Criminal Minded by Tracy Brown

Product Details

Synopsis

Lamin Michaels learned at his mother's knee the importance of chasing paper, so it's no surprise he gets into the drug game when he's just a teenager. When he meets Zion, a product of the New York City foster care and prison system, Lamin knows that he has meet the perfect partner in crime. Together, they build a huge narcotics empire.

Then, Lamin falls hard for a beautiful girl named Lucky. Lucky makes Lamin realize that there is more to life than cash and more cash. When Lamin goes legit with a career in the entertainment industry, Zion tries to keep their business going on both the street and the boardroom. It's not long before Zion becomes the target of a corruption scandal involving murder, extortion and money laundering. Once the dirt is exposed, will Lamin and Zion be able to remain one step ahead, or will their paper chasing days haunt them forever?

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Lamin and Zion meet in church, where they've been dragged by their grandmother and foster mother, respectively. Their fast friendship grows even tighter after Lamin is put out of his home by his mother and her abusive boyfriend. He joins Zion in a crack-dealing scheme, and soon the teens are living large. Lamin finds romance with rich girl Lucky, and Zion secretly spends time with his friend's younger sister, Olivia. But after Lamin gets shot in a club, he realizes that it's time to get legit. While he is able to use his drug money to finance a career in music videos, his hustling life always threatens to catch up with him. Lamin, Zion, Lucky, Olivia, and Lamin's ex-con cousin take turns narrating the story, a tactic that makes an already fast-paced tale even more of a page-turner. Each character's perspective illuminates the misguided decisions the others make. However, despite their bad choices, readers will root for them. The language and situations are occasionally explicit, but also perfectly in character for these Staten Island young adults. While some of the story lines are pulled from a variety of rap videos and rapper bios, the plot also has unique twists that will keep readers going. Urban fiction is hotter than ever with teens of both sexes, and this is a strong entry in the genre.-Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Tracy Brown is the author of Black and Dime Piece, which were published by the groundbreaking Triple Crown Publications. She lives in Staten Island, New York, and is currently working on her next novel.