Review of House of Hoops

[Paula Lincoln]

[Following is a volunteer review of "House of Hoops" by June Gillam.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Gentrification, we are seeing urban areas all over our country get bought up by wealthy developers, improving housing and attracting new businesses. The downside is the current inhabitants get displaced and are unable to find comparably priced housing and often end up homeless. House of Hoops by June Gilliam tells a story of how this is happening in Sacramento, by highlighting two lives on different sides of the modernization of downtown. Hillary Broome is promoting the New Years grand opening of the Ans Botha Community Center. The center will bring opportunities for sports in her area, as well as other activities for the enrichment of all youth in the area. Charlie Bierce is a long time resident of the neighborhood where the new center is already located and the developer Sunny Singh is now going before the city council to get approval for a new high rise that would eliminate the neighborhood he lives in all together. There are many layers of the story happening at once making it a tale with many turns.

I really like that the author kept me entertained the entire time. The book was easy to follow and the characters are all tangled up with each other. Many secrets are revealed along the way, giving the book a great depth. The characters are all well developed and you can really get a sense of where they are coming from. This is book 4 in the series of Hillary Broome novels by the author, but this one can certainly be read as a stand alone book.

If I had to offer constructive criticism for the book it would simply be, there is a shooting at the beginning of the book that I never really figured out how it tied to the rest of the book, but it did not keep me from thoroughly enjoying the story.

I would give the book a 5 out of 5 rating. It is superbly written and had me right from the beginning. Just when I thought I knew what was going on a new element would enter the picture and surprise me.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about conflict and resolutions between two very different camps on this subject. The depth of the subject and the author's characters will keep you entertained for hours.

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House of Hoops
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