Filthy

by Isiko Cooks

Los Angeles. 1984. Summer. Dawn Of The Crack Era. Raymond is 14 years old when he must live with his grandmother at the hub of prostitution, hustling, and drug dealing. When his uncle Curt is released from prison and teaches him to sell dope, what follows is sex, violence, money & murder. By the end of summer the legend of Ray Ray is born, having lost his innocence.

331 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2015

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

I enjoyed reading about Raymond but didn't like how it ended at all. Will there be a follow up book?

[angel young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This is a great spin to Watermelon Summer. This is a true story of a young boy transforming into his own manhood. I really excited to find out if there is a third book.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a people watcher , and I love to read about all different types of people to see if I can tell how they became who they are today. I heard of this Author in an online reading group and decided to start with this one based on his life to get a feel of who he was. I started the book and automatically the emotion and the depth made me feel as if I was the child in the story. The Author is a grown man now , but somehow he pulled his emotions and put them into words that made me feel as if I was the one moving and starting a new life and all of these different things were happening to me. The story is well written and the different people were not just in the book , the crack head Military Vet , was someone I knew and had empathy for his struggle with drugs , he was a real person going down the wrong path trying to mask his pain, I think every child learns right from wrong , however had never given much thought on how adult decisions can change a child's environment and circumstances to where survival mode kicks in and becomes the priority. I applaud the Author for telling his story , in such a way I feel I experienced the raw emotions of the lifestyle many call/ know normal that I have only heard about.
I feel this book should be required reading for any professional working with at risk kids, there is no textbook or class that can/ will make you feel the emotions of a child in survival mode .

[Diane Rembert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragedy strikes and 14 year old Raymond has to temporarily relocate to his paternal grandmother's home. This sudden change forces young Ray Ray to grow up very quickly, when his day to day includes girls, drugs, prostitution, and murder.

What I loved is the various relationships throughout this book…that of teenage boys and girls, uncles schooling nephews, hustlers gaming other hustlers, grandmother and grandson, neighbors and of course …siblings.

I gave it 💎💎💎💎, because there were times when the flow was choppy, but overall, I enjoyed this book by Isiko Cooks and look forward to reading part 2.

[Alisa Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!!

This was definitely a great story. The author grabbed my attention and held it. Each page made you want to read more to see what was going to happen. I felt as if I knew each character and could imagine being their shoes. Great writing and a great story.

[Candace McCracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filthy A GREAT READ

I enjoyed this book tremendously. The first book I've read by this author. I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Born True Bethea · Rating 4 out of 5]

its good for an autobiography. I feel it was more real because he didn't have to join, but he wanted to for the same reasons many people does. I like the way he tells the story on how he feels selling to certain ones and kept to himself away certain ones. The only thing i did not like was in the beginning was that it was a little slow. Once it started to speed up, then it was very good.

[Brittney G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filthy

When I picked up this book I didn't know what to expect. I'm really glad I did! I fell in love with Ray Ray's character & all the challenges he faced. I can't wait until part 2!

[J.S. Frankel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It may be autobiographical in nature, and while I found it worthwhile for the author to explore his roots, I found the writing to be extremely simple as well as being repetitive. Overall, it was a such a downer that I did not find it worthwhile to finish. I very rarely give up on books no matter what the genre, but this one...couldn't do it.