Review of Carmelo's Way:187 Assassins

[E Daves]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Carmelo's Way:187 Assassins" by A.G Deberry.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In a long while, I haven't read a book as wholesome, raw, and truthful as Carmelo's Way: 187 Assassins by A.G. Deberry. During and after reading it, I constantly reflected on how I had perceived the Black and Muslim communities. The author of this book, A.G. Deberry, did not hide or mince words in his narration of this story. The book is the third in the series but is easily a stand-alone.

Carmelo's Way: 187 Assassins by A.G. Deberry is a character-based story about the complicated lives of the Assassins, Carmelo (leader of the Assassins), and their immediate and extended families. The story crisscrossed their love, gang, and family lives. An act of police brutality against young Tyrone Junior led to the deaths of two police officers. The following events led to the discovery of family ties and long-lost family members. While families are reunited, different gangs look to eliminate rivals, and the police look for retaliation. As the tension grows, who will survive the heat?

This book tries to show what it means to be black. It has themes of racism, police brutality, gang violence, and family. It exposes the sort of hatred that a black person has for his fellow blacks and how they react differently when a white man does a far worse thing to them. There are about three generations of each crip, and most of their names progress from the primary name to 'Lil' and then to 'Baby.' The gang-related slang might be confusing initially, but you will get acquainted with them soon enough, just as I did. I must warn you, though, that this is a character-based story. Readers who dislike books with many characters will find it frustrating.

There were several things I loved about Carmelo's Way: 187 Assassins by A.G. Deberry. First, the book was well plotted and had an interesting storyline. The author of this book, A.G. Deberry, is nothing short of a talented writer. He is detailed, analytical, and realistic in his writing. He expressed each theme strongly and vividly. I also liked what he did in chapter 133, titled "Knowledge." It made me happy to know that a way forward was put forth for readers who could relate to the book. The story was told from a third person's point of view, with each chapter focusing on one character. Almost all the chapters are titled with the character's name to be focused on at that moment. This method helped me get to know each character on a personal level. Characters like Roscoe, Marshall, Alex, etc., all touched my emotions differently. Furthermore, each chapter is concise, making the book flippable and easy to read.

There are some negative aspects to this book that I observed. First, the full meaning of some abbreviations, such as C.V.L., U.V.L., S.G.C., P.T.O., etc., was not given. I don't know if the author expected all his readers to be familiar with some of the crip abbreviations. Second, there are many characters introduced at once. One would get lost, forget some characters, and mistake them for others. After reading chapter 2, I had to start all over from chapter one because the characters mentioned were already overwhelming, and I did not know who was who. Third, the spelling of some characters' names was inconsistent. For instance, when Casey and Kadejah were introduced first in the book, their names were spelled as Cassie and Khadijah. However, in many places in the book, their names were spelled the other way. The book was professionally edited, as I encountered only one error while reading it. However, some sentences were hard to understand and were not properly structured. I had to carefully and slowly read to understand them. I even had to reread some sentences often.

It is emotionally painful for me to have to remove a star from this book. Its concept and storyline are spectacular, plus it was well written with unmatched passion. However, with all the negative things I noted, I cannot give it a perfect score, so I am rating Carmelo's Way: 187 Assassins by A.G. Deberry 3 out of 4 stars.

I would recommend it to people who love to read gang-life books. If you can't stand the truth or stand to see racism, police brutality, and violence in their raw form, then do not read this book. It also contains a lot of profane words, drug use, and sexual content. It includes prayers and texts from the holy books of both Islam and Christianity.

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Carmelo's Way:187 Assassins
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[Famzi Ken]

The title of this book is attractive. Your description of the is interesting. However, too much characters overwhelm me too. It might affect me while reading. Great review

[Gavice Victoria]

I'm impressed by how well you have reviewed this book. You summarized the book so well and in detail, still making sure you didn't give out spoilers. I enjoyed reading this review. Thank you for being honest.

[Chimereucheya Okoroafo]

Even your review is quit wholesome. I wonder if those abbreviations may be found in the previous books in the series. This book sounds nice and better with the way you spoke about it but I think that blacks are lingering in the past and present of racism and things of the sort, instead of finding a way to leap over all the brutality. Anyway, I enjoyed reading this review.

[Fams Pee]

Though I dislike dealing with numerous characters, but I can simply tell from this review that the storyline is engaging. Since it can be read as a standalone, I can consider reading it. Thanks for giving a detailed review.

[Victoria Ukamaka]

This book has such deep and interesting themes. It's a pity that even in this age, racism and police brutality still prevails. When we will we all learn to love each other irrespective of race and color?

[Elendu Clement Ekechukwu]

I don't think I would want to read a book with so much violence buried beneath it. However, I hope that people who love gang star life benefit from this book.

[Judy O]

Your review was quite extensive, I loved it, however, I don't like the fact that this book which centers on blacks is associated with racism, gang violence, and negative things. The book's theme does not sit well with me. Nicely written.

[Azuka Jessica]

I love the three adjectives that the author used to describe the book. It makes me want to get right to it immediately. The book's cover page did well to reflect the book's themes. Thanks for an honest review.

[third agbata]

I am captivated by your review, and i think this will be a great read for me.

[Success Azuka]

Your review is nice but the negative comments will discourage lots of persons that will read your review. Thanks for the review. The author did well in creating understanding with readers although I am not sure it worked.

[Christabel Egbeama]

The book seems to have a lot going on which is good and bad for me. By good, I mean the book deals with very critical topics which are further addressed. By bad, I mean the various characters involved in the book. There's no doubt that I might feel overwhelmed and loose count of them. However, this is an amazing review. Well done!

[E Daves]

The title of this book is attractive. Your description of the is interesting. However, too much characters overwhelm me too. It might affect me while reading. Great review

I do give it to the person who designed this book's cover. He/she did a great job because it is truly beautiful. Thank you so much for taking out time to read my review. I really appreciate.

[E Daves]

Even your review is quit wholesome. I wonder if those abbreviations may be found in the previous books in the series. This book sounds nice and better with the way you spoke about it but I think that blacks are lingering in the past and present of racism and things of the sort, instead of finding a way to leap over all the brutality. Anyway, I enjoyed reading this review.

That is an angle I didn't consider. Maybe the abbreviations can be found in the previous books in the series. However, the author should have still provided their full meanings for readers. Not many readers will read the books in the order they were published.

[E Daves]

Though I dislike dealing with numerous characters, but I can simply tell from this review that the storyline is engaging. Since it can be read as a standalone, I can consider reading it. Thanks for giving a detailed review.

I dislike numerous characters too, but I try to write out the characters when I'm reading. That way, I can go through my list several times to get myself acquainted with the characters.