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Cold World

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The urban fiction Cold World is filled with ghetto love, unspeakable treachery, pure hatred, and non-stop unpredictable twists and turns that is sure to smack you dead in the face with the true reality of street life. The main character of this wild story is a cunning and extremely ambitious street hustler named Gusto. Raised in the underworld of Trenton New Jersey, Gusto is willing to do whatever it takes to climb to the top of the food chain. Once he reaches the top of the drug trade ladder, he makes sure to bring his team along. As time goes by, Gusto experiences unthinkable deception from those closest to him. Disregarding his personal responsibilities, Gusto finally falls victim to his own greed and pride, and is forced to pay a price that he can not afford.

319 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2017

7 people are currently reading
9 people want to read

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Carde'l

14 books11 followers
Carde'l Edens

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Book Reviews by Tara aka Queen of Memoirs.
333 reviews82 followers
October 8, 2017
Cold World is a suspenseful and exciting book of urban fiction that is packed with intrigue and unpredictable twists and turns.

In this book, author Carde'l does an awesome job of delivering Gusto's story. The main character in the book, it is Gusto's relationships that forms the story's center. As a hard core street pharmacist, Gusto will stop at nothing in his quest to take over the drug game in the city of Trenton.

There were many aspects of this book that made for an excellent read.

First, I found the flow of this novel so gripping that putting the book down was a difficult task. The plot was very fulfilling. Embedded with lots of twists and turns. Yet, the story was very easy to follow.

Next, I really liked the perspective from which the story was told. Written from the third person point of view, the author displayed the motives behind each of the characters actions, making the characters understandable, real and believable.

Finally, as a native New Jerseyan I enjoyed the setting in which the story took place. Set in Trenton, New Jersey, Carde'l took the reader into a city that is not often seen in literature. Being from New Jersey it was very easy for me to visualize the details of each scene. Furthermore, as a native of Atlantic City, I thought it was pretty cool to read about my hometown in this gritty tale.

Overall, I found this book very well executed. Author Carde'l is a gifted storyteller that totally took me on an suspenseful journey through the mean streets of Trenton, New Jersey. I recommend this book to all readers of fiction and I highly recommend it to lovers of urban fiction. Complete with everything from love, lust, sex, betrayal, drugs, prison and murder, trust me you will not be disappointed!
Profile Image for Critiques Corner.
125 reviews12 followers
April 11, 2018
Reviewed by CRABBIE

Cold World introduces you to Gusto, born and raised in the mean streets of New Jersey. From the time Gusto was a kid he had it rough. A mother addicted to crack who sold young Gusto to a big time hustler for her next hit. As Gusto got older he ended up running in the streets hustling himself looking for his next come up. Gusto would do anything to get money nothing or no one was off limits. In due time Gusto finally finds a connect that would make Gusto one of the biggest drug dealers in New Jersey. As the saying goes more money, more problems. With a right hand man, a small crew, and a girlfriend that would do anything for money Gusto thought his enemies was the competition. Little did he know that the people he surrounded himself with is who he should've kept a closer eye on.

Cold World was a gritty urban fiction read. There was no shortage of drama in the book and the storyline kept you interested. If you grew up in the hood then you could relate to a lot of the stuff that went on in this story. The story was told in third person which gave you a better understanding of each character and their motives. I gave the book 3 stars due to the amount and typos and unnecessary quotation marks through out the story. This story has the potential to be a 5 star read with revisions. The story ended with a cliffhanger and many unanswered questions. Cold World left you wanting more and hopefully there will be sequel in the future.
Profile Image for WriteVibeMagazine.
321 reviews19 followers
November 21, 2017

Cold World is the street lit novel from Carde'l . His debut literary effort tells a tale of ghetto love, unspeakable treachery, pure hatred, and non-stop unpredictable twists and turns that is sure to smack you dead in the face with the true reality of street life set in Trenton, NJ.

The book centers around a hustler named Gusto who will do whatever it takes to be the drug kingpin. No street hustler can do this alone, so he enlists the help of his homies to establish a team but when deception comes it has Gusto second guessing many.

Fans and readers of Urban Fiction/ Street Lit will love this book because the author does a great job of painting a graphic tale of the street life that will make you feel as though you are right there within the pages of this novel.

This was a great debut and I look forward to more from this author. Cold World showed different points of views that made for an easier read because some questions that I had were explained. Kudos Carde'l
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tayari Green.
94 reviews7 followers
March 4, 2019
Welcome to Gusto’s world which is located in the hard core streets of New Jersey. Gusto is a corner boy that is alway scheming on how to come up and be the next kingpin. He’s all about knocking the next man down to get his come up and he is very cocky. In this book you will see if Gusto learns that the hard knock life of the streets is married to Karma and some time they come for you at the same time. This book was an amazing read. I can't wait till the next book. I would even like a spin off book of his girlfriend or his mom.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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