Mr. McCane

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.

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.