Payback Is a Mutha

Payback #1

by Wahida Clark

In her hot, gritty new urban drama, Essence® bestselling author Wahida Clark tells the story of a woman who thinks she has everything, but who really has everything to lose -- starting with her best friend, and ending with her life.

Brianna and Shan couldn't be more different. From her $1200 weave to her closet full of Gucci, Prada, and Chanel, Brianna believes that men were born to bankroll her lifestyle. Shan likes to make her own money by working for a living at a men's prison and prefers Sean John, Baby Phat, and Fubu to Jimmy Choo. Still, despite appearances, Shan and B are sisters where it counts -- or so they think.

For B, lying is part of the hustle, and the hustle is what gets her sex, clothes, cars -- pretty much whatever she wants. She couldn't care less who gets hurt along the way, as long as it isn't her. But it's one thing to hustle tricks, and quite another to betray the one person who really cares. When one of B's schemes goes too far, blood is spilled and Shan is caught in the crossfire. Now, with friendship and lives on the line, Brianna's got one last chance to change her ways or suffer the consequences.

Genres: Urban, Fiction, Drama, African American, Crime

231 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Wahida Clark was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She decided to start writing fiction while incarcerated at a women's federal camp in Lexington, KY. Her style is street, raw, and she has an imagination that's in overdrive. When you read her novels they are so real you are convinced of one of three things: that you are inside the book, you know the characters, or you just have to meet them.
Her first novel, Thugs And The Women Who Love Them and the sequel, Every Thug Needs A Lady appeared on the Essence Best Sellers List.

Reviews

[Diane (IF U'RE PRIVATE, PLEASE SKIP ME!!!) Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! it's about survival,trust,street life and friendships (paperback!)

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

First all let me say I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook this book had everything ! It was one non stop soap opera and I loved every bit of it !! It was so good ! I am going to start listening to book 2. This book is about two life long friends Shan and Brianna and these two are opposites in so many ways ! Brianna lives a life looking for the next hustle and to set someone up but what happens when she takes it too far ? Shan is the good girl of the duo but a chance encounter can change all of that forever. I don’t want to give too much away but this book is good.

[Lawren M. Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was definitely a lot. I can deal with the language and graphic content but the story definitely was lacking for me.

[LANISHIA · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a lot of characters but makes sense if it’s 3-4 books I enjoyed the drama

[Mutantreptile · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILERS: This book has it all: smacking around women, intentionally infecting people with HIV as revenge, homophobia, forced bestiality, and ordering a gang bang on your best friend. All the five star reviews this book has gotten confuse me.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I have to say is "Lord ol' Lord" ... Brianna Brianna Brianna... her best friend still loved her even though she would talk and sent someone to RAPE Brianna... Yeah, payback is a mutha

[BusyReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give her 5 five stars because she tied together so many viewpoints into a novel very well. It kept me on my toes and I couldn’t stop reading it! I felt the message behind this story and I would definitely re-read it!

[And NONE for Gretchen Weiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like classic old school urban fiction . The drama the salacious and crazy plots . The low down scandalous women and the dirty dog men 😂😂😂😂😂

Look sometimes there is just a time and place for stories like this and I was here for it … man Briana is a snake and Shan is just dumb and 🍆 dizzy

[Miss Butterfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept falling asleep reading this. It was not too bad although I would say the character development disappointed me, like really disappointed me. How could Shan turn out to be that dumb and keep a baby by a married man in prison who was clearly using her and did not want the baby. And how was Calvin wanting her to be in charge of his businesses. I am so turned off with this book. Huge waste of damn time. Then Brianna smoking crack??? What was that about? Turned me clean off not to mention the way it was written was hard to keep up with everything that was going on. I give it 3 stars only cause there was lots of drama and I like drama but I did not like the character development at all. Lots of story lines that did not mix well.

[☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ ѕℓιм ☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was really good I finish listening to this in one day. It was funny and had a lot of surprises. Especially what happened to Briana even though she was shady was a mug I didn't think she deserves that.If she would've lived long enough, she would realize that Shan was still her friend. I definitely enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to listen to part 2.I was rooting for Shan and Kelvin. Oh well.

[Luscious Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started out reading the Thug Series, which I still need to finish. Then I got into this series, and I think I've finished all of them. Very engaging, good plot twists, I found it hard to put it down until the end. If you like street lit, I highly recommend this entire series. In fact, if you like urban fiction in general or just want to see what it's supposed to be like, I recommend you start with Wahida's writing in general..

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this read. The author kept it funky (meaning good). Sometime authors will sugar coat stuff - maybe thinking the reality might be to offensive for the reader. This chick here, she said it straight!! The visual had me squirming at some points but it was all good!!

[Kirbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really sad & good at the same time . I think mature people should only read this book because its a lot of glorified parts and its a really good book i am currently on the 5th one but its a really good book RIP. Briana

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was good I finished it in one day.

[A. Cari · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst book I have ever read in my life.

[Michael Bell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just dumb. Undeveloped plot. People setting each other up for peanuts. Sleeping with an inmate within two weeks. Sloppy character stories. Spreading AIDS.

[Tamya Latson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good with plot twists that I didn’t see coming and a good story. The characters were messy, grimy and trifling in their own ways, except Shan (until her brother got set up and put in jail, then her “good girl” character traits went out the window) This book took a lot of dark turns, so TRUGGER WARNING: it might not be for everyone. Trigger warnings should’ve definitely been put on the book for those who can’t stomach r*pe, back to back spicy content, domestic violence, ab*se, m*rder, homophobia, t*rture and more. If you can stomach these things, enjoy a messy and drama-filled urban fiction read, THIS IS A GREAT RECOMMENDATION! I like it.. just might need therapy after lol.. I’m going to continue the series.

So tips before reading:
1) be aware of the trigger warnings!
2) keep track of all of the characters. a lot for them were introduced.

[The Urban Book Nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a wild ride from start to finish—giving all the gritty drama, steamy moments, and shocking twists I didn’t know I needed. It took me right back to the books I used to devour in high school—the kind that kept me up late flipping pages.

At the center are two best friends navigating love, loyalty, and betrayal in the streets. But let’s just say: when money, men, and secrets collide, someone’s always bound to catch the heat. And just when you think you’ve figured it out—boom, another twist.

If you’re into urban fiction with jaw-dropping connections and nonstop drama, this one’s for you!

[Juanita tucker · Rating 1 out of 5]

We live in really sad times when people can just write anything and become popular. I am so sick and tired of every time I read a book , I have to read about men having sex, not everybody gets off on that, and then you had to add the dog, come on sista, I have to throw this book in the trash before any of my children or their friends try to read this and mess up their minds. Please do better sista. Don't be a part of making homosexuality normal for children.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoops

Babe this book here is something else. Brianna was scandalous as they come like how you mess over the people who always been there. Shan was straight dumb, cause she should have chosen Briggen. He was willing to go all out for her. It was crazy how everyone was traveling in a small circle. Shadee was shit plan old sick and nasty

[Marya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not really the reader for this, but I did appreciate the talents of the narrator in making this book come alive. A chart in the front showing all the characters and their relationships would have been helpful; the audio narrator was the next best thing. And still, I had trouble keeping track of who was doing what to whom.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a test of friendship about knowing who to trust and not to trust. Briana and Shan friendship was put to a test. It shocked me when Brianna did that to herself. Even though Shan was mad at Briana she still loved her. Things they did to each other was unreal.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book though I have to say for the longest time I was getting everyone mixed up. There was some tension as I was reading and that in itself constitutes a good read for me. The ending wasn't quite what I expected so we shall see how it all plays out in book 2.

[ConSonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yessss

Just now being able to get into this series, but I enjoyed it can't wait to get deep into the next one.

[Lateshia LaVette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book I have read it like 3x it never gets old to me

[Myesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read. I finished in 2 days.

[Ash.D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speechless by the pure excellence

[La Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty good read. Held my attention.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I got to say is Payback IS a Mutha! On to Book 2: Payback with ya Life! Whew!