Title: Blinded Thoughts
Author: Mark Leslie
Genre: Crime Fiction
Audience: Adult, for violence, murder, sex, drugs
Synopsis:
The lives of two young black men from the Harlem "hood" of upper Manhattan in New York become inextricably intertwined through a series of seemingly unrelated events.
Follow Noel -- the Dollar Man -- through his early life on the street, a brief respite in a group home following his parents' arrest for abusing his sister, Jenna, culminating in several years of incarceration at the Bridges Juvenile Detention Facility in the Bronx after making a bold, but short-lived escape from the group home together with one of his roommates.
At the same time, become intimately involved in the parallel life of Terrell -- the Hustler -- who spends most of his life in the home of his grandmother, "Mama B," following his own mother's departure after she murders her friend, and who chooses to drop out of high school in order to embark on a life of drug sales, fast money, sex, and violence.
Until he encounters Noel.
Follow Noel -- the Dollar Man -- through his early life on the street, a brief respite in a group home following his parents' arrest for abusing his sister, Jenna, culminating in several years of incarceration at the Bridges Juvenile Detention Facility in the Bronx after making a bold, but short-lived escape from the group home together with one of his roommates.
At the same time, become intimately involved in the parallel life of Terrell -- the Hustler -- who spends most of his life in the home of his grandmother, "Mama B," following his own mother's departure after she murders her friend, and who chooses to drop out of high school in order to embark on a life of drug sales, fast money, sex, and violence.
Until he encounters Noel.
My Opinion on This Book
I've read a few crime fiction books but this has got to be one of the most intense, drama filled books, from start to finish.
There is a ton of violence and vulgar activity throughout the book, so if that sort of thing offends you, then you should probably stay away from this book.
Noel has a screwed up family-most of his closest relatives are abusive junkies. Him and his sister are exposed to all kinds of traumatic events throughout their early childhood. He ends up in a group home with other kids from screwed up homes.
You'd think his life might get a bit better...not really the case...
Terrell also comes from a screwed up family, well, his mother to be more specific. She is definitely not like any mother that I've ever known. They say that the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree, though right? Although he ends of living most of his life with his grandmother, he still ends up basically following in his mother's footsteps and then some.
There was so much going on in the book. Very realistic and entertaining.
When I first started reading I thought that it was going to be a book about two completely different stories. I had no idea how they were going to connect. And when they did, wow- I did not know it was going to be like that. Very nice ending.
The only thing that bugged me a bit about the book was the fact that at the beginning of every chapter the ending of that chapter was revealed. :(
I'm one of those people who hates the ending to be given before I've finished reading what is going to happen. I like to be surprised.
Other than that, the book was very good, very good story line, great characters, very sad at parts, very surprising at others, and filled with action.
A drug addiction can make people do things way out of the ordinary. It can destroy lives in so many ways. How sad it is that some people truly let drugs, sex, and money rule their lives... This book conveys this and more.
I would love to read another book by Mark Leslie.
If this book sounds like something you might be interested in reading, you can Buy A Copy On Amazon.
**Disclaimer: I was compensated and given a copy of Blinded Thoughts in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.**
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