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Eldorado Red
"The voice of the ghetto itself." — The Village Voice
A fistful of revenge, street-style, from Donald Goines, the godfather of urban lit. . .
Eldorado Red has it all—new cars, women, and plenty of money. But when you're the top dog, the sure bet is that someone—everyone—wants to take what you got. You just never think your own flesh and blood will pull the trigger. Now Eldorado's son, Buddy, is on the run. The thing is, Eldorado wants to let him go, but in the law of the streets, retribution has a mind of its own. . .
"He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly recreated the street jungle and its predators." — New Jersey Voice
A fistful of revenge, street-style, from Donald Goines, the godfather of urban lit. . .
Eldorado Red has it all—new cars, women, and plenty of money. But when you're the top dog, the sure bet is that someone—everyone—wants to take what you got. You just never think your own flesh and blood will pull the trigger. Now Eldorado's son, Buddy, is on the run. The thing is, Eldorado wants to let him go, but in the law of the streets, retribution has a mind of its own. . .
"He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly recreated the street jungle and its predators." — New Jersey Voice
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published May 1, 2000
5 people are currently reading
821 people want to read
About the author
Donald Goines
30 books758 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 7, 2016
I loved it!!! I thought this book was funny, disturbing and sad. Had me SMH. Roaches, robberies, drugs, Cadillacs, betrayal, love, lust, jealousy - nonsense and foolishness at it's best. It's a quick read with a lot of cursing and violence, but the story construct is simple and easy to follow. I can't wait to read his other books.
July 4, 2008
If you like real Hip-hop you would understand!!!!!!!!!!
January 31, 2015
I felt like this book was a dud. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did any of the other books I have read by Goines. It lacked evocative feeling. It did not make me feel any of the same emotions. It felt like it dragged on and on and I was just waiting for something to happen and nothing did. I was not excited by anything. It was very flat.
May 28, 2009
The book's story is fantastic but the dialogue is truly terrible. Donald Goines is a prison author, who needed more seasoning at his craft. Had he been afforded that, this book would have been an all time great.
March 11, 2025
One of his best so far
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August 9, 2008Most crime writers approach their topic from the far side as it were. They read about crime. Donald Goines lived it, it gives his pot-boiler crime novels an urgency not exactly found in other, more polished work.
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007...
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007...
August 20, 2023
An exciting, quick read. Though the ending felt a little unfinished to me, I enjoyed the book. Donald Goines is a prolific black author, writing stories about the ghetto. His stories are based on his own experiences. My best description is this book read like a blaxploitation movie.
August 3, 2013
I like the fact that Goines doesn't overdo his stories . He gives you just enough info for you to feel the story authenticity but not too much to where it's redundant . I read it in two days
January 27, 2022
This was close to a 4-star read. The premise is a good one. The boss of a numbers racket has a couple of his establishments knocked over by a gang of masked punks. He sends two of his most ruthless henchmen out into the streets to ferret the gang out. They quickly discover that his son may be responsible for the heists. I'm not giving anything away that you won't get in the synopsis. The ending was a bit rushed and the main character, Eldorado Red, seems to forget how he made it to the top of his game and falls in love too easily with a prostitute he meets in the course of the novel. Still, I enjoyed it. Goines's wrote these books quickly in the early 70s and sometimes suffer from a lack of polish. But the stories always have a solid drive to them that keeps one hooked.
June 14, 2025
I don’t get how this book has so high reviews. It was very very basic to me. Some funny moments like the thing w/ the roaches but everything else was like… ok what’s the point of ya’ll telling us this if you’re not gonna give more info? Like the relationship with Red & Vera… Samson being a good opponent for Tank but not doing anything with that. More info on Buddy’s mom & if she was really tryna turn him.
Giving unfinished short story. Idk.
Giving unfinished short story. Idk.
November 18, 2020
Great read! This is one of those books not for everyone. If you can't handle cursing, streets, and violence you will not be able to appreciate this project. Goines paints an inside look into a world only known by few but wrote about by many.
December 11, 2018
This is a great book to read drugs street life betrayal n more
September 7, 2019
They say Boston only wrote one song ... but it was a good song. I put this in the 'lesser works' file for Goines, but it is still a good novel. The forumula works.
July 16, 2021
Kinda weaksauce
August 9, 2023
Great read! I know why he got played!!!
February 26, 2024
Textbook for the OG of the early 70s.
you get,
Murder, sex with Ho's, Drugs, poverty, and pretty much everything that is still wrong with a part of the black community, well, all communities this one's just about black folks.
you get,
Murder, sex with Ho's, Drugs, poverty, and pretty much everything that is still wrong with a part of the black community, well, all communities this one's just about black folks.
September 19, 2025
In some ways it was really bad but good enough to finish (short!). I might read something else by Goines.
October 23, 2025
You could easily devour this page-turner in one sitting. Donald Goines was one of the best to ever do it!
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December 19, 2008This book is basically about this boy betraying his father.
July 31, 2010
This is a really quick read, I enjoyed the ride.
December 2, 2010
Fast-paced, gripping story of betrayal. I think I finished this in about 3 days.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews