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Book Review: Marked by Capone

Marked
by Capone
(Life Changing Books)
4 out of 5 Stars


capone marked on amazondotcom

To say that Marked “starts with a bang” is not a cliche: it’s a the literal truth. Capone is an relentless as his namesake when it comes to serving the glaring truth page after page. Set in the “D”, this Detroit tale of street loyalty, mafia suppliers and survival is so detailed that the line between entertainment and information is blurred. Marked details the fall of Detroit drug family .

Gator is a man who seething with violence and greed as he supplies most of Detroit through his Greek connection. Gator sent his nephew Deluxe to the Marines. Although Deluxe thinks the military was Gator’s way of providing refuge from the street life, the opposite is true. Deluxe’s skill as a military-trained sniper is quickly put to use. Caught between guilt and loyalty, Deluxe constantly battles between what he wants to do and what he has to do.

Deluxe also wants to find his father’s killer. Rock is Deluxe’s father and Gator’s big brother. His death is a mystery, and the hood’s no-snitch rule is in full effect. Gator’s right-hand man, Myth, is loyal but his importance is overlooked. Nevertheless, he makes the moves necessary so that Gator can maintain a tight grip on Detroit’s drug trade. Although Gator keeps the family strictly Detroit, Myth’s status allows him to bring in his cousin from New York, Kane. In this kill-or-be-killed lifestyle, everyone is marked for death one way or another.

Capone is an author who is able to serve what makes the streets harsh and beautiful with the same intensity. From the different neighborhoods to the crooked cops to the good girls gone bad to the outside influences on the hood, Marked has all the elements of inner-cities across the nation. Those elements are also common with Urban Lit titles. Capone’s Detroit upbringing and vivid imagination takes the aforementioned elements and twists them into a perfect knot. Marked shows the reader exactly why nothing and nobody can be trusted in the hood.

When I first looked at the book cover, I wasn’t too impressed. This was especially true since it was published by Life Changing Books, whose book covers almost always features some seductive eye candy. After reading Marked, I would have felt an under-dressed woman would have done this book a disservice. Although there were sex scenes in Marked, they were well-placed and did not take away from the main focus of the plot. In taking a more probing look at the book cover, I felt that it symbolized the amount of greed and corruption inherent in street life that many outsiders can not easily see. You really have to look into the letters of Marked on the book cover, as if you are an outside. You can’t just a book by it’s cover, but once you start on that first page…

While I was reading Marked, I envisioned actors Gary Anthony Sturgis as Gator and Nate Parker as Deluxe. My conflict with Marked as a reader was Gator. He stole the show. I think Capone’s intentions were for Deluxe to be the main character. Naturally, I wanted to emotionally attach myself to Deluxe because he was the good guy in a bad situation. Gator’s intensity, one-liners, his lack of control and mindset out-shined almost everything any of the other characters did. If Gator was written any differently, Marked would have been missing an important and thoroughly entertaining component.

Capone’s Marked is a well-crafted debut novel where he paints a ruthless dog-eat-dog picture of Detroit’s underworld where death is always around the corner. There isn’t much room for a sequel because of the plot twists and the surprise ending, but I’m sure Capone’s next literary offering will be progressively better as her grows as a writer.

Reviewed by Joey Pinkney dot com

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Book Review: Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia – A Life in Poems by Patricia Neely-Dorsey

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
by Patricia Neely-Dorsey
(GrantHouse Publishing)
4 out of 5 Stars


patricia neely mississippi magnolia on amazondotcom

In a time where most people shun being called “country”, Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s Reflection of a Mississippi Magnolia embraces all that is Mississippi country living. Before you can even open this collection of poetry, you are greeted with the beauty of a magnolia, Mississippi’s state flower.

Neely-Dorsey’s poems vividly and collectively paint a picture of a life that is simple yet provides rich experiences. From the authentic Southern menu found in “Soul Food Restaurant” to the culture depicted in “Yardsaling”, this collection of poetry gives more than a glimpse into lives of the good people of Mississippi. From the “Southern Man” poem where the main character fixes the back fence to the truth found in “If Mississippi’s In You”, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia shows a genuine pride in Southern culture.

I spent many summers in the small town of Winona, MS, where my dad still lives. I can say with confidence that Neely-Dorsey is an artist of words. Her images are painted vividly across the canvas of your mind as you thumb through her musings. Her words and rhyme patterns are simple, yet the complex imagery the words evoke will whisk yo down memory lane. I remember the “muscadines ripen[ing] on winding vines” (from “A Country View”) and using Vick’s Vapor Rub on everything “from arthritis to [a] bee sting” and “on chest or back” (from “Country Cure (All)”).

With Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia, Patricia Neely-Dorsey gives the world a book that is part biography, part rhymes, part imagination but all Mississippi!

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Book Review: From the Soul of a Woman by Valorie N. Parker

From the Soul of a Woman: Love Shouldn’t Hurt
Valorie N. Parker
(Vision Press Publishing)
4 out of 5 Stars


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Valerie N. Parker’s From the Soul of a Woman is much more than a woman escaping abuse. It was much more than the pain she endured. This book details Parker’s journey into and out of a major trial in her life, her marriage to an abusive preacher. She details how her growth is Jesus while still a child gave her the strength and direction to come out on the other side with a prosperous career and four beautiful children.

Parker first heard the voice of the Lord at about five years old. She didn’t know where it had come from; her cousin had to tell the source. Later in her teenage years, God would again visit her while she was sinking in a drunken depression. The shock of the Lord’s presence woke her from her stupor.

Again, the Lord spoke She shared her joy in the Lord and was able to claim her little brother as her first convert based on faith. Parker spent the next few years doing the Lord’s work and getting closer to God. It would be years before she was actually Saved. At 19, she found the Lord while anxious to leave a New Year’s service.

Her next stage in life was 19 years of marriage. Parker knew the preacher who would become her husband. He grew up near her grandparents. Their marital bliss came to an abrupt halt when he slapped her in the face in front of another couple who went to her church. From there, she endured verbal and physical abuse while giving birth to and raising four children. While fronting like the perfect Christian couple at church, Parker fell into a deep depression that would have taken the unbeliever.

Instead of succumbing to her husband’s ignorant ways, she was able to overcome the fear and doubt that she had for her own abilities. Although she had the gift to preach and minister into the souls of man, she chose to stay in her husband’s shadows.

That same voice that had been with her since kindergarten gave her will to strike out on her own and make a better life for her children. A chance meeting with Les Brown allowed her to use her God-given gift to the fullest, and From the Soul of a Woman glows because her testimony.

Valerie N. Parker has provided a sermon that will summon your soul to the summit of sweet victory. From the Soul of a Woman is not about being abused; it’s about how Jesus will help you turn that trial into a triumphant testimony. This book should be required reading for anyone who is truly ready “Let Go and Let God”.

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