Never Go Home Again

by Shannon Holmes

Shannon Holmes -- Essence bestselling author of B-More Careful and Bad Girlz, and one of the brightest stars in urban fiction -- returns with a dramatic must-read novel inspired by his own life.

Never Go Home Again is the story of Corey Dixon, a young man whose father tries as best he can to steer him away from the lure of the streets. And yet, like so many others in Corey's neighborhood, he finds the temptations of the lucrative drug trade too great to resist. While he makes fast money for a while, it is inevitable that it is he who has to pay, with his time and maybe even his life: by the age of sixteen Corey is locked up.

Incarcerated in Riker's Island and then in prisons upstate, Corey lives through experiences that threaten to destroy his body, his mind, and eventually his spirit. But in the midst of his horrific imprisonment he discovers new strength to keep himself together and survive. Corey meets a few kind souls who mean him well, including a teacher who encourages him to get out of prison and make something of himself. The teacher also advises Corey to "never go home again." Though the homesick Corey does not immediately understand, he ultimately realizes the wisdom of his mentor's words.

Unflinching and riveting, this story is the firsthand account of the brutal, unforgiving inner-city streets and prison life, as well as a difficult lesson in accepting responsibility and moving on.

Genres: Urban, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Shannon Holmes was born and raised in New York City’s most northern borough; the Bronx. Holmes’ entrance into the literary world was anything but ordinary. Armed only with a G.E.D. and the desire to change his life, Mr. Holmes crafted his first novel and signed his first literary contract from prison, while serving a five year sentence for various drug convictions. This was truly an amazing feat when you consider Mr. Holmes had never even written a short story in his life. He truly made the best of a bad situation.
He first achieved success with his first novel B-more Careful, which has gone on to sell a half a million copies to date. This may not sound like a lot of to the general public, but in the literary world Mr. Holmes is platinum. By producing such lofty sales numbers, Shannon was able to parlay the success of his first novel into a two book, six figure deal, with publishing giant Simon & Schuster.
Avoiding the sophomore jinx, Shannon Holmes crafted the critically acclaimed Bad Girlz, which sold fifty thousand copies in its first week. His next novel Never Go Home Again was hailed as best work... With this he achieved yet another milestone, he became the first author of the street genre to have his novel printed in hardcover. Since then Mr. Holmes has signed an even bigger deal publishing deal with St. Martin’s Press, it’s rumored to be in the high six figures, for two novels.

Reviews

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

Few Spoilers.
Wow like I knew that was going to happen in the end. A lot of people are hard headed. Don't realize they can change once they get out revenge ain't everything. Karma can always bite the person in the a.hole. When the time comes Corey was so young so was Omar. That is crazy. Especially Corey he had a good life until he let the drug dealing take over his life. I think if he would've listened to Tate he would've been still alive. And I think a lot of teenagers need to read this book and get a better understanding what would happen if you do the things that Corey did. And Corey was right he wasn't going back to prison and that he didn't. I wish his mom would've sent him to military maybe he would've live. IDK. I thought this book was good though even though the ending didn't surprise me. I just shook my head.

[Shante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again anything by Shannon Holmes is great!

[Sheana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end of this book pissed me off so bad but every book can't have a happy ending right? I love Shannon Holmes! I hope he blesses us with another book real soon!

[Mrs Tupac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read ,
believable characters with the type of parents Corey had I felt he had no other choice but to win, but his environment and the lack of hands-on guidance made that hard. Some stuff he did didn't even need to happen or be done. I felt like Corey was like Wallace from the Wire he was a good dude he just learned how to be bad. . . Shannon Holmes is such a good writer ! ! ! he should've been wrote his own tv series or asked to write for Power !!!!

[Edith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things I Learned: Don't do or sell drugs. You'll end up dead or in prison.

Comments: This was a novel about life on the streets by someone who had been there.

Corey gets sucked into the drug trade on his block. He is witness to violence and also commits violence. He goes to prison where he is given the chance to choose between going straight, a choice represented by Tate, another inmate, or continuing his life of crime, represented by Doc, also an inmate.

At the beginning of the book, Corey is told by the GED teacher in prison, "Never go home again." Corey discovers too late the fateful significance of that advice.

I had to wonder how much choice someone from Corey's environment has. This book raised a lot of questions about the American justice system, racism, oppression and moral codes - that of Corey's church-going parents and the codes of the street and prison.

The editing could have been better, as well as the proofreading. "Accept" was used when it should have been "except" and there were some problems with the colloquial and slang used in the dialog. However, it was an excellent book. I would recommend this to fans of urban fiction and those interested in social justice.

[Germaine]

Wow, this was a good book by Shannon Holmes. Seems like Corey was trying to do all he could to do right but didn't know he was being double-crossed. This story kept me intrigued until the end and I couldn't put it down. I had to find out what would happen to Corey. When will he know he can't trust the very person that he put all of his trust. Glad, he found out in the end who was his friends and his enemies.

[Kendra Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a another good story written by Shannon Holmes. This sounds like a story all to familiar in the African American neighborhood. Corey had to get at the person that killed his friend "O" although Corey was given another chance after leaving prison. His old mentor from prison tried to warn him and let it go but in the end it ended up costing him his life.

[Juan Irader Alamag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn good audio listen/read.I started the audio and finished it in one night a definite must listen or read.Will keep you in suspense.I think this is loosely based on the authors real life before he became an author.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, best part of this book was the epilogue.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very gripping story about a young man named Corey who starts selling drugs at a young age, and ends up in prison when he's 16 years old. The writing was very strong in this book in a story that I felt I'd seen before, it's very similar to the 2002 urban classic film, Paid in Full. To read the full review and see a custom book trailer click here

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very good street novel, and in sum ways reminds me of me if i dont str8ten up

[Brenda Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago, and I loved it so much I encouraged my two teenage son's to read it.

[Landon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read. I like this story. I knew what happened at the end was going to happen.

[Adrian Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending was expected.