin. Just so you know, you will not laugh once while reading this book (not if you’re normal), and you’ll probably end up being frustrated with Rin a lot. Overall, I really enjoyed the series. I will probably think of Rin for years to come. Here is my breakdown.

The Poppy War: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dragon Republic: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

The Burning God: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The entire series: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I Love R.F. Kuang

I Love Kitay

I Love/hate Rin

And🖕🏾 Nezha

Let me start off by saying I am a collector of books. When I first saw this book, the cover sold me. A cool-looking brother leaning out of the front passenger seat of a police cruiser. He’s wearing the traditional black leather jacket and beret they wore in all the movies and documentaries I’ve seen growing up. “Great cover!” I thought, then told the cashier, “I’ll take it.”

Schools did a horrible job teaching us about this part of American history, so I spent my entire life thinking that the movie “Panther” by Mario Van Peebles was their complete story. Earlier this year, I read Assata Shakur’s autobiography and loved it (5 stars). I learned plenty from her. But this book gives you much more. You will learn more from this book than you will in any textbook, movie, or documentary I’ve seen.

Aaron Dixon was the Captain of the Seattle chapter. In this memoir, he tells you about how life was before joining, why he joined, gives vivid descriptions of his time as a Panther (which is action packed and reads like a movie), what destroyed their organization, and finally his life afterwards. I have other books on the Panthers, but for right now, this book will serve as my reference guide. I’m giving it four and a half stars. 

This is the third book in this series. I thought it was fine. Although it was a quick read, it wasn’t a lot of action. This one has a sad ending. Out of the three I’ve read, I liked the 2nd book the best. On to the next ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Everything in this book should’ve been in the first book. Seems unrealistic that anyone could be manipulated to this extent. To sum up the series. The father is an idiot in book one. His son is a bigger idiot in book two 🤷🏾‍♂️

This is the second book I’ve read by Lucinda Berry. The first being Saving Noah. You can check my review on that one if interested. This one has a great plot and will keep most people reading. In my reviews, I don’t like to summarize the book, you can read the cover for that. I like to talk about what I liked/disliked, and about my overall view of the book. No spoilers.

What I liked: I liked the mother and protagonist character development. The rivalry between them kept me reading. I also enjoyed the mother and the Child Protective Investigator’s point of view.

What I disliked: I’m so over the dumb husband trope. Yeah, I understand that it’s used to help the reader emphasize with the female character. Makes her look more competent, believable, and/or intelligent. But it must be another way to accomplish this. You want the reader to believe the husband is intelligent enough to be an orthopedic surgeon, yet he lacks common sense, is easily manipulated, and repeatedly puts his family in immediate danger for no logical reason? Enough already!

In the author’s defense, this is one of her earlier books. So maybe books from 2019 were like this lol. I still love this author and will keep reading her work. Hell, I purchased her entire collection, so I have little choice.

The book has an unsatisfying ending, but I heard she followed up with a short story titled, “A Welcome Reunion” which I will read next. I’m giving this book three-and-a-half stars.

Just like millions of other African Americans in this country, crack cocaine devastated my family. In Chicago, in 1980, I was born into a large, beautiful family. I remember being surrounded by love. Then, suddenly, most of the adults in my family (including my parents) turned into zombies. At 8 or 9 years old, we went from children straight into adulthood. It was like something out of a movie. Our own apocalypse. That story is not being told. Crack destroyed everything. It turned us kids into monsters. We were abused by adults, beat up by law enforcement, ignored by teachers, exploited by the government (even called super predators), repeatedly falsely arrested, kicked out of school, treated as stupid, starved by the system, and many other things.

I had already read “The Cook Up” by D. Watkins and “Buck” by M.K. Asante. So, when I heard about this book, I was ready. “When Crack was King” follows four individuals. The son of a crack addicted father, a female crack addict/sex worker, a former mayor of Baltimore, and a community activist who used to be a drug trafficker. Sounds interesting, right?

What I loved about the book:

It’s a history book, so you’ll find out everything you ever wanted to know about the drug itself, the government’s involvement, cover-ups, statistics, etc. It’s a brilliant book to have if you are looking for a reference book.

What I didn’t enjoy so much:

The stories of the four individuals mentioned above are told by the author. I wanted so badly for the stories to be told by the individuals who experienced them. You may think, well Nick, it’s the same story. Maybe so, but I believe my story can only be told by me so.

This book feels like the author wrote it for people knowing little or nothing about the crack epidemic. I’m looking for a book written for/by someone who lived it. Stories from the dope man and/or the addict. I appreciate the author for telling this story, but I need the needy, greedy. Not the washed down version. I’m given this book four stars. It accomplished what it said it would do.

This was my first Riley Sager book. It wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It had some creepy scenes but not really scary. I’ll give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It kept my attention and had several twists at the end. I will be reading more from him.

I couldn’t wait to read this one, and it didn’t disappoint. As an investigator (in real life) I was all over this. I enjoyed the hidden clues, hidden messages, and relevant stories thrown in at the end of the chapters. This book had me working lol. For example: The Morse Codes message, map, website, the messages I had to translate from Norwegian to English, and symbols we had to decipher using a keyboard.

So what is this story about. It’s about a complicated network of passages that spreads across space and time. It traps people in a maze of never-ending terror. I believe it’s levels to it depending on how long you have entered into it. I think If you’re just a “Host” or “Trespasser”, you can make it out of it. But if you’re there for longer than a month, you can never leave. The longer you’re there, you can earn titles such as, Guest, Guide, Tourists, and Anchor (which is a demon). Or maybe I’m completely wrong and it’s just a variation of Capgras syndrome like Dr. Bjorn Erikson said (who apparently never worked at Hvit Fjell University) 🤷🏾‍♂️

There are a bunch or unanswered questions here which I love. Gives the readers opportunities to discuss.

One of my questions would be this. According to Elijah Faust’s obituary. He married Vera Krauss and they had one child together, Alison Faust.

So where did Thomas Faust come from? He’s claiming that he and Alison are siblings?

Anyway, I can go on and on. I’m giving this a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Hopefully this turns into a movie or something.

Update, it’s been two days since I’ve finished this book. I can’t stop thinking about it and for that reason, I have edited the ranking from 4 stars to a solid 5. I absolutely loved this book!

Great read. It’s an excellent story about a priest who recounts a confession from a vampire named Good Stab. This book is ridiculously satisfying for those who love gory detailed chapters of vampire slaying people and animals to satisfy their appetite for blood 🩸 🩸 🩸. It reads like historical fiction, and can be very slow a times. Also, the language used is from the 1800s and early 1900s. It also contains words used by early Native Americans. Meaning that you may reread sentences, paragraphs, pages, and sometimes entire chapters. I think this book is a masterpiece (especially if you’re used to the author’s writing). Since it was my first book by him, I used the dictionary a lot. For that reason, I’m giving it four and a half stars instead of the five it probably deserves.

I don’t know what to say. I guess I’ll be ready if I ever fight a war 🤣🤷🏾‍♂️. At least I’ve read it.

Wow 😮. This book will have your emotions all over the place. It was crazy from the beginning and only got worse. Book two is clearly a masterpiece. I felt like I was lost in this world and I don’t trust anyone. Betrayal is heavy. Rin is the strongest character I’ve ever read and I would like to be part of The Cike. I enjoyed The Poppy War, but this book was better. I’m giving it 4.5 stars. Chen Kitay is my favorite character and I hate Kezha, That is all 🤣.