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Glass Goddesses, Concrete Walls

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In the middle of the night, our unnamed protagonist wakes to find Diana’s gun pointed at his head and he recognizes bloody murder in her eyes. While facing a scorned woman’s wrath, many of his past entanglements replay in his mind. Memories of women he has loved or refused to love surface like ghosts from the grave to haunt what could be his last moments. As he tries to reason with her for the sake of everything he has to live for, he realizes that there is so much that he deserves to pay for. Love, guns, sex and bullets can all be deadly in the wrong hands.

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2012

3 people are currently reading
26 people want to read

About the author

Keith Kareem Williams

36 books55 followers
Keith Kareem Williams is the author of over 20 books & 7 screenplays. He still resides in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York where he delicately balances his time between his responsibilities as a single father as well as the challenges of being a full-time author.
“In interviews, one of the most difficult questions I’ve been asked is, ‘What genre are your novels?’ because honestly, I never write with any particular style in mind. I enjoy blending styles and mashing different genres together in interesting ways. Basically, I pen whatever is in my heart and soul. However, if I had to describe my style I would use musical terms and say that I write Urban, Hip-Hop, fiction with the rhythm of Reggae that crashed into Heavy Metal and then began to bleed Neo Soul. I write Alternative Urban Fiction.”
One of the things I'm most proud of is how my children look at me with pride because I'm accomplishing my goals and doing the things I set out to do with my career. They recognize and respect my passion. I write constantly and I already have the titles & plots lined up for my next 92 novels. This is what I do and I'm just trying to let the rest of the world know this. My ambition is to become as legendary as some of the writers I admire. I believe that a GOOD writer pulls you into their story. A GREAT writer makes the world around you fall away as you read. The LEGENDARY writers tell stories that become a part of you and linger long after you've read the last line of the last chapter. It was once said that, the pen is mightier than the sword. I say to my fellow AUTHORS: Let's advance our craft until it's mightier than guns, grenades, bullets & nuclear bombs. If not, then put your pen down and fall back. Those of us who are serious about this will run you over as if we were riding in tanks.” – Keith Kareem Williams

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Ann.
286 reviews
September 15, 2012
If you pick up this novel you will not want to put it down. So be ready!
Keith Kareem Williams has surpassed his previous titles with this newest book. I felt he gave so much of himself to the reader in the pages. He was transparent. It was as if he were introducing himself to each reader a portion at a time, allowing us to share the situations, good and not-so-good, of his life romances/relationships; situations and experiences that changed him and created the Keith we know today, the one who writes to live and lives to write. Keith went beyond that and created a space for the reader to empathize with his character (the narrator) and the female characters he interacted with throughout the book. The reading was a safe place to experience old memories along with the narrator. Reading brought some serious emotions to the surface for me and I’m sure it will for all who leaf through the pages and remember when, remember who, remember why… it didn’t work, or it did… for a while…
I sighed some, cried some, and I understood even more; understood about the ways we love, or lust, having, losing, wanting, longing for, holding onto the wrong thing/person, being loved but not loving, loving but not being loved in return- at least not like you desire or feel you deserve, and not least of all of these was waiting and hoping for loosed love to return… Mmmm… this novel is full of sensuousness, comfort, sadness, sexual awareness, caring, concern, but most importantly it is full of honest representations and “the truth”. If you can’t handle the truth, it’s not for you. Keith lays it open, the heart, the soul, the spirit of lovers, of men, of women… you will see “it” for what “it” is, “love”, “need”, “fear”, “strength”, and so much more. It’s a masterpiece, a journey.
You will want to read this book more than once. I do. You will want more, but you will not feel thirsty when you close the cover… There’s so much in 208 pages you’ll be amazed at what Keith Kareem Williams has accomplished. He often references bleeding on the pages as he writes… there’s blood here, it’s everywhere, it’s powerful, it will get on you… Be ready!
Profile Image for Katandra Shanel.
Author 6 books56 followers
August 5, 2014
Broken hearts and guns don't mix...
Keith Kareem Williams has delivered a literary work of art full of sex, lies, unreciprocated love and lust in abundance.

Follow the unnamed Casanova as he recalls a few unforgettable lovers, all while being held hostage at gun point in his own home. The trail of broken hearts will have the Reader in quite an emotional state! Do you feel sorry for him? Is he the victim? Or do you hate him for every heart he's broken?

No matter who's side you decide to take, his fate lay in the unsteady hands of a woman scorned!

This book is a must read. A page turner that I couldn't get enough of. I sympathized with the characters. This book took me down a rabbit hole I'd not expected to descend into... Have I been any of those women? I fear truth is, I've been a culmination of them all. Amazing book. An autographed edition is a priceless gem in my home library! Get your own!!!
Profile Image for Sandra.
9 reviews
January 30, 2015
A Fantastic Voyage

Glass Goddesses, Concrete Walls evoked a variety of emotions from me. At times I found the story difficult, enlightening, and unsettling.

Difficult: I could easily identify with the various female esteem issues and at times it was quite painful to read.

Enlightening: I got an up-close and personal view of the male psyche, warts and all.

Unsettling: Can we truly understand others and their motivation to relate to us?

Keith Kareem Williams serves it up to you straight, no chaser. If you enjoy exploring the nature of male/ female entanglements, consider taking this fantastic voyage. I promise it is a trip you don't want to miss.
Profile Image for Shan.
195 reviews42 followers
September 27, 2014
OMG this book was so good! This author is now on my favorite author list. His writing holds so much emotion you are forced to relate to every character. This story was totally different from anything I've ever read. I love the way he flash backed from the present to past.

The main character is unnamed and I stayed glued to the pages reading about his past life. The story starts off with the main character and a woman in his bedroom holding him at gunpoint. Trust me, this story is GOOD! I did not want this book to end! Thank you Keith for a wonderful story!
Profile Image for LeTara Moore.
Author 2 books47 followers
January 19, 2017
Mixed Emotions. Intrigue. Admiration. Horror. Respect. So many adjectives to describe my feelings towards Glass Goddesses, Concrete Walls by Keith Kareem Williams. The story is a thought-provoking roller-coaster that will leave you speechless.

The synopsis reads: In the middle of the night, our unnamed protagonist wakes to find Diana's gun pointed at this head and he recognizes bloody murder in her eyes. While facing a scorned woman's wrath, many of his past entanglements replay in his mind. Memories of women he has loved or refused to love surface like ghosts from the grave to haunt what could be his last moments. As he tries to reason with her for the sake of everything he has to live for, he realizes that there is so much that he deserves to pay for. Love, guns, sex and bullets can all be deadly in the wrong hands.

Ultimately, the best word I can use to describe this work is raw. It is truthful, but the truth sometimes hurts. I was curious about how the author thought of the title, but as I journeyed through the book, it became obvious. The story opens with a man whose name is never revealed being awakened by the threat of death at the hands of a woman he scorned. What did he do that was so bad that made her want to kill him? He recalls the relationships he's had with various women over the years, I guess you could say his life flashed before his eyes, and it becomes apparent exactly what he did wrong.

He presents each woman, not particularly in a derogatory manner, as fragile. There's a reverence for both their gender and their vulnerability, which I assume is his reason for referring to them as goddesses, even though a couple of the women could be considered true psychopaths. The concrete wall would be the protagonist. His unwillingness to completely give himself to anyone or to fall for anything makes him unmovable, almost (and I use that word lightly) coming across as monstrous and savage-like. Each flashback is an analysis of the relationship with each woman, the women themselves and the protagonist. Though the flashbacks are analytical, they're also entertaining in a train-wreck sort of way. Why do I say that? Well, one woman is a stripper who has been around the proverbial (and probably literal) block. Another woman gives a new definition to the word “clingy”. Then, there is Diana with the gun asking the question that I am sure many women and men alike have asked of their former lovers: Why don't you want me? As he expressed to a woman other than Diana, “You're one of my pretty blackbirds...you circle...you wait...for me to give in...you'd perch on my body and feast on everything I had to give...After my heart, my soul and my bones were picked clean, you would just fly away but I'd still be dead.” p. 61

Never does the protagonist attempt to describe himself as better than what he is. He is a ladies' man, though the type of ladies he attracts are questionable. He is a know-it-all. He is selfish. “It wasn't like I had known Raven for very long but it's a very uncomfortable feeling when you realize how little you really know about a person that you've been extremely intimate with.” p. 75. But, to top it all off, which is his most redeeming quality and actually garnered a lot of respect for me, he is honest. He acknowledges the fact that it is entirely possible that he deserves Diana's wrath.

The author's writing style is one that you easily become immersed in. Many of the details of his various interactions were graphic and almost (again I use that word lightly) too realistic. His ability to describe scenes to create a vivid image made me feel as if I truly were a fly on the wall and that I was actually spying on the protagonist and his female companions. His use of metaphors is both sickening and brilliant. “She resembled a blood splattered angel.” p. 202. Nothing is sugar-coated in this book. Everything (Everything!) unfolds in front of your eyes and situations that would normally be private are brought completely to the forefront, not as a story, but more like a narrative/memoir and the gritty details had me feeling like I was witnessing business that had nothing to do with me, but I couldn't look away. I absolutely loved it!

My only gripe as far as the story is concerned, though I understand why Williams might have written it the way that he did, was the one woman who might have, I guess one could say, tamed him. The one woman who seemed like she was his match, indeed. It felt like he rushed through his memory of her because she was the one unconquered. She actually had his heart. I would have liked to have seen more interaction between the protagonist and this particular woman, but I got the impression that she was the one he was most sensitive about out of all of his lady-friends he recalled. His relationship with who I will call “The Special Lady” leads me to my next point which has nothing to do with her: as messed up as many people might consider his thinking is in regards to how he deals with frightening, possibly life-altering situations, there's actually a lot of logic in it, which makes me question myself. In the thoughts that Williams provoked my mind raced to some morbid places that were completely logical if all one keeps is self-preservation in mind. There is a scene in the book where a woman (not “The Special Lady”) offers some extremely dangerous threats, yet he turns his back on her and walks away. Without giving away too much of that particular story, the action of turning his back on a crazed woman is bold, dangerous and crazy in itself. When the reader knows the full context of the scene, the boldness, danger and craziness are intensified.

This book took me to so many different places and I'd be writing forever trying to describe them all. Everything from the writing itself to the formatting of the actual book is absolutely beautiful and well-thought out. This is the first book I've read by Keith Kareem Williams, but it most certainly won't be my last! I rate it a 4.5/5 stars.
Profile Image for Carmen Blalock.
262 reviews15 followers
March 24, 2013
Life is full of lessons this we already know, the key is if you have learned from the lessons brought before you. If not, then you are wasting space and everybody else's time. Some lessons and going to be learned whether you want to learn them or not, hopefully you survive the lesson.

Diana is a beautiful woman but there is only two things that are stopping her from having the man of her dreams: one she is married to someone else and two he is emotional unavailable for her. When she is finally fed up enough with this cat and mouse game she goes over to his house to confront him. As a result of this confrontation, he has to reflect on how he has gotten to this point and what he is going to do about his current situation. He cares for Diana but not the way that she wants or needs him to and this is where the problem lies. How does he make her understand when he is a man of so few verbal words? Will she listen while he tries to explain or is she beyond this point? Will Diana's love for him make him love her that way that SHE wants him to or is she wasting her time? Only time will tell but time is truly running out for the both of them.

Glass Goddesses, Concrete Walls is a very interesting story in the fact that the author never mentions the name of the main character. It is written in first person with the main character being named by the author as "the unnamed protagonist." The fact that we don't know his name it doesn't take away from the story but it is an interesting concept that I have not come across before. By the main character not being named it does not make you feel any distance from him actually it is the total opposite, you feel closer to him because you can see yourself in his shoes and this could very well be YOUR story. I enjoyed reading Glass Goddesses, Concrete Walls because the story just flowed. As you bounce between that past and the present you can see why the main character has become the man that he is. Great job keep up the great work, I look forward to reading more from Williams in the future.
Profile Image for WriteVibeMagazine.
321 reviews19 followers
July 3, 2014
Glass Goddesses, Concrete Walls by Keith Kareem Williams

Are you a glass goddess? Are you surrounded by concrete walls? What is the author really trying to convey with the title? Will you be a glass goddess surrounded by concrete walls?

Diana enters into the room without you knowing she is there. She has a gun and instantly I think of the song, Jenny’s Got a Gun! Is she going to use the gun? Has she thought through how she is going to proceed once she reveals the gun? The unnamed main character is lying in bed without a care in the world. When he wakes, he finds Diana with the gun trained on him. Looking at him from the outside it’s as if he is not shocked and has a devil may care attitude. When you get inside his mind, you realize he cares but does not care.

The unnamed character starts flashing back on the women in his life as he talks with Diana. He thinks back over the main relationships he had and why they were pertinent at that time. He looks back over the relationships and starts to realize why Diana is not pertinent even though she is there now with a gun in his face. Diana wants to be relevant in his life but realizes she will never be relevant.

The title of this book fitted the story well. The unnamed characters views the women in his life as goddesses. They are glass goddesses that at first touch are cold, but as you continue to hold them they warm and become full of life. When they slip from your hold, either by dropping or falling, they break. Glass goddesses hitting concrete walls will break and cannot be put back together. I gave four stars for this alone. The title gave a meaning that you had to catch and understand while reading through the story.

Reviewed By: LaLa Garrett for Literary Jewels
Review Copy Supplied By Author.
Profile Image for Barbara.
799 reviews132 followers
September 9, 2012
WOW. Author Keith Williams has done it again. I am definite a hooked fan. Author Keith Williams has written another page turner GLASS GODDESSES, CONCRETE WALLS.

From the first page you will experience excitement as the main character wakes up and finds his fate in the hands of a scorned woman, Diana whose gun is pointed at his head. The story takes you to his past relationships with women; as he replays them in his mind. As he realizes that he has everything to live for. He tries to reason with Diana. Can he smooth talk his way out of this? Well you got to get the book to find out...hurry. Don't wait.

Once again as always with Keith Williams's books you will feel as though you know the characters. The author brings you up close with the characters. You will feel their pain, baggage, and wonder what their fate will be.

All I can say is Author Keith Kareem Williams keep writing. Your books are like a movie being played out. Everyone you won't go wrong reading his books
Profile Image for Teresa Patterson.
Author 53 books115 followers
November 10, 2012
Excellent book! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a book that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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