Animal IV: Last Rites

Animal #4

by K'wan

From the moment Animal's former lover Red Sonja showed up on his doorstep, he knew trouble wouldn't be far behind. It wasn't because the last time he'd seen her, he had been fleeing for his life from a strange island. Nor was it because of the little girl she had in tow, claiming Animal was the father. It was because women like Red Sonja carried trouble around with them like designer purses. He knew getting involved with Sonja again would come at a price, but he had no idea how steep the price would be until it was too late. With his wife gone and his children abducted by a ruthless drug cartel, Animal must lead a suicide mission into the lair of one of the most dangerous assassins in the world, a woman who calls herself Tiger Lily. To go against Tiger Lily and the cartel Animal would need an army, so the call to arms is put out and the streets readily answer. Leading a handful of loyal souls against seemingly insurmountable odds, Animal races against the clock to save his children and put a stop to Tiger Lily and the cartel's plans, while trying to stay one step ahead of the two detectives following the trail of bodies. Things take an unexpected turn when Animal learns a dark truth hidden beneath what he had been led to believe that changes everything, including who can be trusted. When the Grand Design his father had always spoken of is finally revealed Animal will be forced to make the hard choice between love, loyalty, and vengeance.

Genres: Urban, Horror, African American, Animals, Audiobook

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

In 2002 K'wan hit the scene with his debut novel Gangsta, under Triple Crown Publications. It was the first novel released by the budding house and would eventually become the building block for what is now a multimillion dollar company. What started as a therapeutic release went on to become a part of urban-lit history and an Essence bestseller, as well as drawing rave reviews overseas.
After penning his second novel, Road Dawgz (2003), K'wan drew the attention of St. Martins press. The literary powerhouse quickly signed K'wan to a multi-book deal, the first of which being Street Dreams (2004). In 2008 he received the Black Author of the year award from Black Press Radio for the novella Blow.
Since his insertion into the publishing world K'wan has been featured in Vibe, Pages, King, Felon, Big News, The Library Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Press, Clutch and most notably Time Magazine, to name a few. He was also interviewed by MTV News for a feature on Hip-Hop fiction, and a guest on Power 105s morning show as well as NPR (national public radio). In addition to being an accomplished author, K'wan is also a motivational speaker, mentor to at risk children and the C.E.O of Black Dawn, Inc.
K'wan currently resides in New Jersey where he is working on his next novel.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/kwan

Reviews

[Danita Brown]

I never get tired of reading his books.

[Vanessa]

Disappointed

I would only recommend this book to those readers who have been following the character Animal. However, the typos were really bad. There wasn't as much imagination as the other books in the series. This book also left so many cliffhangers. If this is it for Animal then this is it for me. Not worth the buy or my wasted time.

[Ashley Msindependent]

Errors

I personally I enjoy reading k'wan series of animal but I don't know if it's just the kindle edition or if the paperback share the same amount of errors. While reading I had to go back to make sense of some of the pages because the about of errors it contained, overall it was a good read and can't wait for the next book to drop however I will be buying paperback...

[Sherill]

as always ...GREAT read!

[Danielle Bigsby]

I loved the growth in this book. The author took time to develop the storyline and advance the series with this book. It was great to see the return of some old characters which added to the connection of readers and characters. Overall the author did an awesome job and I'm looking forward to the next installment of the Animal Series!

[K2]

I’ve poundered on my feelings about this read and at first give it low stars for being the SameStory with additional characters & locations I was not fond of where K’wan took this story especially because again it is the same story as previous ONES. Yet, I’ve decided to give it a better rating because I really like some of these characters (tho I do not believe K’wan likes any of his characters 😳😆in any of his books, like he killing ppl with the pen he would like to get rid of in real-time🤷🏽‍♀️) which is the only reason I continue reading the series.

[Anissa Sheppard]

I had to do a re-read. Felt like I may have missed some things & also feel like A5 is coming anytime now. So I'm even more sure than ever that I can't stand Red Sonja. She KNEW Animal would go to war over his kids so she shows up with Celeste so she could get him to do her dirty work. When she got what she wanted or close to it..poof!

[LaNesha]

Man, this was a definite hit and miss. How can the big reveal at the end be what we already know in the middle of the story? The narrator from the audio book was not the original one from the first 3 audio books so the voices of the characters are different. Because the voices are different, the WAY they say things are used in different tone, so someone who could be seen as a funny yet sarcastic character all the time will now come off as extremely serious. Th plot was okay. I feel like the author gave away most of the surprises within the story and then tried to magnify them at the end as if the reader didn't know this information. Also, the some names mentioned in the book were not pronounced the same as in previous books. ( Another bad call in the new narrator decision).

I'll finish the series, but only in the name of Animal... iconic character

[Leish]

This book was definitely a good read! I was kept assuming, guessing, and anticipating. There are a lot of unanswered questions so I'm looking forward to another book. The only downside to this book is the lack of editing! From the very first page and throughout the entire book there are words missing, added words, misspellings, and wrong form of words used. There were two different print sizes used as well. I got annoyed more than once trying to read and stumbling due to the constant mistakes. Because of the lack of editing I couldn't give all the stars.

[Demetrius]

"You know it's like the deeper we dig into this the more it stinks, and quite frankly so do you."

I should’ve know Red Sonja had some shit with her!

This book was a great addition to the animal series. It’s up there with book 3. More secrets unfolded!

PS: Shout out to my guy Ashanti on becoming a father 🫡

Also, Cain might be my favorite character now. Bruh is young, wild, and don’t give a 🤬

And Brasco? Damn! Homie went out like a real one 🫡

I rate this book a 4.5⭐️ only because of the grammatical errors. There were a lot.

[ChloeShondra Robertson]

I loved the Animal series I was actually imagine everything in the book as a movie. I hated that Gucci die so early because they were about to became one big happy family as a Married couple before she was killed off. Also with Brasco he wasn't out of jail long enough for him and animal to catch up before he was killed off. It was alot of twist and turn in the book,but Now I am waiting on Animal 5.

[Ms Hudson]

Good but ready for it to end!!!!

I love the main characters in this book. Like any good movie you don’t want to see any of them die. The book is full of suspense and I will say it’s a page turner. Why I gave it 4 stars and what I’m really sick of is all these books having 5, 6 and more books before you get to the end. This book could have easily ended here. Then most of the time the next part isn’t even written so you have to wait 2-3 years. I’m done with it either way!

[Carrie Campbell-jones]

Loved the book… Not the narrator! After listening to 4 audiobooks and falling in love with the characters in Cary Hite’s voice, I get to audio book number 5 (Animal part 4) and we are greeted by a new narrator! 🤦🏾‍♀️ This made it a strange experience for mine and my hubby’s ears but it didn’t take ANYTHING away from this great cliffhanger, edge of your seat story!!! I swear they need to make this a movie! I even CRIED on this one!! …. On to book number 4.5

[TellsOfABibliophile]

🔥🗡️🔫🥷🏾

Omfg… I’m really tired of mourning characters. Like, why does he keep doing me like this? I swear every time I get attached, somebody’s gotta go. My nerves can’t take much more.

I love Animal and his crew down. Ride-or-die energy at all times. Even when the block is hot and the odds are against them, they move like a unit, and I eat that up every time.

I’m convinced K’wan loves playing on my emotions tho. I’m at the point where I’m ready to see how this ends.

[Dione Brown]

I ran right thru the "Animal' series only to finish part 4 & get too many open ends. This whole storyline is getting to be run on. Red Sonia was on some bullshit from the door & it's totally ridiculous that Animal & Calla left Gucci & the Kids alone..come on & wrap it up in part 5....Speaking of that, where is part 5 anyway? It's been too long Kwan.

[Daisha Hunt]

Love this series

I've seen this series in my book searches for years but never read them. All I can say is better late than never. This is on my list of top fave series period...I love the details and the twists and turns...even though it's not a fantasy novel the way Ashanti, Zo, and Animal come out of every situation is nothing but magic. Highly recommend.

[Andrial Durant]

I’m so sad that Gucci died. I liked her realism but I knew animal couldn’t stay away from busting his guns. And I bet you that little girl isn’t even his..red Sonja is a bitch and her treacherous ass need to died in the next book. Kane, Abel, Ashante, Animal and Carla are the last ones standing.

[BADBOY]

Great book great series don't like the way it ended but still a great story

Just loved the characters and story line. Good Good good if it's what I like y tell me how many words I can write happy

[S. Reid]

The Narrator for A4 READS TOO LOW. I had to Turn the volume ALL THE WAY UP TO 100 on my device & I STILL COULD BARELY HEAR HIM!
I SETTLED FOR A4.5, where the Narrator is at an accurate audible volume!
I'll give my review/recap on ANIMAL 4.5 instead of on ANIMAL 4.

[Janay D]

The plot keeps thickening and I'm riding the Animal train until the wheels fall off! Animal keeps narrowly escaping death and leaving a trail of bodies behind him. We experience a sad loss in this one, but happy endings are for fairytales.

[Monique Grant]

Best one thus far !!!!!!

[Lynette Vetaw]

Gripping

This animal series just continues to keep me on the edge of my seat with heart stopping action suspense and yearning for more

[andrea]

Really

Why must I wait for more. I can't keep doing this to myself, I need more now. Dang "Animal". The wait

[Vi Louise]

A page turner as usual. On to 4.5

[Keevil Maughn]

Love it

[Twila]

Animal is one ruthless gangsta and I absolutely love his character.

[S]

This series never stops delivering.

I can’t wait to find out what will happen next. Sometimes we find out the hard way that some people are not what they seem.

[Jay]

The book was so good, a man goes so far , heart broken , feeling defeated , but keeps moving to get he's love one's back as a long line of pain and rage.

[Meg]

Just read it lol you won't be disappointed

[reading mom]

KWANNNN does it again! I thought we were wrapping it up but I’m happy he didn’t!