Review: As junkies, we are constantly.....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2012
...drawing lines in the sand. Lines that we think we will NEVER cross. If we do then we promise ourselves (and those unlucky folks around us), that we will end the behavior. Sometimes this does happen. More times it doesn't. "I'll just smoke weed, but never in the morning." Line crossed. "I'll never smoke weed laced with cocaine or crack..." Line crossed. "I'll never go to someone's house and go through their medicine cabinet searching for drugs...ANY drugs...just to take the edge off." Line crossed. "I'll never hit the pipe...." Line crossed. "I'll never steal to feed my habit...." Line crossed. This is what happens to the central character of this short but gripping novel. Willie Champion is a star player in Atlanta, destined for the pros. His eventual surrender to drugs is an old-tale, but it is told in such a gripping, fast-paced, and ultimately sad way, that the story is fresh. Mr. Salaam is, at this point, self-publishing (I believe.) What are you publishers waiting for. I've read four of his novels-this one plus the three DOPE BOY series-in the past two days and am about to download the fifth later on. The author's story is rough, and he doesn't pull punches, but isn't that what good fiction is about? Somebody should sign this author to a contract soon because Mr. Salaam is, like the GREAT Hubert Selby (LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN), a chronicler of his age and time. I for one am hooked (no pun intended....)