Book picks similar to
Never Die Alone by Donald Goines
fiction
urban
african-american
donald-goines
The Emperor of Ocean Park
Stephen L. Carter - 2002
The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard--old families who summer on Martha's Vineyard--and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school. It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime.The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends. Many years before, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.But now the Judge's death raises, even more, questions--and it seems to be leading to a second, even more, terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with "the arrangements"--a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father's past. When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott--wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action--must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, packed with character and incident--a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, integrity tested, and justice has gone terribly wrong.
When You Look Like Us
Pamela N. Harris - 2021
No one looks twice at a missing black girl from the projects because she must’ve brought whatever happened to her upon herself. I, Jay Murphy, can admit that, for a minute, I thought my sister, Nicole, got too caught up with her boyfriend—a drug dealer—and his friends.But she’s been gone too long now.If I hadn’t hung up on her that night, she’d be spending time with our grandma. If I was a better brother, she’d be finishing senior year instead of being another name on a missing persons list. It’s time to step up and do what the Newport News police department won’t.Nic, I’m bringing you home.
Blues Dancing
Diane McKinney-Whetstone - 1999
She was the pampered daughter of a prosperous rural preacher when she came to Philadelphia in the seventies -- and he was a conservative professor at the university she was attending, the man who rescued Verdi from an ugly addiction, and left his sophisticated wife for her when he fell in love with the confused young southern girl. It was another student, a poor and militant city boy named Johnson, who awakened Verdi's passionate heart and taught her to love heroin. But Johnson was an obsession Verdi closed her eyes to but never got over, and now he has come back into her life -- rekindling with one look the fire that still smolders in the ashes of the past, sending them both skidding dangerously and uncontrollably toward the mad desires of their youth.
Exposed
Naomi Chase - 2011
. .On the brink of a major promotion, Tamia Luke is within reach of the glitzy life she's always dreamed of--until her client, Dominic "Nico" Archer, blackmails her into becoming his mistress, threatening to reveal her scandalous past. Tamia has no choice but to submit to his demands. But the tables turn when her hostility towards Nico is replaced with insatiable lust. No man--including her boyfriend--has ever satisfied her the way he does. And as her infatuation grows, the closer she comes to losing everything--including her life.
On Us
Nina. - 2020
Her sister Ivy, who she loved more than anyone in the world and Vant who had taken care of her like she was his own blood, told her for years Ky was no good. Their relationship didn’t start ideally, but the love she had for him began long before they became public to the world. What was once a fairytale turned into a nightmare, and Avery felt like it was karma. She didn’t have any business being with Ky then, and the torment she had been put through showed they weren’t meant to be together presently.Lake Porter, a man who dedicated his life to taking care of his brothers and living by his father’s word, finally catches up to the feelings he tried so hard to fight. Love wasn’t in the cards for him, and he had come to terms with that until a prissy, sometimes crazy, vibrant woman, shows him that he isn’t so cold and his heart did pump. She isn’t fazed by his mean persona and deadly dark eyes. Lake out of his comfort zone, and in the presence of a woman so alluring with energy so contagious, finds himself at the end of a bullet from the love gun. He quickly finds out that being with the woman of his choosing comes with baggage that he doesn’t mind carrying. But will Lake be able to break her from the curse that is his sworn enemy?
The Widower's Wife
Cate Holahan - 2016
Ana is gone--leaving behind her wealthy husband and adorable daughter--but not everything about her disappearance adds up. What secrets did she leave behind?Investigator Ryan Monahan is a numbers man. So when his company sends him the Bacon case, which could net a ten-million-dollar payout, Monahan doubts that her death is just a tragic accident. But the husband has a substantial alibi and a number of witnesses claim to have seen Ana fall, and the official ruling seems to hold up.Still, the more Monahan uncovers about Ana’s life, the more he realizes how many people would kill to keep her secrets hidden. And the closer he gets to the truth, the greater the odds grow that he, too, will take a fatal fall.
Entangled
K. Elliott - 2003
Entangled is a love story between a major drug trafficker and a history teacher. The subplots include a black DEA agent with divided loyalty. He wants to do his job and rid the streets of drugs but on the other hand he knows that the system is corrupt and it targets minorities, this story has all the elements of a major motion picture.
Father and Son
Larry Brown - 1996
After being released from prison, Glen Davis returns to his hometown only to commit double homicide within forty-eight hours of his return. Sheriff Bobby Blanchard, as upright as Glen is despicable, walks in the path of Glen’s destruction and tries to rebuild the fragile ties of the families and community they share. Dark secrets that have been simmering for two generations explode to the surface, allowing us a chilling glimpse at how evil can fester in a man’s heart and eat up his soul.“This is the novel that will live with you day and night.” — Kaye Gibbons“Cancel the competition for the suspense thriller of the year. Larry Brown has already won it with Father and Son.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch“Larry Brown is one of the great unsung heroes of American fiction... His work is a reminder of a reason to read.” —San Jose Mercury News
Harlem Shuffle
Colson Whitehead - 2021
He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time. Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either. Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the “Waldorf of Harlem”—and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes. Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs? Harlem Shuffle’s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem. But mostly, it’s a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.
Baby Momma
Ni'chelle Genovese - 2010
Caught up in a game of fast money, faster women, and a hustler's dream, Rasheed's secrets and lies threaten to completely sever his alliance with his baby's mother Michelle. Trapped in an emotional whirlwind of sex, love, and mistrust, Michelle attempts to hold the threads of their lives together. With the passing of each day their bond unravels further forcing Michelle closer to confronting the reality which is her life or suffering in silence. A cautionary tale for all "Baby Mommas" filled with tragedy,irony,violence and betrayal.
Ride or Die
Solomon Jones - 2004
Handsome, ambitious Jamal-a street-savvy crack dealer-is the son of North Philly's most notorious drug kingpin. A history of violence and betrayal lies between their fathers, who are now bitter enemies. After one of his church members is gunned down-with a bullet he is sure is meant for him-Pastor Anderson goes after Frank Nichols, determined to drive him from the neighborhood for good. There's just one problem: Keisha and Jamal are in love.When the families face off on opposite sides of an anti-drug demonstration, a high-ranking police official is killed in the crossfire, and Jamal becomes the prime suspect in the murder. Keisha is left with a choice. Will she stay with her father, in the confines of the sheltered world she's known, or will she venture into the unknown in order to help Jamal clear his name? She chooses Jamal, and in a whirlwind flight across the seamy underside of Philadelphia, Keisha will risk everything for love. Even her life.
The Pelican Brief
John Grisham - 1992
In a seedy D.C. porno house a patron is swiftly garroted to death... The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal brief... To Darby Shaw it was no more than a legal shot in the dark, a brilliant guess. To the Washington establishment it was political dynamite. Suddenly Darby is witness to a murder -- a murder intended for her. Going underground, she finds there is only one person she can trust -- an ambitious reporter after a newsbreak hotter than Watergate -- to help her piece together the deadly puzzle. Somewhere between the bayous of Louisiana and the White House's inner sanctums, a violent cover-up is being engineered. For someone has read Darby's brief. Someone who will stop at nothing to destroy the evidence of an unthinkable crime.
Speaking In Tongues
Jeffery Deaver - 1995
One seeking only peace. The other, violence." Tate Collier, once one of the country's finest trial lawyers, is trying to forget his past. Now a divorced gentleman farmer, land developer, and community advocate in rural Virginia, he's regrouping from some disastrous mistakes in the realms of love and the law. But controversy -- and danger -- seem to have an unerring hold on Tate. Even as he struggles to rebuild his life, his alter ego is plotting his demise.Aaron Matthews, a brilliant psychologist, has turned his talents away from curing patients to far deadlier goals. He's targeted Tate, Tate's ex-wife, Bett, and their estranged daughter, Megan, for unspeakable revenge. Matthews, ruthless and hell-bent, will destroy anything that inhibits his plans. When their daughter disappears, Tate and Bett reunite in a desperate, heart-pounding attempt to find her and to stop Matthews, a psychopath whose gift of a glib tongue and talent for coercion are as dangerous as knives and guns. Featuring an urgent race against the clock, gripping details of psychological manipulation, and the brilliant twists and turns that are trademark Deaver, "Speaking in Tongues" delivers the suspense punch that has made this author a bestseller. It will leave you speechless.
Crackhead
Lisa Lennox - 2005
In the late `80s and early `90s, the crack epidemic swept through inner city communities like the plague. Mothers abandoned their children and took to the street for a hit. Fathers sold everything they owned to get a taste. The crackhead was rampant. Some neighborhoods were never the same. Enter Laci Johnson, a privileged, smart, beautiful teenage girl from across town, who teams up with The South Bronx Bitches - an infamous girl group known for chasing men and money. When the SBB becomes envious of Laci they devise a plan to destroy her life. Finding love in the most unexpected of places, Laci turns to a local drug dealer to help save her and heal the wounds of her new addiction.