T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E.

by Sanyika Shakur

The follow-up to his best-selling memoir Monster, Sanyika Shakur's T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. is a vicious, heart-wrenching, and true-to-life novel about an LA gang member that masterfully captures the violence and depravity of gang life.

Shakur's protagonist is Lapeace, the leader of the Eight Tray Crips gang in South Central Los Angeles. In a deadly gunfight with Anyhow, a Blood and Lapeace's rival since childhood, eight innocent civilians are killed. Anyhow is captured. Lapeace becomes a fugitive and he must hide out in the home of his girlfriend Tashima, a hip-hop mogul, as a pair of crooked LA detectives, John Sweeney and Jesse Mendoza, attempt to track him down.

This novel was written from the confines of Shakur's jail cell, and the authenticity of its street scenes - the relentlessness of violence, the do-or-die attitude of each side of the gang war, the sheer joy in the killing - is a testament to the hell that has been a majority of Shakur's life.

With T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E., Shakur delivers a powerful and gripping story about the terror of gang life and one man's attempt to free himself.

Genres: Fiction

Audible Audio

First published August 5, 2008

About the author

Sanyika Shakur (born Kody Scott), also known by his former street moniker Monster, was a former member of the Los Angeles gang the Eight-Tray Gangster Crips. He got his nickname as a 13-year-old gang member when he beat and stomped a robbery victim into a coma. Shakur claimed to have reformed in prison, joined the Republic of New Afrika movement, and wrote an acclaimed autobiography called Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, which was first published in 1993.

Shakur spent 36 months at San Quentin State Prison and five years at Pelican Bay State Prison, most of which was spent in solitary confinement, where he converted to Islam, but it is not known if the form he practices is traditional Islam or Faradian Islam.

In May 2008 Shakur pleaded no contest to carjacking and robbery charges, and was sentenced to six years in state prison. Also in 2008, Shakur made his fiction debut with the publication of T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. (Grove Atlantic Books) In the book, Shakur claims his mother told him his father was former NFL running back Dick Bass.

On July 10, 2017, Shakur was sent back to prison for an assault conviction out of San Diego County. He was incarcerated at Centinela State Prison in Imperial, California and was later released on parole.

On June 6, 2021, Shakur was found deceased in a tent in a homeless encampment in Oceanside, California.

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Remember in my review of "Monster" where I said "write another book and redeem yourself" or something like that? Well...Monster Kody Scott obviously reads Goodreads.com reviews and took my advice. He has written another book. So I am compelled to read it.

Ok, I'm reading it, but it is FICTION. I don't know if I'm going to make it.

Ok, I give up.

The book should be called "U.G. L.I.F.E." instead. What a piece of trash. Ya'll overstand me? Monster found himself the "I" entry in the thesaurus, then I think it was confiscated from the prison guards after chapter 1. Words I know he wouldn't know if it wasn't for the thesaurus in page 1: inconspicuously, illuminated, inordinate, inanimate, immediate. Oh, and Easter Island.

Oh, and "his heavy dick hit and slapped both thighs as he walked." (page 13). For some reason this makes me throw up a little bit. But then I laugh at "Lying on her back, arched into a bridgelike overpass, she ground her pelvis rhythmically into his face." All I can think of is "Ohhhh, baby, you're so hot. You're like a bridgelike overpass...yeah ooo."

This book is also full of the same blind hypocrisy and thoughtless stupidity as MONSTER. For instance, after the main hoodrat kills about 9 innocent black people while trying to hit his nemesis sitting 3 feet from him, he writes that he couldn't believe the D.A. was going to go after property crimes rather than the murders committed. "No doubt because the property was white and the bodies were black-the Amerikan (sic) way." So essentially he's pissed that the D.A. isn't going to prosecute him for the black people he killed.


Since my husband wouldn't let me use the quotes from the book, (you feel me? I gotta bounce. Scandalous bitches chasing riches.) reading the book became a pointless exercise in giving a second chance to someone who doesn't deserve it.

[Slumpy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel just goes to show that the last 14 years in prison have not tempered his view on white america, or white people as a general race, it's more of the same Afrocentrism where every white character is a bumbling idiot racist, completely devoid of any actual character traits and are instead represented by the caricatures of his unfortunately biased world view. These characters fall about a mile short of being at all relatable and even the characters we are supposed to sympathize with are just as shallow, glorified versions of what I can only imagine Shakur thinks of himself and his own youth. I can't connect with any character as they lack any sort of personality beyond the generalized stereotypes we've seen a thousand times in bad movies.

I thought Monster, his first book, was a decent biography (if a little sensationalized) despite his often racist/hypocritical view, but at the end of it all, it provided a much needed inside look into the mentality and structure of the Los Angeles gang. It was worth reading and I have read it multiple times.

Thug Life, however, is an unconvincing novel that seems to play more on the author's fantasies than any reality. Filled with uninteresting characters and a storyline that at the very least feels implausible, and seems more about irrelevant name dropping, I can only come to this conclusion: Stick to non-fiction. At least there you are free to explore your hatred of whitey in a more upfront and honest manner.

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read Monster in the late 90s based on the life of Monster Kody Scott (Sanyika Shakur). A book of a young boy growing up in South Central LA. Gritty, fascinating, sad ... Reading the book from San Francisco ... still felt like the tragic LA gang life was far from my me. Now living in LA and working with parolees and gang members (active and former) ... Monster and other first account LA gang life books became very real to me. No need to pick up a book about a gang members life. But I had often wondered what happened to Monster. I heard he was back in prison. So I finally did a search one day and found THUG LIFE. A fictional account of LA gangster world. I remember enjoying Monster much more (but that was over 10 yrs ago). Sanyika Shakur character development is fascinating. You learn as much about LA gangsters through the storyline as you do reading how LaPeace (main character) chooses his clothing or how he smokes a blunt.

Good to know Monster Kody Scott is not in prison or out of.gang life (I think ...). Not an easy accomplishment. He's a talented writer.

[hami · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last few chapters you won’t be able to put the book down. The style of writing is very conventional but somehow does the job so perfectly that you can’t imagine the work to be made in any other way.

Book stays somewhere between reality and fiction (documentary and imaginary). Shakur tell his south LA gangster triller but mixes in a lot of historical anti-imperial and anti-racist facts. In the book, you can find hints from Civil right movement to black panthers and creation of Shakur last name from African and Islamic roots. It’s no coincidence that the last name of the protagonists is also Shakur. He asks his Aunt about where that name came from. And aunt, a black community organizer and a Panther goes to describe the historical roots.

[William Walter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly a mixed up story, positives and negatives jumbled and inconsistent throughout--the brutality matches the outside view of this L.I.F.E., sadly

[Kwashee Totimeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down. Love reading about the various realms of a black man in America. The history is ever rich despise the negative tones. We can learn from all the good and bad in the world.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I have found this book to be very interesting. I found the main character Lapeace to be a very likeable person initially, until he has a shootout at a stoplight with a rival from another gang on a very busy thoroughfare in Los Angeles. The shootut produces eight fatalities, none of which were the intended target(s) or even gang members. Two pedestrians were killed when Anyhow's(the rival gang banger)car is fleeing the scence of what was latter dubbed the "Crenshaw Massacre".

Also disturbing is the brutal carjacking- homicide of one of Lapeace's girlfriends friend. In a possible case of mistaken identity, Sanai is brutaly murder while driving Lapeace's tricked out Suburban to the store.

The events surrounding Tupac's murder are interwoven into the story. The character Askari is the author's personification of Tupac.

I didn't like the way the book ends because I doubt that Lapeace would change as a person, especially if he and Tashima didn't move out of the area. He is a murderer and there really isn't any other way to view him. Despite the fact that he was only defending himself with regard to the Crenshaw massacre shootout, his actions lead to the inadevertent deaths of several people. Also, he participated in other premeditated murders during the story.

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. by Sanyika Shakur. The author has another book out about his life called Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member that I also read. In T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. its basically about a guy called lapeace. He is a crip but is now stopped banging. He still chills with his homeboys, some of his homeboys are still in the crips. Lapeace just had an shooting with a rival since they were little in grade school. During the shooting a bullit hit a gas station and some people died. Now lapeace has court about that case. Later on he notices that his ex is trying to make it so he can't spend any time with his children and start paying child support. Then some things go down in L.A.when they go see Mike Tyson's golden fight,so Lapeace and his homeboys had to leave. The book is very intense, if you like reading about some action then to drama and back to action then this book is for you to read.

[Jelo Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book within a month and in the beginning I found it hard to understand. After I read the first four chapters, I understood that it was in 3rd person, viewing other main characters. Lapeace, the character most viewed was a gangbanger that recently had an encounter with his rival, Anyhow. Anyhow, a gangbanger from another gang always competed with Lapeace, but this time he was the one who ended up in the hospital. Anyhow, told detective Sweeney about Lapeace and his gang. Lapeace had a clean record living his whole life in L.A. Lapeace was now in the heat of the detectives and he layed low encountering backstabbers and evidence that would put him in jail. In the end lapeace did turn himself in, but had all the evidence they could use. Detective Sweeney used another inmate within the jail, but the judge would not allow him as evidence, so they released Lapeace. Lapeace then married and changed his life into another direction with his African roots.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea if this book was realistic or not simply because I am not a gang member in L.A., but based on all the TV and movies I've watched, this book is totally realistic. It's not poorly written, though its prose is fairly dry. Its matter-of-fact telling of life in gangland is startling in its graphic deadpan and yet, sadly, all too predictable. I'd recommend this book for readers who are fascinated with gang life and 'hood culture. For pasty suburban guys like me, it may be the only glimpse we'll ever see.

[Adrienna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read up to page 80. I could not get into this book like "War in my Blood Veins"--another gangster story.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was recommended to me as a book about gang life, but I couldn’t finish it because the quality of writing was so poor. And because of the awkward erotica scene in the first 50 pages.