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Kings of Vice #1
Kings of Vice
Ice-T's experience with crime and gangs in Los Angeles and his years on Law & Order: SVU make him the perfect person to tell this thrilling story of revenge and redemption. Kings of Vice marks a new entry into the type of urban fiction immortalized by writers like K'wan, Elmore Leonard, and Donald Goines.
Twenty years ago, Marcus "Crush" Casey was the leader of the Vicetown Kings, the most powerful crime syndicate in New York City. Then he was betrayed by his second-in-command and sent to prison.
Now he's back on the streets and he has a lot more on his mind than just getting even.
He needs to take back everything he lost: Find the friend who betrayed him and killed his only son, keep the cops at bay, and resist the one woman he knows he can't have. His time on the inside gave him a conscience and he also wants to help clean up the crime-infested neighborhoods that used to be his home.
Crush will take back the Vicetown Kings and guide them to protect the city and its citizens ... or die trying.
Twenty years ago, Marcus "Crush" Casey was the leader of the Vicetown Kings, the most powerful crime syndicate in New York City. Then he was betrayed by his second-in-command and sent to prison.
Now he's back on the streets and he has a lot more on his mind than just getting even.
He needs to take back everything he lost: Find the friend who betrayed him and killed his only son, keep the cops at bay, and resist the one woman he knows he can't have. His time on the inside gave him a conscience and he also wants to help clean up the crime-infested neighborhoods that used to be his home.
Crush will take back the Vicetown Kings and guide them to protect the city and its citizens ... or die trying.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 13, 2011
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Ice-T
22 books84 followersTracy Marrow, better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor.
He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years. He began his career as a rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays. The next year, he founded the record label Rhyme Syndicate Records (named after his collective of fellow hip hop artists called the Rhyme Syndicate) and released another album, Power.
He co-founded the rap metal band Body Count, which he introduced in his 1991 album O.G.: Original Gangster. Body Count released its self-titled debut album in 1992. Ice-T encountered controversy over his track "Cop Killer", which was perceived to glamorize killing police officers. Ice-T asked to be released from his contract with Warner Bros. Records, and his next solo album, Home Invasion was released later in the fall of 1993 through Priority Records. Body Count's next album was released in 1994, and Ice-T released two more albums in the late 1990s.
Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD Detective Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years. He began his career as a rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays. The next year, he founded the record label Rhyme Syndicate Records (named after his collective of fellow hip hop artists called the Rhyme Syndicate) and released another album, Power.
He co-founded the rap metal band Body Count, which he introduced in his 1991 album O.G.: Original Gangster. Body Count released its self-titled debut album in 1992. Ice-T encountered controversy over his track "Cop Killer", which was perceived to glamorize killing police officers. Ice-T asked to be released from his contract with Warner Bros. Records, and his next solo album, Home Invasion was released later in the fall of 1993 through Priority Records. Body Count's next album was released in 1994, and Ice-T released two more albums in the late 1990s.
Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD Detective Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 29, 2012
"Kings of Vice" is not an amazing book, but I really enjoyed reading it on a beach in Mexico. Look at the cover, it reveals exactly what the story has to offer: Un peu de fromage mixed with gritty street crime action. Ice-T is a superb story teller, but not a remarkable novelist. He spins a good yarn, but doesn't paint a perfect image. So if it is great prose you're looking for... keep looking. But if you want a good street hustling, gang banging, bullets flying, easy read, then I definitely recommend "Kings of Vice." It reads more like a movie or TV script at times, clearly revealing Ice-T's background in film. And there are a few sentences that accidentally(?) rhyme evidencing his nature to rap. I do hope they make the book into a movie, I will definitely rent it. - For the record, good novelist or not, Ice-T is the godfather of gangster rap. Big ups.
June 30, 2015
I wanted to love this novel. Law and Order: SVU is my favorite TV show, and Ice-T plays one of my favorite characters. But I can’t say I loved it.
I did like this novel. It was a really interesting story. But it felt so long! I understand the need for setup time, the need for a number of other moves before the big ending, but it seemed to drag. 300 hundred pages they danced around the climax, and in less than 30 pages it was over, and the book had completely wrapped. The dialog was a bother to me. The slang seemed overdone and unnecessarily prevalent.
I’ll have to go relatively middle of the road here, 3 out of 5. I feel like this happens a lot. Perhaps my expectations are a bit too high?
https://messycountersandflouredpaperb...
I did like this novel. It was a really interesting story. But it felt so long! I understand the need for setup time, the need for a number of other moves before the big ending, but it seemed to drag. 300 hundred pages they danced around the climax, and in less than 30 pages it was over, and the book had completely wrapped. The dialog was a bother to me. The slang seemed overdone and unnecessarily prevalent.
I’ll have to go relatively middle of the road here, 3 out of 5. I feel like this happens a lot. Perhaps my expectations are a bit too high?
https://messycountersandflouredpaperb...
August 5, 2011
Not my typical type of book.I thought that I would not like this book.But I was surprised that I actually did.Reading it was like watching a movie.It doesnt give away too much so you are always guessing what will happen next.It lets you know just enough to keep you wondering and wanting to continue on to find out.
December 8, 2011
Ghost-writing aside, the prose in this book sound exactly like Ice-T talks (at least, on TV). It's cliched, predictable, and hackneyed. It's also a novel by Ice-T, which makes it all worth it. In all seriousness, this is not the worst book I've read on purpose in the last five years, and as an Ice-T fan, it was quite enjoyable.
October 5, 2016
I was surprised when I was in the library and I saw a novel written by Ice-T. I will admit that this book is not a very in depth prose, but I still enjoyed it. This book made me think of Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines and the gritty novels they wrote about the streets. This book was a tamer story about street life but it was good. I would read another of Ice-T's novels. Keep up the good work Ice.
July 13, 2011
I've won this book in a goodreads contest. I've heard great things about it, and I'm dying to read this book.
July 20, 2012
I just won this book and looking forward to a good read!
June 4, 2012
I loved the non-stop action of this book and suspense of what would happen next.
July 7, 2012
this was one of the best books i read in a while . well written, gritty, suspensefull. i wonder how much of a contibution ice t had in this book.
January 18, 2013
Interesting story of a parole-ed former gang leader. Violent but not violence for violence's sake.
February 9, 2017
Three stars for entertainment value. I enjoyed it and it was an easy read.
December 4, 2019
Being a fan of Law & Order: SVU and Ice-T, I was excited to read this book and it didn't disappoint. Marcus "Crush" Casey walks out of prison after twenty years....planning his long awaited revenge. Violence, crime, anger and betrayal all play roles when "getting even." A page turner with plenty of twists to keep you guessing as to what will happen next, who will lose their life and will the plan all fall in to place. Would I read another book written by Ice-T....definitely yes!
July 4, 2012
Could not finish the book, got to 44%, and old not continue.
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March 15, 2013It was ok. It started to get good towards the end though
May 4, 2024
I was super into urban novels when I read this one (I still am, but mainly female character based tbh).. After reading a novel by 50 Cent I decided to try this one by Ice-T and it was a good story.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews