He Had It Coming

by Camika Spencer

Five Women. A Man. And a Plan.

Meet Marcus Brooks. He's gorgeous. He's successful. He's the bestselling author of African American fiction. He's also the most obnoxious male alive....

Meet Raylene, Naomi, Thelma, Gwena, and Latice. They are five women who belong to a reading group, strong women with strong opinions. They don't take any grief from anyone (well, not if they can help it), and their friendships have stood the test of time. One night they meet up with bestselling author Marcus Brooks. At first they are in awe. Then they are puzzled. Next they're enraged. How can a man whose books are loved by millions act like such a dog? Words are exchanged---and more---and they soon get in way over their heads. The book club takes Marcus captive---and the longer they hold him, the more complicated things get. Can these five women rehabilitate the most arrogant author in the world and teach him a few lessons about life, writing, and women? He Had It Coming is a wickedly delicious novel, as shocking as it is hilarious---a delightful send-up of fame and success.

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2004

Reviews

[April Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. The main character Marcus has to be the most arrogant man I ever read about. The things these women did to teach him a lesson was outrageous. Very well written.

[Kara Jorges · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marcus Brooks is a bestselling author who doesn’t seem to like women much, and his publisher is threatening to halt his new book unless he changes its title to something less incendiary and sexist. Marcus is full of himself and refuses, but then he steps out of line with the wrong women and find himself a captive of five ladies who want to teach him a lesson.

Raylene had been grooming herself as the perfect preacher’s wife, until she came across her fiancé in a compromising position with another woman. Gwena has no man and doesn’t think she really needs one. Naomi is married, but having some issues with her husband. Latice has a son ready to enter college, who keeps distressingly quoting Marcus Brooks. Thelma is a veterinarian and quite a tough woman. When the five of them scuffle with Marcus Brooks, he winds up chained under Thelma’s sink.

This is a cute little romp exploring relations between the sexes, but the plot lacked focus. Once the women kidnap Marcus, the story essentially goes nowhere, the “lesson” he’s supposed to learn unclear, and their methods for teaching it even murkier. The book also suffered from an excess of characters. Five female leads was far too many and only managed to convolute the plot rather than contributing to it. Raylene’s story was interesting and I was amused by her epiphany, and Thelma was a stand-out character, but the others blended together and used too much ink. While the author has an engaging style, the lack of plot and crowd of characters left me feeling unsatisfied in the end. For a truly great story with a similar topic, I recommend Eric Garcia’s “Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys.”

[Kellea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. Overall, this was a very well written book. I do feel a few of the storyline threads could have been a little more drawn out, like the relationship between Marcus and his mother and the budding friendship/relationship between Marcus and Thelma. One thing I hate is a weak ending and this book definitely had a very weak ending. I would have liked the author to had maybe written a couple hundred more pages and explored the aftermath of the kidnapping, the media coverage, and public opinion. I also would have liked for Marcus and these women to have had a confrontation, either on a talk show or in a court sanctioned counseling session. Marcus clearly needed his own counseling and that would have been a nice touch. I just think it was all wrapped up just a little too neatly when there wss clearly wsy more drama to be drawn from the story.

[Shala Howell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fun to read a book set in Dallas, and I enjoyed the basic storyline, but I felt the writing itself left something to be desired. Too choppy for my taste. Some of the dialogue was tedious too. At one point Raylene wishes to herself that the conversation she was in would just end and I found myself saying "Amen!"

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that the concept of the book was great and well executed. However, I took one star off for excessive vulgarity. The next star I took off was for the fact that as a 17 year old white girl, I am not the target demographic at all.

All in all I don't regret reading the book, and I enjoy a quick read.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast moving, truly entertaining glimpse into the world of five very realistic black women who meet up with a male chauvinist outside of a jazz club as he is assaulting a beggar. They brawl, the women kidnap him in order to teach him a lesson and it goes on from there. Refreshing, fun, and well worth the read.

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This went all over the place, good start, bad finish"

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept is terrific, which made me buy it. But the execution left a lot to be desired. It was all over the place and hard to complete. I would not recommend it.

[Lina Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great, must-read book!

[Anngi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the storyline was different from the typical "girlfriend" type storyline which contributed to my enjoyment. I liked that the setting was in Dallas.

[Croyle Smith]

Kind of raunchy, but funny in the end. When you have to sit in a car for 2 and a half hours its nice to have a fast read.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the movie 9 to 5 gone terribly wrong. But the friendship between the bookclub women was worth the read!

[Kevia · Rating 5 out of 5]

lol! the book is awesome. that was my first book by the author and i can honestly say that im looking foward to reading another one by her.