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The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York's Bloods and Crips
The Linden Triangle: Linden Avenue and Linden Place, Hempstead, Long Island. At this blighted intersection, seemingly forgotten by the middle and upper class communities that surround it, the dream of suburban comfort and safety has devolved into a nightmare of flying bullets and bloodshed. Here, a war between the Bloods and Crips has torn a once-peaceful neighborhood apart.The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York's Bloods and Crips, tells the true story of one year in the life of a suburban village-turned-war-zone. Written by Kevin Deutsch, award-winning criminal justice reporter for Newsday, it follows two warring gangs and the anti-violence activists and police desperate to stop them. As the body
count climbs and conflict spreads to New York City, young men wielding military grade weaponry wage a prolonged battle over pride, respect, revenge, and their legacies.Based on immersive reporting and interviews with more than 250 gang members, their families, drug addicts, police, and others, this is the first insider account of a New York Bloods-Crips gang war from the only journalist ever given access to the crews' secretive realm. The Triangle is a chilling investigation of a world in which teenagers shoot their childhood friends over gang allegiance; where rape is used as a form of retaliation; and once-promising students are molded into cold-blooded assassins.
count climbs and conflict spreads to New York City, young men wielding military grade weaponry wage a prolonged battle over pride, respect, revenge, and their legacies.Based on immersive reporting and interviews with more than 250 gang members, their families, drug addicts, police, and others, this is the first insider account of a New York Bloods-Crips gang war from the only journalist ever given access to the crews' secretive realm. The Triangle is a chilling investigation of a world in which teenagers shoot their childhood friends over gang allegiance; where rape is used as a form of retaliation; and once-promising students are molded into cold-blooded assassins.
214 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2014
30 people are currently reading
823 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Deutsch
2 books28 followersKevin Deutsch is an award-winning journalist, host of the literary true crime podcast “A Dark Turn” on Authors on the Air Global Radio, and author of two books: “The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York’s Bloods and Crips,” and “Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire.” He is the general assignment and Jewish communities reporter for Talk Media, an award-winning chain of local news sites covering Broward County, Fl. Previously, he was the senior staff writer at The Miami Times in Miami, Fl., a staff writer at New Mexico's Rio Grande SUN and, before that, worked as the crime reporter for the Talk Media chain, including Coral Springs Talk. He has also worked as a staff writer at the New York Daily News, Newsday, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, The Riverdale Press, and Bronx Justice News. Read his work at www.kevindeutsch.us.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 17, 2017
The author was on the street with Blood and Crips gangs in Hempstead, Long Island, a suburb of New York City. One usually doesn’t associate Long Island with gangs and violence – but Hempstead is only one example of the spread of the violent drug selling subculture to suburban areas.
This is a very brutal book and sad. Young men are drawn into this nether world by their friends and sometimes family. They get a sense of belonging and comradeship. They are troops on the front-line. And of course there is big money – cash on hand (more attractive than a direct deposit every two weeks with deductions).
But there is also violence. The gangs have become parallel enforcers in the community. No one in the community goes to the police to report crimes because they know what the gangs do to snitches. And if they can’t get you – they go after your family. The author illustrates how the gangs are now interconnected – they will contact their brethren hundreds of miles away to go after a relative. Nothing is forgotten, no slight forgiven. They now have connections with their suppliers – the Mexican drug cartels.
This makes for a depressing read sometimes. Once a community is overrun by the gangs the police and local government are overwhelmed.
There is not much in this book about the addicts (the customers) – and there would appear to be a large number of these. The dialogue of the gang members is used throughout the book and most of it is foul. They sell mostly crack-cocaine. There is no mention of meth.
I particularly admired (a change for me) the religious folks from the local churches who would march out late Friday evenings (the peak time of dealing) and attempt to have prayer sessions with the gang members. This takes guts. Even by getting a few of these guys, for a short interval to stop selling crack, is a small victory. Anything to get their minds distracted from the world of their fellow gang-member friends is good.
This is a very brutal book and sad. Young men are drawn into this nether world by their friends and sometimes family. They get a sense of belonging and comradeship. They are troops on the front-line. And of course there is big money – cash on hand (more attractive than a direct deposit every two weeks with deductions).
But there is also violence. The gangs have become parallel enforcers in the community. No one in the community goes to the police to report crimes because they know what the gangs do to snitches. And if they can’t get you – they go after your family. The author illustrates how the gangs are now interconnected – they will contact their brethren hundreds of miles away to go after a relative. Nothing is forgotten, no slight forgiven. They now have connections with their suppliers – the Mexican drug cartels.
This makes for a depressing read sometimes. Once a community is overrun by the gangs the police and local government are overwhelmed.
There is not much in this book about the addicts (the customers) – and there would appear to be a large number of these. The dialogue of the gang members is used throughout the book and most of it is foul. They sell mostly crack-cocaine. There is no mention of meth.
I particularly admired (a change for me) the religious folks from the local churches who would march out late Friday evenings (the peak time of dealing) and attempt to have prayer sessions with the gang members. This takes guts. Even by getting a few of these guys, for a short interval to stop selling crack, is a small victory. Anything to get their minds distracted from the world of their fellow gang-member friends is good.
March 10, 2018
This book sucks...where do I start?
"The Triangle" is a reporter's 'first hand' account of a year in the lives of Crips and Bloods gang members in the community of Hempstead, Long Island, NY. Both gangs, long associated with the urban center of NYC, have now moved out into the suburbs. Priced out of their former boroughs through gentrification, the suburbs of Long Island and its surrounding towns are now the setting of murders and gang warfare, as well as open air drug markets run by both gangs.
Much of this book takes place during a gang war between the two sets. It's not a pretty picture. There are accounts of beatings, rapes, and murders on both sides, reported with the same mind-numbing, casual tone as one would describe a routine activity such as making a sandwich. The Crips strike the Bloods by gunning down one of their high ranking members, Bloods then retaliate by kidnapping and raping a Crip female associate. The circle repeats itself over and over as each gang goes back and forth, back and forth. By page 75, I was completely annoyed with this.
Which brings me to the major problem here: the tone of this book. For narrative-style nonfiction to be effective, there has to be emotion in it. It's a true story, but it's still a story, the people in it have to live outside the page. Otherwise, reading about them is just boring, pointless facts. This book, unfortunately, is just boring pointless facts. There’s no emotional investment in this story by the author or by me in reading it. Here, the main players sling drugs, smoke weed, terrorize their community, then die in a hail of bullets. A lot. At no point did I feel any emotion over this, just irritated at the voyeuristic nature of the violence.
Another problem: much of the action of this book takes place through dialogue. In a note at the end, the author mentions that only about 40-50% of the events were witnessed by him first hand. This means that the majority of this book's events were inferred by the author, or solely based on the verbal accounts of the subjects (even the author admits that gang members have a tendency to lie or embellish details to bolster their reputation on the street). How much, then, of this story is really true? A quick Google search of the author's name turns up several accusations of suspicious journalism practices for work he did on a later book. For all we know, this book could be mostly fiction too, passed off as nonfiction with the use of fake/nonexistent sources.
I don't recommend this book at all. If you really want in-depth, emotionally gripping stories of gang related violence and the urban drug culture beyond just play-by-play tales of violence, I would check out the work of David Simon. He's written "Homicide: Life on the Streets," "The Corner," and, of course HBO's show "The Wire." Much better writing too. Check that out.
"The Triangle" is a reporter's 'first hand' account of a year in the lives of Crips and Bloods gang members in the community of Hempstead, Long Island, NY. Both gangs, long associated with the urban center of NYC, have now moved out into the suburbs. Priced out of their former boroughs through gentrification, the suburbs of Long Island and its surrounding towns are now the setting of murders and gang warfare, as well as open air drug markets run by both gangs.
Much of this book takes place during a gang war between the two sets. It's not a pretty picture. There are accounts of beatings, rapes, and murders on both sides, reported with the same mind-numbing, casual tone as one would describe a routine activity such as making a sandwich. The Crips strike the Bloods by gunning down one of their high ranking members, Bloods then retaliate by kidnapping and raping a Crip female associate. The circle repeats itself over and over as each gang goes back and forth, back and forth. By page 75, I was completely annoyed with this.
Which brings me to the major problem here: the tone of this book. For narrative-style nonfiction to be effective, there has to be emotion in it. It's a true story, but it's still a story, the people in it have to live outside the page. Otherwise, reading about them is just boring, pointless facts. This book, unfortunately, is just boring pointless facts. There’s no emotional investment in this story by the author or by me in reading it. Here, the main players sling drugs, smoke weed, terrorize their community, then die in a hail of bullets. A lot. At no point did I feel any emotion over this, just irritated at the voyeuristic nature of the violence.
Another problem: much of the action of this book takes place through dialogue. In a note at the end, the author mentions that only about 40-50% of the events were witnessed by him first hand. This means that the majority of this book's events were inferred by the author, or solely based on the verbal accounts of the subjects (even the author admits that gang members have a tendency to lie or embellish details to bolster their reputation on the street). How much, then, of this story is really true? A quick Google search of the author's name turns up several accusations of suspicious journalism practices for work he did on a later book. For all we know, this book could be mostly fiction too, passed off as nonfiction with the use of fake/nonexistent sources.
I don't recommend this book at all. If you really want in-depth, emotionally gripping stories of gang related violence and the urban drug culture beyond just play-by-play tales of violence, I would check out the work of David Simon. He's written "Homicide: Life on the Streets," "The Corner," and, of course HBO's show "The Wire." Much better writing too. Check that out.
March 1, 2018
Having worked in Hempstead for the past 8 years, I felt I had to read this book once I heard about it. This is a true account of the Bloods and the Crips war played out on the streets of Hempstead, known as the "Triangle". This particular "war" took place between 2012-2014 but is it shocking to learn about the prevalence of gang activity on Long Island and throughout the country.
"At 45 years and counting, the nationwide Bloods-Crips conflict has gone on longer than any war in the history of the United States. It claimed approximately 20,000 lives, most of them young black men involved in the drug trade... but also many innocents: little boys and girls caught up in the crossfire; mothers, fathers and grandparents cut down by stray bullets; and members of law enforcement murdered while serving their communities".
-- This paragraph makes me wonder where the outrage is about these black lives that are being cut short due to violence on a daily basis in our country?!
This book was in parts terrifying, sad, horrifying and difficult to read, but I feel I got a real history lesson of Long Island and gang activity that I was completely naive to before.
"At 45 years and counting, the nationwide Bloods-Crips conflict has gone on longer than any war in the history of the United States. It claimed approximately 20,000 lives, most of them young black men involved in the drug trade... but also many innocents: little boys and girls caught up in the crossfire; mothers, fathers and grandparents cut down by stray bullets; and members of law enforcement murdered while serving their communities".
-- This paragraph makes me wonder where the outrage is about these black lives that are being cut short due to violence on a daily basis in our country?!
This book was in parts terrifying, sad, horrifying and difficult to read, but I feel I got a real history lesson of Long Island and gang activity that I was completely naive to before.
December 18, 2014
A terrific, well researched and well written chronicle of the madness that is the drug fueled war between Bloods and Crips in one American city and how it affects the lives of gangsters and law abiding citizens. Hard to believe that this lifestyle and this philosophy can be seen in our cities. America has it's own Sunni v. Shi'ite style war right on its own streets. It is amazing that this whole Black Lives Matter uproar over a few police killings of black men takes media precedent over covering the real waste of black lives, including innocent men, women and children. This is what Al Sharpton and his ilk should be organizing outraged marches over, this story tell the ultimate story that Black Lives Don't Matter and they choose to turn a blind eye to inner city genocide.
October 13, 2025
A more compact version of the Wire, provides an interesting (sometimes embellished) look at gang warfare in suburban NYC.
March 10, 2016
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. From the first page, I was hooked. Of course I had heard about gangs and seen things on TV, but reading an account from someone who actually followed two gangs around for a year and witnessed their every day lives was still eye-opening.
February 23, 2021
I enjoyed Kevin Deutsch's "Pill City" and decided to read this because I spent most of the 90s living on Long Island for my middle and high school years. Where I lived it was rare to see a police car, hear a siren, know someone charged with a crime or someone who was the victim of a crime. In hindsight, it seems like a rather privileged upbringing although I'd never consider myself privileged. During a couple of summers during college (2002 and 2003) I worked at a law firm in East Meadow and my daily commute took me past Hempstead High School while driving on Peninsula Blvd. So when I was reading this book I went onto Google Maps to see just how far I lived from the events discussed here and it was a mere 6.4 miles or a 16 minute drive. And I thought, holy crap! I drove right by The Triangle 5 days a week for 2 summers straight and had absolutely no idea how dangerous it was. No clue that it was a hotbed for drug activity.
Now as for this book. It obviously chronicles one year following the Bloods and the Crips. I'm no longer that naive teenager which could be why I gave it just 2 stars because it reads no different than what you would see in any other city where rival gangs are fighting over turf that inevitably results in a vicious cycle of retaliatory violence. Someone from Gang 1 gets shot by someone from Gang 2, so someone from Gang 1 shoots at someone from Gang 2, and they go back and forth like a game of tennis the innocents in this story being the people who live there and can't afford to move and are subjected to the constant violence. I guess if you live in a part of the country where gangs are absent this would be a more interesting and eye-opening read. From a simple socioeconomic perspective when you think about all the wealthy towns and suburbs on Long Island to find this enclave of rampant drug and criminal activity that is controlled by the country's most notorious gangs is entirely unexpected, even for someone who lived in close proximity to it.
Now as for this book. It obviously chronicles one year following the Bloods and the Crips. I'm no longer that naive teenager which could be why I gave it just 2 stars because it reads no different than what you would see in any other city where rival gangs are fighting over turf that inevitably results in a vicious cycle of retaliatory violence. Someone from Gang 1 gets shot by someone from Gang 2, so someone from Gang 1 shoots at someone from Gang 2, and they go back and forth like a game of tennis the innocents in this story being the people who live there and can't afford to move and are subjected to the constant violence. I guess if you live in a part of the country where gangs are absent this would be a more interesting and eye-opening read. From a simple socioeconomic perspective when you think about all the wealthy towns and suburbs on Long Island to find this enclave of rampant drug and criminal activity that is controlled by the country's most notorious gangs is entirely unexpected, even for someone who lived in close proximity to it.
March 31, 2019
Numbers: Bodies. Dollars. Kilos. Arrests. Drugs. Towns, cities, villages. Mr. Deutsch explores the national problem by living in the pockets of two warring gangs---Bloods and Crips---in an NYC suburb. He does so for two years. Then adds reams of research and published it all in 2014. Being a few years out of date doesn't matter. It only means more misconceptions and myths have built up, like crud on the bottom of a boat. And more bodies.
With all his expertise we are given no sure-fire, workable solutions to the problem. We know we can't stop the stuff from getting into the backyard. We tried huge, mandatory penalties, resulting in a gigantic windfall for the builders and maintainers of private prisons. We have counseling programs on every other street corner, on farms, on dude ranches, on sailing ships: none work. We've spent a trillion dollars on prevention and interdiction, all of which the growers and vendors wrote off as the cost of doing business.
And on the blocks surrounding The Triangle boys and men and women die, are crippled, get raped, get trapped, are brainwashed into the quaint American code of silence.
"The Triangle" is a powerful look at reality, on a par with "The Wire" (Season 1) and any number of fictionalized accounts of life on the streets.
Perhaps sales of this book will see an increase now that illicit pharmaceuticals have leaped the boundary streets and started to lay waste to white neighborhoods. Formerly, driving into drug selling territory in a Beamer of Porsche or late model Volvo gave one a bit of a pass. ---Grab your drugs and flee.--- Now the buyers are scooting back to McMansion Manor and dropping from overdoses. With any luck, some of the white power structure who have been profiting from the drug trade for decades will start to feel the pain.
Recommended.
With all his expertise we are given no sure-fire, workable solutions to the problem. We know we can't stop the stuff from getting into the backyard. We tried huge, mandatory penalties, resulting in a gigantic windfall for the builders and maintainers of private prisons. We have counseling programs on every other street corner, on farms, on dude ranches, on sailing ships: none work. We've spent a trillion dollars on prevention and interdiction, all of which the growers and vendors wrote off as the cost of doing business.
And on the blocks surrounding The Triangle boys and men and women die, are crippled, get raped, get trapped, are brainwashed into the quaint American code of silence.
"The Triangle" is a powerful look at reality, on a par with "The Wire" (Season 1) and any number of fictionalized accounts of life on the streets.
Perhaps sales of this book will see an increase now that illicit pharmaceuticals have leaped the boundary streets and started to lay waste to white neighborhoods. Formerly, driving into drug selling territory in a Beamer of Porsche or late model Volvo gave one a bit of a pass. ---Grab your drugs and flee.--- Now the buyers are scooting back to McMansion Manor and dropping from overdoses. With any luck, some of the white power structure who have been profiting from the drug trade for decades will start to feel the pain.
Recommended.
September 20, 2018
The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York’s Bloods and Crips is an in-depth account of the war between the rival groups. It provides details and insights regarding the war and ways to bring peace. Most importantly it outlines the Terrace-Bedell initiative which talks about “...Support for the dealers is offered...simultaneously, heavy police resources are called in to close down the drug market” which may be the best way to address the issue.
The first hand accounts and insights into the mindset is also important: “When people getting shot, nobody cares about the dugs getting sold behind the bodies” which shows that at the end of the day. All gangster bosses care about is the money, not the people. Which ought to provide a deterrent for youth looking to get into gangs.
Finally, the book provides an incredible and harrowing insight into youth crime and PTSD, similar to that of war veterans. This is an important point as the reality of these young men’s lives is often overlooked. A fantastic read for anyone related to the youth crime field.
The first hand accounts and insights into the mindset is also important: “When people getting shot, nobody cares about the dugs getting sold behind the bodies” which shows that at the end of the day. All gangster bosses care about is the money, not the people. Which ought to provide a deterrent for youth looking to get into gangs.
Finally, the book provides an incredible and harrowing insight into youth crime and PTSD, similar to that of war veterans. This is an important point as the reality of these young men’s lives is often overlooked. A fantastic read for anyone related to the youth crime field.
March 20, 2018
Many years ago I read Do or Die by Leon Bing, which I was completely fascinated by. This book is very similar in experiences, but provides almost a blow by blow account of one extremely violent year in the life of New York Bloods and Crips. The author had very unique access to both sides of the war and the accounts provided reflected such. There were a few chapters that became difficult to read, mainly due to some of the tactics employed by gangs against their enemies. The light at the end of the tunnel is something rarely seen here. A well researched and written book that provides a look into a world so many will never see or understand.
January 11, 2021
The author of this book spent a full year on the ground covering, and getting to know the players involved in, a war between the Bloods and Crips for control of "The Triangle", a lucrative intersection for drugs in Hempstead, NY, on Long Island. Maybe a little heavy on "names and dates" at the expense of creating an emotional attachment to the people involved, it's still meticulously reported and shows the effects of the drug war at street level.
January 18, 2020
Very well written but very disturbing and sad
July 5, 2020
wow, who knew all this was happening just a few miles from where I live. Scarey.
October 14, 2021
Read it in less than 24 hours. Crushing and harsh, but unbelievable source about gang wars, poverty and the effects of the war on drugs in suburban USA
January 9, 2015
http://ensuingchapters.com/2015/01/07...
For a harrowing year, journalist Kevin The TriangleDeutsch shadowed the gang-bangers of Hempstead, Long Island, in a place known as the Linden Triangle—ground zero of a 2012 turf war that turned an already rough neighborhood into a slaughterhouse. Forget the stereotypes of suburban Long Island. Think The Warriors rather than The Great Gatsby.
Dramatically reconstructed from interviews, legal records and first-hand experience, The Triangle is as fast-paced and action-packed as a first-rate thriller—a literary narrative as entertaining as it is troubling. The cast includes leaders, hitters and corner crews from both the Bloods and Crips; the terrorized residents of Hempstead; cops, criminologists and others in the justice system; and a minister who leads midnight prayer groups on the corners.
Deutsch stitches together their stories with a novelist’s skill. He’ll (rightfully) earn high marks in the press for his research and daring, but his ability to manage this Dostoyevskian cast without disrupting the narrative flow is worth noting.
Racial and social problems emerge that are intrinsic to the drug war. Incarceration and surrounding gentrification has turned Hempstead into an island of poverty. The gangs are the biggest employers in the Triangle, and those who would oppose the gangs are financially trapped in their territory.
Deutsch doesn’t give us an easy out. The reader is forced to confront the capriciousness of life in Hempstead, the social and legal conditions that created it and the self-defeating strategies of the gangsters that maintain a vicious status quo.
There is something heroic about the ability to survive in this environment, particularly in defiance of hateful neighbors (one Nassau County government official recommends that they “carpet-bomb Hempstead”: “Let the blacks and Hispanics go back to New York City. They’re better off there. Long Island isn’t that kind of place.”) Yet, Deutsch is wise to avoid romanticizing thug life, and not afraid to reveal the cowardice of its so-called soldiers:
Tyrek, leader of the Crips set, earned his membership by stabbing a pregnant teenager in the stomach. His ace card in the turf war is a suckerpunch, not a fair fight. J-Roc, a rising soldier in the Bloods, talks a big game, but struggles to intimidate a senior citizen. Ice, leader of the Bloods, helps promising kids get an education, yet orders the kidnapping and gang-raping of his rivals’ sisters, girlfriends and mothers.
Sadly, for all the lip service about honor, the Crips and Bloods mostly prey on the vulnerable. The true casualties of this war are the women in the crossfire. “The gangsters see sexual violence as a strategic and tactical weapon, as important to their arsenal as guns and blades,” Deutsch writes in the chapter “Extreme Tactics,” which includes the retaliatory abduction and gang rape of a female Crips employee.
At least the victim, in this case, actually works for the gang. That is not a prerequisite. Flex Butler, a Crips lieutenant, brags about assaulting the 15-year-old sister of a guy who’d stolen $2,000 worth of cocaine.
“‘[He] was hiding from us,’ Flex says. ‘So we got his sister when she was walking home from school. She fought hard, but there was a lot of us.’”
So yeah, these are not sympathetic characters. Deutsch doesn’t condemn, patronize, glorify or victimize, but presents the residents of Hempstead in all their unresolved moral complexity. For the most part, he avoids the cinematic histrionics common to gang narratives. The lone exception is D-Bo, a promising kid whose attempt to escape the corner gets a bit of the Hollywood treatment. Much is made of the timing of a confrontation with his gang (even though he’d been at home for a month), which leads to a chase scene, a misunderstood shooting and a dramatic exchange between the corner boy and the officer who tried to help him escape while awaiting the paramedics.
But I’ll forgive Deutsch this one instance of going for the heart strings. Otherwise, this is an unflinching look at the fear, fame and futility of gang warfare.
Strong writing, compelling characters and front-line reporting make this an entertaining read, but Deutsch’s detached, yet compassionate handling of the material makes The Triangle an important one as well.
For a harrowing year, journalist Kevin The TriangleDeutsch shadowed the gang-bangers of Hempstead, Long Island, in a place known as the Linden Triangle—ground zero of a 2012 turf war that turned an already rough neighborhood into a slaughterhouse. Forget the stereotypes of suburban Long Island. Think The Warriors rather than The Great Gatsby.
Dramatically reconstructed from interviews, legal records and first-hand experience, The Triangle is as fast-paced and action-packed as a first-rate thriller—a literary narrative as entertaining as it is troubling. The cast includes leaders, hitters and corner crews from both the Bloods and Crips; the terrorized residents of Hempstead; cops, criminologists and others in the justice system; and a minister who leads midnight prayer groups on the corners.
Deutsch stitches together their stories with a novelist’s skill. He’ll (rightfully) earn high marks in the press for his research and daring, but his ability to manage this Dostoyevskian cast without disrupting the narrative flow is worth noting.
Racial and social problems emerge that are intrinsic to the drug war. Incarceration and surrounding gentrification has turned Hempstead into an island of poverty. The gangs are the biggest employers in the Triangle, and those who would oppose the gangs are financially trapped in their territory.
Deutsch doesn’t give us an easy out. The reader is forced to confront the capriciousness of life in Hempstead, the social and legal conditions that created it and the self-defeating strategies of the gangsters that maintain a vicious status quo.
There is something heroic about the ability to survive in this environment, particularly in defiance of hateful neighbors (one Nassau County government official recommends that they “carpet-bomb Hempstead”: “Let the blacks and Hispanics go back to New York City. They’re better off there. Long Island isn’t that kind of place.”) Yet, Deutsch is wise to avoid romanticizing thug life, and not afraid to reveal the cowardice of its so-called soldiers:
Tyrek, leader of the Crips set, earned his membership by stabbing a pregnant teenager in the stomach. His ace card in the turf war is a suckerpunch, not a fair fight. J-Roc, a rising soldier in the Bloods, talks a big game, but struggles to intimidate a senior citizen. Ice, leader of the Bloods, helps promising kids get an education, yet orders the kidnapping and gang-raping of his rivals’ sisters, girlfriends and mothers.
Sadly, for all the lip service about honor, the Crips and Bloods mostly prey on the vulnerable. The true casualties of this war are the women in the crossfire. “The gangsters see sexual violence as a strategic and tactical weapon, as important to their arsenal as guns and blades,” Deutsch writes in the chapter “Extreme Tactics,” which includes the retaliatory abduction and gang rape of a female Crips employee.
At least the victim, in this case, actually works for the gang. That is not a prerequisite. Flex Butler, a Crips lieutenant, brags about assaulting the 15-year-old sister of a guy who’d stolen $2,000 worth of cocaine.
“‘[He] was hiding from us,’ Flex says. ‘So we got his sister when she was walking home from school. She fought hard, but there was a lot of us.’”
So yeah, these are not sympathetic characters. Deutsch doesn’t condemn, patronize, glorify or victimize, but presents the residents of Hempstead in all their unresolved moral complexity. For the most part, he avoids the cinematic histrionics common to gang narratives. The lone exception is D-Bo, a promising kid whose attempt to escape the corner gets a bit of the Hollywood treatment. Much is made of the timing of a confrontation with his gang (even though he’d been at home for a month), which leads to a chase scene, a misunderstood shooting and a dramatic exchange between the corner boy and the officer who tried to help him escape while awaiting the paramedics.
But I’ll forgive Deutsch this one instance of going for the heart strings. Otherwise, this is an unflinching look at the fear, fame and futility of gang warfare.
Strong writing, compelling characters and front-line reporting make this an entertaining read, but Deutsch’s detached, yet compassionate handling of the material makes The Triangle an important one as well.
January 15, 2017
This book is a really good book but it’s different in it’s own way, but with this type of way the book was told there is no main character, it goes on between two different gangs, bloods and crips. This book is told from someone who interviewed some of the gangsters, residents, and the police. The book takes place in Hempstead, New York. In Hempstead, there is a gang territory, the worst place in the city, in the triangle gangsters sell drugs, shoot enemies, rape women, beat people, and stab people. In the story the author does a real good job explaining the character’s lives, the gangsters live a life you wouldn’t imagine or never think of it. In the book they tell you about how they make money off of drugs, stealing from rival gangs, shootings that they plan out, where there drugs come from, how some people get raped, and how they brutally beat people. Throughout the begining they describe this crazy world that they live in, the struggles they go through, and the people that left them or died from the triangle, such as drug overdoses or getting hit by a stray bullet, not meant for them, just missing the target. But then towards the ending it mellows out and they talk about how the police tries to stop this gang war, and how gangsters want to turn their lives around for their own good. In the book there was a marching group, who were a group of men in their 50’s and they would ask the gangs to pray with them so they could be safe with a few prayers.
I really enjoyed this book, the length wasn’t to much or too little. The reason why I like to read these type of books are because they explain so good the struggles and what they live through on a daily basis. It’s kind of relatable to me and people that I know who live through this type of life. I also like these types of books because they are real, and aren’t made up. These books are really inspirational because they tell you that this gangster can’t go nowhere but end up dead or in prison and next thing you they end up moving out, getting married and live trouble free. If you aren’t in a gang, or you aren’t a drug dealer or live in a position where you could end up dead, then you could be more successful because I read books related to this book and this one is another book to the list and some of the gangsters actually go to college and graduate and leave their life behind. I really liked the marchers who were peaceful, weren’t breaking or vandalizing anything, gave the gangsters all their patience and time, and they go on those streets late at night risking getting killed by gangsters and crackheads, just to turn their life around for their own good. All they did was ask to pray, to me that was very kind because throughout the book people move out because they lost all their faith in the triangle and gangsters.
I really enjoyed this book, the length wasn’t to much or too little. The reason why I like to read these type of books are because they explain so good the struggles and what they live through on a daily basis. It’s kind of relatable to me and people that I know who live through this type of life. I also like these types of books because they are real, and aren’t made up. These books are really inspirational because they tell you that this gangster can’t go nowhere but end up dead or in prison and next thing you they end up moving out, getting married and live trouble free. If you aren’t in a gang, or you aren’t a drug dealer or live in a position where you could end up dead, then you could be more successful because I read books related to this book and this one is another book to the list and some of the gangsters actually go to college and graduate and leave their life behind. I really liked the marchers who were peaceful, weren’t breaking or vandalizing anything, gave the gangsters all their patience and time, and they go on those streets late at night risking getting killed by gangsters and crackheads, just to turn their life around for their own good. All they did was ask to pray, to me that was very kind because throughout the book people move out because they lost all their faith in the triangle and gangsters.
February 23, 2015
So this book. Uggh...it made me so angry. In a nut shell it's by a journalist who followed the Bloods and the Crips for a year in Hempstead and then told their story. First off I have to say I was impressed by the way these gangs operate their businesses. They are running multi-million dollar operations like precision military units. That's not to say that I condone the whole dealing illegal drugs, killing people aspect of their businesses, just that if you could put them in legal settings you would have ruthless, much admired businessmen. The fact that some of the lowest members on the gang ladder can make several hundred dollars a day far outweighs the lure of the minimum wage job. The Crips and the Bloods have been around for a long time and there's no shortage of young men to take the place of someone when they get killed. Law enforcement seems to be fighting a losing battle with these gangs. So that's the part I liked.
What I didn't like was how horrific and dangerous the writer made Hempstead seem. Based on this book you would think that on any given day you would see drug deals and shootings going on in the street. That simply is not the case. In a side by side crime rate comparison, Hempstead comes in lower on property crime and only slightly higher on violent crime than some places that most people wouldn't even think twice about walking through at night. Yes, Hempstead has some issues, but it also has some fascinating history. To make people so fearful of that area that they avoid it would be a shame. Hempstead is working hard to improve and books like this just play into outdated ideas. The author admits that he only witnessed 40 to 50 percent of what he's writing about. The rest of his information came from interviews and it seems from his own imagination. He should have just stuck to the facts
What I didn't like was how horrific and dangerous the writer made Hempstead seem. Based on this book you would think that on any given day you would see drug deals and shootings going on in the street. That simply is not the case. In a side by side crime rate comparison, Hempstead comes in lower on property crime and only slightly higher on violent crime than some places that most people wouldn't even think twice about walking through at night. Yes, Hempstead has some issues, but it also has some fascinating history. To make people so fearful of that area that they avoid it would be a shame. Hempstead is working hard to improve and books like this just play into outdated ideas. The author admits that he only witnessed 40 to 50 percent of what he's writing about. The rest of his information came from interviews and it seems from his own imagination. He should have just stuck to the facts
January 19, 2015
We are a country at war. Yes, I know the troops are returning home from the Middle East and terrorists are afoot, but this conflict has been raging within our borders for decades and the body count is horrendous. And these soldiers do not get pensions or much PTSD care, though communities often pay for their physical rehabilitation after they are wounded. And there seems little hope of cessation of hostilities. Scarily, while reports of mass killings south of the border garner headlines, one wonders when a similar event will happen here. And it is no one's fault but our own. Although recent journalistic exposes have left many in the reading public wary of the reconstructed conversations and thoughts of participants, there does not seem to be a reason to disbelieve Deutsch's reporting or information. His book opens a tiny window into the ongoing modern economic and military struggle to dominate the sale of drugs in a corner of Long Island, but it is a microcosm of what many communities struggle with, with varied participants. In this case, the warring sides are the Bloods and Crips, battling for control of crack distribution (as well as other illegal activities) in The Triangle. These skirmishes have a host of colorful predecessors historically, as gangs and mafia-like groups have waged war before these combatants, and will likely continue even as the participants morph and reorganize, one group taking any opportunity when weakness is shown. It is disheartening. As long as their is demand and big money to be made, these demons we will have.
September 2, 2016
This story takes place in Long Island, Hempstead. The streets are Linden Avenue, and Linden Place. These make a triangle that the two street gangs the Bloods, and the Crips, have turned into a drugged infested war zone between these two gangs. The author give you a behind the scenes look at the people living in the neighborhood who can’t leave and the pain it has caused them in their lives. He also talks to a returning vet who with his PTSD, feels like he is still in the war especially after his wife leaves him. A women who has lived in the neighborhood since it was the place to be and does not want to move because she is hoping for a change. She passes away. This is not a feel good book by any means this is just a little look at what life is like for anyone throughout the country living in many neighborhoods like this one. Murder, rape, drug addiction, and many other crimes are committed but go unreported for many reasons. The author explains this in the book. This is a very graphic but true life story that has taken away a generation, and now is working on another one with no hope for change and not being able to leave the hood even when they have it planed accept for an ambulance. Be ready for a good story about real life on the streets and the author does not pull any punches when writing. A very good book that actually members of Congress should be force to read. Won’t happen. Very good book! I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
April 5, 2015
Fascinating true story - almost in the style of Hunter Thompson - in that the author actually was very involved with befriending two of the most viscous gangs, the Crips and Bloods. The decades long war between these gangs is deadly. The author pretty much put himself in the line of fire. He spent a year investigating "The Triangle", a poor neighborhood in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, Long Island, NY, and not all that far from my bucolic suburb in the Town of North Hempstead.
The violence seems fictional, could so many killings and other acts of violence be taking place on Long Island? Apparently so. Both gangs are literally at war over sales of illegal drugs on the street. Each defending their turf or street corners.
It wasn't until the afterward that Kevin Deutsch explained what he went through to get the unbelievable story. While reading this incredible story, I thought that the dialogue and some incidents were fictionalized. But upon finishing the book I learned that the author gained the confidence of some gang members, and that this book was an amazing true account by the author, who is an investigative journalist. I wish he had put this information in a "Forward", as the book read more like historical fiction. But there was no fiction in this book. Everything was true!
The book captured my attention from beginning to end. It is a great read about a culture of gang violence that is a real eye opener, a book that is impossible to put down.
The violence seems fictional, could so many killings and other acts of violence be taking place on Long Island? Apparently so. Both gangs are literally at war over sales of illegal drugs on the street. Each defending their turf or street corners.
It wasn't until the afterward that Kevin Deutsch explained what he went through to get the unbelievable story. While reading this incredible story, I thought that the dialogue and some incidents were fictionalized. But upon finishing the book I learned that the author gained the confidence of some gang members, and that this book was an amazing true account by the author, who is an investigative journalist. I wish he had put this information in a "Forward", as the book read more like historical fiction. But there was no fiction in this book. Everything was true!
The book captured my attention from beginning to end. It is a great read about a culture of gang violence that is a real eye opener, a book that is impossible to put down.
January 3, 2015
Informative, revealing, but it seems like a prelude to the real deal (The Corner is about 500 pages).
I admire the author's courage, in immersing himself in this subculture, befriending the people of these rival sets at great risk to himself. My impression after reading the book and author's note is that he could have easily been shot at any time, for so much as a wrong look. That said, I felt like the book disappoints its sources and material. Gang members on both sides of this conflict die throughout the story, but hardly any of it resonates because there are only character sketches here. The writing style is as drab and uninspired as the setting, and, given the material the book draws from, that seems like a huge waste. It is possible to write a high-energy account, with crisp, clear, accurate description of setting and character while retaining journalistic integrity; it is possible a non-fiction story reads as compellingly as fiction, and I wish the book had strived for that.
The Triangle is good, good enough. A bare-boned, worthwhile read for those interested in gang life, and what it's like inside. But for those who only have time or inclination to read one book on the subject, there are better books out there, like the aforementioned book by Simon & Burns, The Corner.
I admire the author's courage, in immersing himself in this subculture, befriending the people of these rival sets at great risk to himself. My impression after reading the book and author's note is that he could have easily been shot at any time, for so much as a wrong look. That said, I felt like the book disappoints its sources and material. Gang members on both sides of this conflict die throughout the story, but hardly any of it resonates because there are only character sketches here. The writing style is as drab and uninspired as the setting, and, given the material the book draws from, that seems like a huge waste. It is possible to write a high-energy account, with crisp, clear, accurate description of setting and character while retaining journalistic integrity; it is possible a non-fiction story reads as compellingly as fiction, and I wish the book had strived for that.
The Triangle is good, good enough. A bare-boned, worthwhile read for those interested in gang life, and what it's like inside. But for those who only have time or inclination to read one book on the subject, there are better books out there, like the aforementioned book by Simon & Burns, The Corner.
April 26, 2017
I won a copy of this book through a goodreads giveaway. While I think the content of this book may be insightful and well researched, I struggled with the tone/style of the book. Much, if not most, of the action in the book takes place as dialogue. At the end of the book, the author mentions that 40-50% of the events described were witnessed first-hand, though the dialogue is not necessarily exact. This leaves 50-60% of the dialogue inferred or constructed, which I feel takes away from the authenticity attempted.
Further, I would like to echo one or a few other reviews that have mentioned the hopeless nature of the book/outcome. While the gang/drug wars are certainly prevalent, there are a large number of citizens in the area not involved with gangs or violence who are not really given a voice. Yes, the violence affects them, but I think the work would have been stronger to present other citizen perspectives on the situation.
I recommend reading Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America for a more in depth perspective on gang related violence.
Further, I would like to echo one or a few other reviews that have mentioned the hopeless nature of the book/outcome. While the gang/drug wars are certainly prevalent, there are a large number of citizens in the area not involved with gangs or violence who are not really given a voice. Yes, the violence affects them, but I think the work would have been stronger to present other citizen perspectives on the situation.
I recommend reading Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America for a more in depth perspective on gang related violence.
March 2, 2015
Into the streets
The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York’s Bloods and Crips by Kevin Deutsch (Lyons Press/Globe Pequot, $16.95).
Kevin Deutsch is an experienced criminal justice reporter with Newsday, and The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York’s Bloods and Crips is the outgrowth of some long-term reporting he did on street gangs.
The Triangle is an area in Hempstead, Long Island; once a very nice neighborhood, it’s gone far beyond “blighted” as drug-running gangs shoot it out for dominance while their customers try to score and the area’s residents try to fight back. Deutsch’s reporting chops are evident, as is his willingness to immerse himself in the neighborhood. The stories he tells aren’t limited to shooters, drug dealers and users; instead, he gets inside the neighborhood to show us the range of people affected by—and, in many cases, determined to stop—the violence. The Triangle is excellent reporting and engrossing reading, with insights into how troubled neighborhoods become that way.
Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com
The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York’s Bloods and Crips by Kevin Deutsch (Lyons Press/Globe Pequot, $16.95).
Kevin Deutsch is an experienced criminal justice reporter with Newsday, and The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York’s Bloods and Crips is the outgrowth of some long-term reporting he did on street gangs.
The Triangle is an area in Hempstead, Long Island; once a very nice neighborhood, it’s gone far beyond “blighted” as drug-running gangs shoot it out for dominance while their customers try to score and the area’s residents try to fight back. Deutsch’s reporting chops are evident, as is his willingness to immerse himself in the neighborhood. The stories he tells aren’t limited to shooters, drug dealers and users; instead, he gets inside the neighborhood to show us the range of people affected by—and, in many cases, determined to stop—the violence. The Triangle is excellent reporting and engrossing reading, with insights into how troubled neighborhoods become that way.
Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com
June 16, 2015
I've never read much about gang wars, so this book about the gang war between the Bloods and the Crips in Hempstead was an eye opener for me. The professional level at which these crews run their drug operation, the level of violence, the honor and stupidity it takes to keep this endless cycle going, it's mind-blowing. I admire the author's courage to spend so much time with these dangerous gangs and I question his sanity at the same time.
However, considering the access he had, the book is kind of disappointing. He gets the facts straight I'm sure, but it lacks emotional power. The key to great narrative non-fiction (which I read a lot of) is to bring characters to live. That doesn't happen here. A whole bunch of main characters die, but nowhere do you feel any emotion over that, other than annoyance at the incredible amount of violence.
Still, it's a fascinating look into gang culture and I'll be sure to find some more books on this topic.
However, considering the access he had, the book is kind of disappointing. He gets the facts straight I'm sure, but it lacks emotional power. The key to great narrative non-fiction (which I read a lot of) is to bring characters to live. That doesn't happen here. A whole bunch of main characters die, but nowhere do you feel any emotion over that, other than annoyance at the incredible amount of violence.
Still, it's a fascinating look into gang culture and I'll be sure to find some more books on this topic.
April 28, 2015
I'm glad I wasn't the only sheltered person who read this book and immediately began thinking "the Wire." There's a blurb on the jacket with another reference to the beloved HBO drama.
I don't know what to say about this book other than it involved a lot of emotions, none of them good. It's amazing we have ignored this war going on inside our borders that claims the lives of so many young people. It's just incredible...the things happening within these pages are so far from my experience that it made me feel guilty. We often forget how privileged we are if we don't live in a warzone and haven't had multiple young family members cut down by bullets and addiction, but this experience is often just a few blocks away from our sheltered ones.
I don't know what to say about this book other than it involved a lot of emotions, none of them good. It's amazing we have ignored this war going on inside our borders that claims the lives of so many young people. It's just incredible...the things happening within these pages are so far from my experience that it made me feel guilty. We often forget how privileged we are if we don't live in a warzone and haven't had multiple young family members cut down by bullets and addiction, but this experience is often just a few blocks away from our sheltered ones.
January 24, 2016
The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York's Bloods and Crips by Kevin Deutsch (Lyons Press 2014) (364.1066). The Linden Triangle in Hempstead, New York is one of the poorest, the most forgotten, and the most blighted areas of Long Island. Two drug-dealing street gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, are at war for control over the corner territories, and these teams fight to the death. Crack cocaine is the medicine that drives the train and the market; author Kevin Deutsch spent a year slowly building up trust and was allowed to hang with the gang members as they openly sold their wares to passersby. This is his story of the almost unspeakable violence which is found on a daily basis in The Triangle. My rating: 7/10, finished 9/22/15.
October 1, 2015
A disturbing look at gangland drug culture - it's hopeless! There was a lot of rough language in this book, entirely because when quoting Crips and Bloods every third word is profane. The takeaway message for me was that drugs and gangs will never stop, because there is so much easy money in that world. Why sacrifice and work hard to get an education when you can make exponentially more standing on a corner pushing crack? Yes, it's dangerous, and once you're in it's almost impossible to get out, but short-sighted young teenagers make the wrong decision almost every time in that situation.
December 31, 2014
The author, a reporter, does a deep investigation of the gang war taking place between the Bloods and Crips on Long Island. It was a fine book, but at least for me who has read any number of other similar books it felt very much like a retread. Deautsh reports on some of the history of the Bloods and Crips and how they became entrenched in this area of Long Island. He introduces you to some of the key players in each gang and details the gang war that they are currently fighting over drug corners and retaliation. It all seems so heartbreakingly senseless. If you're into these kinds of books, of which there are any number, this is a decent addition.
March 24, 2015
Prior to reading this book, I had no idea how bad things are in places like Hempstead. The Triangle revealed this to me. We all hear about the Bloods and Crips and how they hate each-other, but most of the time, it's just left at that. Kevin Deutsch does a great job at detailing the ins and outs of these gangs and how they work. This book is not for everyone, especially for the faint of heart, but I would recommend it to most people, so that they recognize this terrible war that is happening in our country.
January 17, 2015
I won a copy on Goodreads but I would've looked for it online or a bookstore if I wouldn't have won a copy. Even though I knew some of the men in the book might not make it to the end, I found myself saddened more than I usually do when reading a book. I'm glad I got "to know" the "characters and I would like to know what's happened in the Triangle since. A very well written book that will make you look around corners and become aware of your surroundings.
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