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Black Gangster
A story of black organized crime follows Prince from his beginning as a teenage ganglord to his position as head of Detroit's powerful mob.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
48 people are currently reading
1429 people want to read
About the author
Donald Goines
30 books757 followersDonald Goines was born in Detroit to a relatively comfortable family - his parents owned a local dry cleaner, and he did not have problems with the law or drugs. Goines attended Catholic elementary school and was expected to go into his family's laundry business. Instead Goines enlisted in the US Air Force, and to get in he had to lie about his age. From 1952 to 1955 he served in the armed forces. During this period he got hooked on heroin. When he returned to Detroit from Japan, he was a heroin addict.
The next 15 years from 1955 Goines spent pimping, robbing, stealing, bootlegging, and running numbers, or doing time. His seven prison sentences totaled 6.5 years. While in jail in the 1960s he first attempted to write Westerns without much success - he loved cowboy movies. A few years later, serving a different sentence at a different prison, he was introduced to the work of Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck). This time Goines wrote his semi-autobiographical novel Whoreson, which appeared in 1972. It was a story about the son of a prostitute who becomes a Detroit ghetto pimp. Also Beck's first book, Pimp: The Story of My Life (1967), was autobiographical. Goines was released in 1970, after which he wrote 16 novels with Holloway House, Iceberg Slim's publisher. Hoping to get rid of surroundings - he was back on smack - he moved with his family to the Los Angeles ghetto of Watts.
All of Goines's books were paperback originals. They sold well but did not receive much critical attention. After two years, he decided to return to Detroit. Goines's death was as harsh as his novels - he and his wife were shot to death on the night of October 21, 1974. According to some sources Goines's death had something to do with a failed drugs deal. The identity of the killers remained unknown, but there were reports of "two white men". Posthumously appeared Inner City Hoodlum (1975), which Goines had finished before his death. The story, set in Los Angeles, was about smack, money, and murder.
The first film version of Goines's books, Crime Partners (2001), was directed by J. Jesses Smith. Never Die Alone (1974), about the life of a drug dealer, was filmed by Ernest R. Dickerson, starring DMX. The violent gangsta movie was labelled as "junk masquerading as art."
During his career as a writer, Goines worked to a strict timetable, writing in the morning, devoting the rest of the day to heroin. His pace was furious, sometimes he produced a book in a month. The stories were usually set in the black inner city, in Los Angeles, New York or Detroit, which then was becoming known as 'motor city'. In Black Gangster (1972) the title character builds a "liberation" movement to cover his planned criminal activities. After this work Goines started to view the social and political turmoil of the ghetto as a battlefield between races.
Under the pseudonym Al C. Clark, Goines created a serial hero, Kenyatta, who was named after the 'father of Kenya', Jomo Kenyatta. The four-book series, beginning with Crime Partners (1974), was published by Holloway House. Kenyatta is the leader of a militant organization which aims at cleaning American ghettos of drugs and prostitution. All white policemen, who patrol the black neighborhoods, also are his enemies. Cry Revenge! (1974) tells of Curtis Carson, who is tall, black, and used to giving orders. He becomes the nightmare of the Chicanos, who have crushed his brother. Death List (1974) brings together Kenyatta, the powerful ganglord, Edward Benson, an intelligent black detective, and Ryan, his chisel-faced white partner, in a war against a secret list of drug pushers. In the fourth book, Kenyatta's Last Hit (1975), the hero is killed in a shootout.
The next 15 years from 1955 Goines spent pimping, robbing, stealing, bootlegging, and running numbers, or doing time. His seven prison sentences totaled 6.5 years. While in jail in the 1960s he first attempted to write Westerns without much success - he loved cowboy movies. A few years later, serving a different sentence at a different prison, he was introduced to the work of Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck). This time Goines wrote his semi-autobiographical novel Whoreson, which appeared in 1972. It was a story about the son of a prostitute who becomes a Detroit ghetto pimp. Also Beck's first book, Pimp: The Story of My Life (1967), was autobiographical. Goines was released in 1970, after which he wrote 16 novels with Holloway House, Iceberg Slim's publisher. Hoping to get rid of surroundings - he was back on smack - he moved with his family to the Los Angeles ghetto of Watts.
All of Goines's books were paperback originals. They sold well but did not receive much critical attention. After two years, he decided to return to Detroit. Goines's death was as harsh as his novels - he and his wife were shot to death on the night of October 21, 1974. According to some sources Goines's death had something to do with a failed drugs deal. The identity of the killers remained unknown, but there were reports of "two white men". Posthumously appeared Inner City Hoodlum (1975), which Goines had finished before his death. The story, set in Los Angeles, was about smack, money, and murder.
The first film version of Goines's books, Crime Partners (2001), was directed by J. Jesses Smith. Never Die Alone (1974), about the life of a drug dealer, was filmed by Ernest R. Dickerson, starring DMX. The violent gangsta movie was labelled as "junk masquerading as art."
During his career as a writer, Goines worked to a strict timetable, writing in the morning, devoting the rest of the day to heroin. His pace was furious, sometimes he produced a book in a month. The stories were usually set in the black inner city, in Los Angeles, New York or Detroit, which then was becoming known as 'motor city'. In Black Gangster (1972) the title character builds a "liberation" movement to cover his planned criminal activities. After this work Goines started to view the social and political turmoil of the ghetto as a battlefield between races.
Under the pseudonym Al C. Clark, Goines created a serial hero, Kenyatta, who was named after the 'father of Kenya', Jomo Kenyatta. The four-book series, beginning with Crime Partners (1974), was published by Holloway House. Kenyatta is the leader of a militant organization which aims at cleaning American ghettos of drugs and prostitution. All white policemen, who patrol the black neighborhoods, also are his enemies. Cry Revenge! (1974) tells of Curtis Carson, who is tall, black, and used to giving orders. He becomes the nightmare of the Chicanos, who have crushed his brother. Death List (1974) brings together Kenyatta, the powerful ganglord, Edward Benson, an intelligent black detective, and Ryan, his chisel-faced white partner, in a war against a secret list of drug pushers. In the fourth book, Kenyatta's Last Hit (1975), the hero is killed in a shootout.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 29, 2021
I've been in a horrible reading slump for months. Some months I feel like I'm coming out of it and then it comes right back. I've been trying to finish this book all month and even though I enjoyed it A LOT my brain was just not having it.
Donald Goines was the definition of a hustler. Goines wrote about the life that he actually led. Donald Goines along with Iceberg Slim invented the genre of Street Lit/ Urban Fiction. Those men were the precursors to Rap music. They wrote about the gritty under belly of the streets. They brought the lives of pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, drug dealers and thieves to the broader public.
Black Gangster is the second Donald Goines novel I've read, the first being Never Die Alone(the movie is also pretty good). Goines novels are not for everyone, these books are grim as fuck. If you can't stomach reading racial, sexist and homophobic slurs then don't read his books. He writes the way these people talked in real life. If you can't handle reading about the joy that the police take in brutalizing Black people then this book ain't for you. Donald Goines books don't tend to have happy endings but the endings are always realistic.
I'm glad I finally finished this book and I'm hoping to read another Donald Goines book by the end of the year but who knows how that will go.
Donald Goines was the definition of a hustler. Goines wrote about the life that he actually led. Donald Goines along with Iceberg Slim invented the genre of Street Lit/ Urban Fiction. Those men were the precursors to Rap music. They wrote about the gritty under belly of the streets. They brought the lives of pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, drug dealers and thieves to the broader public.
Black Gangster is the second Donald Goines novel I've read, the first being Never Die Alone(the movie is also pretty good). Goines novels are not for everyone, these books are grim as fuck. If you can't stomach reading racial, sexist and homophobic slurs then don't read his books. He writes the way these people talked in real life. If you can't handle reading about the joy that the police take in brutalizing Black people then this book ain't for you. Donald Goines books don't tend to have happy endings but the endings are always realistic.
I'm glad I finally finished this book and I'm hoping to read another Donald Goines book by the end of the year but who knows how that will go.
December 23, 2008
This book is great!!! I really LOVE Ruby she is really a Gangsta Bi$$h...I actually read this book a few times, I allow a few months or a year to pass then I pick it up and read it again, always grabs my attention, especially after a few apple martinis
January 20, 2009
I like the way Goines can write a story. His books are not for everyone, he is really along the trash literature types, but I like him, because lots of readers would not even give him a chance. Yeah he writes about the dark underbelly of the crime world, he writes of pimps, hustlers, gangsters, whores, the lowlifes of the ghettos, well, Goines give them a voice. Where most people would write of positive, uplifting people to get them going, Goines is doing the opposite. I could compare this to the Stranger from Camus, Camus wrote the same character, someone most people would not want to identify with, but Mersualt Mersault, was a sad character that I wanted to emulate. I was tired of these heroes who were always getting the good woman, and living a great life. Who's life is like that? I know mine is not. I have never got the woman that I loved, the woman that I lusted for, she always went for the other guy, and this happened more than ten times in my life, and you could say that I have to change my life, and I did change my life, and still I never got it the way these 'great books' said it would be like. So I like literature where I can relate to the anti-heroes, where I know we ugly people of the world, will never get our princesses, our loves, as much as I want it, as much as god wants to do for me what i can not do for myself, well i just have to accept my life on my crappy terms, and i have to read what I can relate to.
April 11, 2009
My first Donald Goines book! I enjoyed immensely and plan on reading more sometime soon. The characters in this were amazing. Ruby is so high on the list of favorite all-time characters she's right next to Winter Santiago. This, like The Coldest Winter Ever is a story I won't forget.
One thing that ticks me off a little with the more recent urban fiction is that so much is unrealistic. Nothing in this was unrealistic- it all could happen and it all has happened, somewhere, in some way, at some time. At the end when Ruby goes home to get the cash, she's not grabbing 14 million dollars- she's grabbing $60,000. That's a whole lot more believable to me any day.
The slang from back that is awesome to- 'I'm hep to it' and 'Let me pull your coat to this baby'. You can't get much more cool than Prince and Ruby!
I won't be forgetting them anytime soon- they're right there with Winter and Midnight!
One thing that ticks me off a little with the more recent urban fiction is that so much is unrealistic. Nothing in this was unrealistic- it all could happen and it all has happened, somewhere, in some way, at some time. At the end when Ruby goes home to get the cash, she's not grabbing 14 million dollars- she's grabbing $60,000. That's a whole lot more believable to me any day.
The slang from back that is awesome to- 'I'm hep to it' and 'Let me pull your coat to this baby'. You can't get much more cool than Prince and Ruby!
I won't be forgetting them anytime soon- they're right there with Winter and Midnight!
December 13, 2017
It started a bit dry; but slowly it became something pretty special. As it is from an insider point of view, it has a natural flow to it; everything feels very real but equally unreal. Also unlike most of the gangster related work it is neither glorification nor vilification of the lifestyle; which makes it quite honest. Also while the characters are slightly two dimensional in the beginning they develop quite charmingly. Ruby is a special kind of sociopath for example. My favourite character was Donnie "the nihilistic gangster"; his acute sense of the harsh realities of his environment and his indifference to his "sealed" faith reminded me of myself.
I really liked the heist part and the senseless but rational violence was chilling.
I really liked the heist part and the senseless but rational violence was chilling.
November 22, 2017
I’m not even about to lie i almost cried a couple times man. This story was fantastic i already have Street Players coming in the mail. I found Donald Goines looking for storylines that are more relatable for a young black man and this satisfied my request. I also saw online that Common and Nas speak highly of him and man now i do too. Prince was an amazing protagonist and his crew was super easy to picture in my head. Ruby was a super stare too as well as the homie Racehorse who i imagined looked like David Ruffin hahaha read this one!!!
May 3, 2015
I have to say I was thoroughly depressed when I finished reading this book. Goines's story of life in the ghetto seemed that real. It also depressed me on another level because the police brutality that Goines wrote about in the 70s is in the news today -- basically nothing has changed in 40 years.
I would recommend this book, but you may not be glad you read it.
I would recommend this book, but you may not be glad you read it.
August 24, 2013
I finished this a while ago, maybe '99-00. But I am giving it another look now. I have never been dissatisfied with any Goines book.
February 14, 2022
Black Gangster is something of an urban crime epic, with a large cast of characters ranging from black gangsters (duh), black activists, police detectives, the Italian mob, and a whole bunch of Detroit lowlife characters (hitmen, pimps, dealers, and so on). It’s the story of a rise and fall, starring an ambitious young gang leader and his Lady MacBeth-esque girlfriend. The book is full of gritty, street level detail and tells a big story with a high body count (though it’s less shockingly gory than the other Goines novels I’ve read, that’s not to say it isn’t violent). People make a big deal out of Goines’ personal life (former criminal, pimp, addict, and more) and how much he pulled from it for his fiction; that’s undoubtedly true to an extent, but it’s interesting to wonder how much of that was Kayfabe, self-mythologizing to build his books’ reputations. The reason I mention that here is because this book’s quality doesn’t lie in whether or not the writer lived through similar events; it’s a good story, told by a talented storyteller. And, as harrowing as his work can sometimes be, I think it’s also clear Goines had a lot of fun writing his books. This one is definitely fun to read, and probably a good entry point for the uninitiated.
December 18, 2020
My neighbor gave this to me, she always tells me about how she likes to read about "sex and drugs," and this is one of her faves. It's definitely not an uplifting book, every time I found myself rooting for a specific character, that character was gone within a chapter or two. The way it was written made me feel like I was watching a movie or crime TV show, and I watch a lot of both and I'm sure I've seen something like this, if not this story, before.
I read about Donald Goines as I was reading, which made me understand how realistic the book was in the 1970s (and to a large extent when it comes to clashes between the black community and the police, even today). Not sure I'd recommend it to others because it was so heavy and I'd rather watch the TV version, but I'm not mad that I read it.
I read about Donald Goines as I was reading, which made me understand how realistic the book was in the 1970s (and to a large extent when it comes to clashes between the black community and the police, even today). Not sure I'd recommend it to others because it was so heavy and I'd rather watch the TV version, but I'm not mad that I read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2013
The worst book I've read by Goines so far. The dialogue was terrible and corny and I felt no attachment towards the protagonist or any of the characters for that matter. It lacked the romance that Black Girl Lost had and the politics that White Man's Justice, Black Man's Grief had. I feel like with the other books I've read by him, he was knowledgable about the topics but in this one, he was out of his element. The only time I was truly captivated was the end which was pretty good although I felt no sadness when Prince and Ruby died. I'm going to take a break from Goines because of this book.
January 19, 2023
Started off a bit slow, and then it really took off in classic Donald Goines fashion. The thing I love about his books is that they really feel complete already in their own right; you don't need a movie version of this, the characters and language feel authentic, and sorta jump right off the page. Good crime novel from a guy who really lived what he's talking about. Even though it's a work of fiction you get the sense that it's real and actually happened at some point, or Goines knew people like the main characters.
August 27, 2018
A more ambitious novel from Goines, which probably accounts for its near lack of humor. As usual, the plot is great, if more complex and the characters are fine as always, strong, distinct. Prince and Ruby, they're the coolest couple in pulp fiction.
Ruby stopped stacking the money long enough to put her arms around Prince's neck. "We got this city right in the palm of our hands, baby".
Ruby stopped stacking the money long enough to put her arms around Prince's neck. "We got this city right in the palm of our hands, baby".
February 29, 2008
That's gangsta! Read this one also while I was in Iraq. Great for escapism, as books should sometimes be. (It's like a movie ON PAPER. Who would'a thunk it?)
July 29, 2023
Listened on Audible.....Sad book about gangsters, pimps, whore's, murder and every other bad thing you can think about!!
May 10, 2025
Yes indeed! I loved this. There was no dull parts and I promise this is one of the books (especially listening to the audiobook version) that kept me fully invested.
Can you root for any of the characters? Comical but def not. Between Price greed and ruthless behavior of using the injustice against black people to fully get more money through stronghold methods to the interesting Ruby that was wild and all for Prince, they were something else. One character I did support was Chinaboy as he was for the cause. But in the end, everybody had to deal with the greed of Prince and boy was the game rough.
Full of action, greed, sex, and grittiness. This is one I would read again (or listen) because it was just that good! You'll get so wrapped up in this story you don't even realize how much time has slipped by.
Can you root for any of the characters? Comical but def not. Between Price greed and ruthless behavior of using the injustice against black people to fully get more money through stronghold methods to the interesting Ruby that was wild and all for Prince, they were something else. One character I did support was Chinaboy as he was for the cause. But in the end, everybody had to deal with the greed of Prince and boy was the game rough.
Full of action, greed, sex, and grittiness. This is one I would read again (or listen) because it was just that good! You'll get so wrapped up in this story you don't even realize how much time has slipped by.
March 30, 2022
Note the one star rating here is responding to "did I LIKE it" or not -- not, is it good. If I was rating how good of a book it was, I'd put it at 3 stars out of 5.
I didn't appreciate the targets of some of the grisly gang deaths were queer; though Goines' own views on homosexuality aren't clear. Are they just easy targets? Is the idea to add some color to the story? Do we feel empathy for the madame Frankie?
I also didn't appreciate how generally manipulative and ruthless the protagonists of the book were. That's the idea of course, but I don't have to like it. I'm not sure this book was romanticizing gangster culture, or was a commentary on the hopelessness of it... I guess a little of both, with more emphasis on the latter. Though for me, the book didn't seem real enough to be a commentary, and wasn't fun enough to be comic-book violence.
Finally, I didn't like the narrator Leon Nixon in the audiobook, who would say something coldly, but then be true to the text and say "she said coldly." It stood out every sentence where there was that kind of adverb, and there were many of them.
I'm trying to decide if another Goines book is going to be just more grim hard characters like this, or if there might be some wisdom or humor like in a Mosley book. I'll try another I think, and see what happens.
I didn't appreciate the targets of some of the grisly gang deaths were queer; though Goines' own views on homosexuality aren't clear. Are they just easy targets? Is the idea to add some color to the story? Do we feel empathy for the madame Frankie?
I also didn't appreciate how generally manipulative and ruthless the protagonists of the book were. That's the idea of course, but I don't have to like it. I'm not sure this book was romanticizing gangster culture, or was a commentary on the hopelessness of it... I guess a little of both, with more emphasis on the latter. Though for me, the book didn't seem real enough to be a commentary, and wasn't fun enough to be comic-book violence.
Finally, I didn't like the narrator Leon Nixon in the audiobook, who would say something coldly, but then be true to the text and say "she said coldly." It stood out every sentence where there was that kind of adverb, and there were many of them.
I'm trying to decide if another Goines book is going to be just more grim hard characters like this, or if there might be some wisdom or humor like in a Mosley book. I'll try another I think, and see what happens.
November 5, 2021
Driven by ambition and greed, Prince gets out of prison and seeks to rule the underworld of Detroit. Helping him is a ruthless band of criminals and killers who strike fear into the hearts of anyone who dares to cross them. As he takes over the criminal rackets one by one in the city, Prince also masquerades as a champion and activist for Detroit's black community. But will he reign as king or will his empire be cast down into the dust?
Black Gangster is maybe my favorite of Donald Goines's work. It's gritty, noir, violent, and suspenseful, everything I look for in an epic organized crime thriller.
Black Gangster is maybe my favorite of Donald Goines's work. It's gritty, noir, violent, and suspenseful, everything I look for in an epic organized crime thriller.
July 8, 2025
The graphic details are what really stands out in this book. Whenever I am in a reading slump a Donald Goines book pulls me out because he wastes no time in the story. There were no heroes, just bad people doing bad things and reaping the consequences!
July 20, 2009
classic Goins! some of his best stuff!
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June 9, 2015I honestly couldn't put Donald Goines books down. Completing each series in two to three train rides in NYC.
June 4, 2016
Despite what people say, Goines has enough demented humor in him to have his last line be a joke in this chaotic organized crime tragedy.
February 16, 2017
Very good book to read.
February 9, 2021
I love all of his books. He takes the reader for a ride through his visuals of the Ghetto.
October 2, 2021
Very good, must order the books I have not read!
September 11, 2022
Sad Story! This book was good but what a sad story! I just want one person from a Donald Goines book to survive the ending at least once. Tragedy.
January 12, 2023
Audiobook: Far from Goines best work, I struggled to get through this one. Not nearly as intriguing as past works.
February 25, 2024
Great read revisiting Donald Goines books love his way of writing.
June 9, 2025
I wanted to like this. I really did. Seriously. The setup had me thinking I was in for something wild, like a real adventure, maybe even a character I could get behind. Priest starts out as this magnetic, natural leader, and for a minute, I thought I’d be rooting for him all the way. But as things went on, he just… didn’t grow.
He stayed stuck in his own narrow vision, chasing power and money at any cost. It’s almost like the more I read, the less I wanted him to win. I kept waiting for some kind of turning point, but it never came. Instead, I found myself actually hoping some of these characters would get what was coming to them.. which, honestly, kind of ruined it for me.
If I’m not rooting for at least one person, what’s the point?
Bottom line: Black Gangster had all the ingredients for something great, but the characters just never gave me a reason to care. I wanted more than just a cautionary tale. I wanted to feel something for these people, who were clearly ambitious but misguided. Maybe next time.
He stayed stuck in his own narrow vision, chasing power and money at any cost. It’s almost like the more I read, the less I wanted him to win. I kept waiting for some kind of turning point, but it never came. Instead, I found myself actually hoping some of these characters would get what was coming to them.. which, honestly, kind of ruined it for me.
If I’m not rooting for at least one person, what’s the point?
Bottom line: Black Gangster had all the ingredients for something great, but the characters just never gave me a reason to care. I wanted more than just a cautionary tale. I wanted to feel something for these people, who were clearly ambitious but misguided. Maybe next time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2021
I'd heard about Donald Goines for years. He is one of the more popular authors in California prisons and always in high demand in those libraries. I can see why. His stories are still relevant and believable, even though he wrote over 40 years ago.
This particular book is pretty bloody and violent, but effective. The only section that was a little difficult to believe was how the cops talk to each other. They sounded a little stilted, but perhaps that's how they sounded to the author when creating the dialogue.
Other note: there's some discussion of a political campaign in this book to create chaos related to police and the black community--some of the observations in the book seemed like they could have been plucked from 2020 analyses.
This particular book is pretty bloody and violent, but effective. The only section that was a little difficult to believe was how the cops talk to each other. They sounded a little stilted, but perhaps that's how they sounded to the author when creating the dialogue.
Other note: there's some discussion of a political campaign in this book to create chaos related to police and the black community--some of the observations in the book seemed like they could have been plucked from 2020 analyses.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews