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Mr. Confidence
MR. CONFIDENCE WILL FORCE YOU TO TAKE FINANCIAL PRECAUTIONS When a wrongly accused man (Don Juan Jackson) gets out of prison, he focuses his attention on becoming a good example for his six-year-old daughter, who at her tender age has been terribly influenced by her mother and her mother's many paramours. He plans to get a job to be a family good father, but his plans are derailed soon after his release. His life becomes packed with unbelievable excitement when he is drawn into a life of white-collar crime by his childhood pal, Lex. They commit several scams and schemes—and Secret Service agents are watching. But with the money abundantly flowing in, Don Juan takes explosive measures to get custody of his daughter and to avoid another trip to the penitentiary. Pulse-pounding seconds pass as Don Juan risks his freedom and fatherhood for the score of a lifetime.
541 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2018
About the author
Rahiem Brooks
31 books126 followersRahiem Jerome Brooks is the breakout novelist and is a member of the Mystery Writer's of America. His debut thriller, LAUGH NOW won 2010 African-Americans on the Move Book Club's (AAMBC) Book of the Year & he earned 2011 AAMBC Author of the Year. LAUGH NOW also the Most Creative Plot at the DMV Expo's Creative Excellent Awards. Rahiem was also nominated at the 2011 & 2012 African-American Literary Awards for Mystery of the Year for Con Test and Murder in Germantown.
Rahiem Brooks worked on a Film/TV certificate program at University of California, Los Angeles; however, he currently studies English at Harvard University.
He permanently resides in Philadelphia, PA. with a manx.
Rahiem Brooks worked on a Film/TV certificate program at University of California, Los Angeles; however, he currently studies English at Harvard University.
He permanently resides in Philadelphia, PA. with a manx.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 19, 2018
After reading so many disappointing reviews, I had to finish this book since I received an ARC of months ago like many of them. Much to my surprise, I wholeheartedly disagree with many of the whiny and elitist one- and two-star reviews. They're from boring crass reviewers that couldn't handle one day in the community that this book centered around. I guess being Black and reared in a community mirroring the Germantown, Philadelphia area that this books reflected makes me partial, but I LOVED THE BOOK. The main characters were thugs that liked sex and committed crimes, but beneath all of that were two men searching for a way out of the dismal state that so many White and Black people are born into. That's where my appreciation for this story begins. The themes beneath the surface that critical thinkers would have picked up on.
Don Juan Jackson was falsely imprisoned and upon release had sex in a limousine that picked him up from jail. This is something that parolees dream of doing after serving years in prison away from women, and for some, it's a reality. I totally appreciated that. It's a gritty and explicit tale, but as real as the storytelling in a Biggie Smalls LP. The story progresses with Lex, teaching Don Juan about white-collar crimes and convinces him to leave the drug game alone. I was intrigued by the people that taught Lex how to commit fraud crimes. This is all unfamiliar turf to Don Juan, but he is for it because he needs money to take care of his daughter and finding a job with his record is well...impossible. Especially, with people like the reviewers of this manuscript sitting behind the desk, judging them for their past or present lives. There are many themes in this book to cover, but for the millions of people that can relate to the drama herein, it will certainly be a much-appreciated novel.
And, I have to note. It was well written, free of typos and the grammar problems that usually plague books describing the urban crime trade. An excellent read.
Don Juan Jackson was falsely imprisoned and upon release had sex in a limousine that picked him up from jail. This is something that parolees dream of doing after serving years in prison away from women, and for some, it's a reality. I totally appreciated that. It's a gritty and explicit tale, but as real as the storytelling in a Biggie Smalls LP. The story progresses with Lex, teaching Don Juan about white-collar crimes and convinces him to leave the drug game alone. I was intrigued by the people that taught Lex how to commit fraud crimes. This is all unfamiliar turf to Don Juan, but he is for it because he needs money to take care of his daughter and finding a job with his record is well...impossible. Especially, with people like the reviewers of this manuscript sitting behind the desk, judging them for their past or present lives. There are many themes in this book to cover, but for the millions of people that can relate to the drama herein, it will certainly be a much-appreciated novel.
And, I have to note. It was well written, free of typos and the grammar problems that usually plague books describing the urban crime trade. An excellent read.
May 16, 2018
*** Note: I received e-ARC, in exchange for an honest review. ***
I was expecting this book a crime thriller based on con, scam and scheme by the blurb. I wish someone had put a review earlier on this book so I could get a better picture of what’s actually in the book before accepting the request, because it was totally not as blurb described it. It will be more convenient to say it was erotica with sex and money drama.
What I didn't like– Characters. Narration and language. Emotions. Thrill and action. Theme and plot. More than once I felt like I want to skip this book but as I have promised for a review I went through it hoping against hope that it will turn out better at some point.
The book is all about Don Juan Jackson, his life before prison and after it, sex and sex and sex, revenge, and little around white collar crime of identity and money theft that Don Juan, carried out with his childhood bests friend, Lex. Story was written in third person narration from the perspective of mostly Lex and Don Juan.
Language – From the first chapter only my half expectation for this book went down. The language was rough street language that also with lots of swearing, sex, and disrespectful towards women. I would have been okay with swearing but it was on every page and paragraph and I might be right if I include sentence. Author just overdid with that. Who speaks like that all the time! Sex – of my goodness it was in every chapters. Graphical and describing everything and not even that erotic. I just wanted to close the book on reading it. I haven’t expected that from the book. All women were displayed as sex object. The least expectation that was remained, just evaporated here. No woman would like to read a book where women were talked like that and behaved even worst. The display was totally disgusting. Blurb was misleading but even if I have read the book blindly I wouldn’t have liked it because of this reason.
Characters– I’m not going to describe any of them it will be enough to say, Men of the book lived only for money and sex they didn’t have any moral or emotional bone. Even the ladies of the book were no better. They were there for sex and revenge with foul mouth, they didn’t even care if they were pregnant or had a baby. All characters of the book were not even near to okay and real far from good and likable. they were extremely selfish, money minded, sex driven. Thankfully Don Juan’s daughter was left clean and innocent, an only character worth reading. And Ijanay – Lex’s girlfriend -was good and quite decent, odd woman out in the book.
Plot and theme– As I said from blurb I expected it to be about scheming and scams. It was there but was written in flat voice. It should be stronger and catchy or at least interesting. I felt none of it. It was too simple without any complexity.
No Action. no tension. no emotions. It turned to more towards revenge of ex-girlfriend and mother of Don Juan’s daughter. Characters never showed empathy or any kind of love. Just that father-daughter relation was little nice in the book but I didn’t feel much after seeing how that father acted with other women. Blurb said ‘he focuses his attention on becoming a good example for his six-year-old daughter’. To be honest he just wanted to be good father providing his daughter loads of expensive gifts, not exactly setting example of good father.
What I liked-
Only likable thing in the book was- Pace- it was extremely fast. I was like how am I going to finish these 500 pages but I went through in no time.
Entry of Investigating agent, Mason, gave the book little thrill and tense effect- that was also very late, almost around climax – and it didn’t last long.
Overall, the book was disappointing. It didn’t turn out as I expected. It just didn’t work for me.
I was expecting this book a crime thriller based on con, scam and scheme by the blurb. I wish someone had put a review earlier on this book so I could get a better picture of what’s actually in the book before accepting the request, because it was totally not as blurb described it. It will be more convenient to say it was erotica with sex and money drama.
What I didn't like– Characters. Narration and language. Emotions. Thrill and action. Theme and plot. More than once I felt like I want to skip this book but as I have promised for a review I went through it hoping against hope that it will turn out better at some point.
The book is all about Don Juan Jackson, his life before prison and after it, sex and sex and sex, revenge, and little around white collar crime of identity and money theft that Don Juan, carried out with his childhood bests friend, Lex. Story was written in third person narration from the perspective of mostly Lex and Don Juan.
Language – From the first chapter only my half expectation for this book went down. The language was rough street language that also with lots of swearing, sex, and disrespectful towards women. I would have been okay with swearing but it was on every page and paragraph and I might be right if I include sentence. Author just overdid with that. Who speaks like that all the time! Sex – of my goodness it was in every chapters. Graphical and describing everything and not even that erotic. I just wanted to close the book on reading it. I haven’t expected that from the book. All women were displayed as sex object. The least expectation that was remained, just evaporated here. No woman would like to read a book where women were talked like that and behaved even worst. The display was totally disgusting. Blurb was misleading but even if I have read the book blindly I wouldn’t have liked it because of this reason.
Characters– I’m not going to describe any of them it will be enough to say, Men of the book lived only for money and sex they didn’t have any moral or emotional bone. Even the ladies of the book were no better. They were there for sex and revenge with foul mouth, they didn’t even care if they were pregnant or had a baby. All characters of the book were not even near to okay and real far from good and likable. they were extremely selfish, money minded, sex driven. Thankfully Don Juan’s daughter was left clean and innocent, an only character worth reading. And Ijanay – Lex’s girlfriend -was good and quite decent, odd woman out in the book.
Plot and theme– As I said from blurb I expected it to be about scheming and scams. It was there but was written in flat voice. It should be stronger and catchy or at least interesting. I felt none of it. It was too simple without any complexity.
No Action. no tension. no emotions. It turned to more towards revenge of ex-girlfriend and mother of Don Juan’s daughter. Characters never showed empathy or any kind of love. Just that father-daughter relation was little nice in the book but I didn’t feel much after seeing how that father acted with other women. Blurb said ‘he focuses his attention on becoming a good example for his six-year-old daughter’. To be honest he just wanted to be good father providing his daughter loads of expensive gifts, not exactly setting example of good father.
What I liked-
Only likable thing in the book was- Pace- it was extremely fast. I was like how am I going to finish these 500 pages but I went through in no time.
Entry of Investigating agent, Mason, gave the book little thrill and tense effect- that was also very late, almost around climax – and it didn’t last long.
Overall, the book was disappointing. It didn’t turn out as I expected. It just didn’t work for me.
Did Not Finish
April 9, 2018I had high hopes for this one based on the description, but I couldn't even finish it. I think the characters were so developed in the author's head that they forgot to translate that development to paper. Either way, I had the feeling I was supposed to find the characters cool and tough, but I just thought they were caricatures--nothing interesting or compelling about them. I can't even say I disliked them, just that I was so bored with them I had no interest in seeing what happened next.
I really hate to leave negative feedback, but I was asked for an honest review in exchange for an advance copy, and there's just no way I can put a positive spin on my experience here.
I really hate to leave negative feedback, but I was asked for an honest review in exchange for an advance copy, and there's just no way I can put a positive spin on my experience here.
April 9, 2018
I received this book for free in exchange of a honest review.
I was expecting a good thriller/crime, maybe a little violent, because in the summary I didn't read about sexual content or something like that.
The first two chapter begins with s*x scenes, a lot of curse words and I was: ok, this guy was in jail, this is a urban thriller, I can resist some bad word.
But all the book is like the first chapters, or even worse: every woman in this book is described as a b***h, a se*ual doll, or a nightmare walking on stiletto.
All the ex-girlfriends of the two MC are the worst women in the world: crazy, manipulative, liar and thief.
All the other women in the book are only good for one thing, and the men tell them out loud in the street just to see them pass by.
As a woman, I was feeling so bad that I was thinking of DNF the book.
And the swear words! OMG they're everywhere!!
I tolerate a certain number of swear words, and I totally understand that the author would describe a certain world and a culture, but I prefere to know this before read a book.
I DNF "The second coming" of Niven for all the swear words!
I saved just the daughter in this book, sorry.
I was expecting a good thriller/crime, maybe a little violent, because in the summary I didn't read about sexual content or something like that.
The first two chapter begins with s*x scenes, a lot of curse words and I was: ok, this guy was in jail, this is a urban thriller, I can resist some bad word.
But all the book is like the first chapters, or even worse: every woman in this book is described as a b***h, a se*ual doll, or a nightmare walking on stiletto.
All the ex-girlfriends of the two MC are the worst women in the world: crazy, manipulative, liar and thief.
All the other women in the book are only good for one thing, and the men tell them out loud in the street just to see them pass by.
As a woman, I was feeling so bad that I was thinking of DNF the book.
And the swear words! OMG they're everywhere!!
I tolerate a certain number of swear words, and I totally understand that the author would describe a certain world and a culture, but I prefere to know this before read a book.
I DNF "The second coming" of Niven for all the swear words!
I saved just the daughter in this book, sorry.
July 30, 2018
Title: Mr. Confidence
Author: Rahiem Brooks
Publisher: Prodigy Gold Books
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Mr. Confidence" by Rahiem Brooks
"My Thoughts.....
I found Mr. Confidence a very interesting mystery urban erotic thriller with suspense that involved Mr. Don Juan Jackson who has recently gotten out of prison and has a main focus and that was getting to know his six year old daughter Trinity. With the help of Don Juan's [hid childhood friend], Lex he becomes involved with new schemes that draw him into the 'white collar crimes of identity and money theft' leaving the drug game alone. With Don Juan's main objective is to get custody of his daughter but it seems like his BM has other plans that will certainly cause a lots of trouble before that can or will happen. Will Don Jan be able to rebuild a relationship with his daughter and do all of this stuff with Lex and be able to stay out of prison. Well, all that is left to say is there will be a lots of twist and turns with revenge, with scheming and scams that will be presented in this well written depiction of this type of urban life. The characters were well developed, portrayed where the reader will find many were spineless and thugs however, I did find Don Juan Jackson was somewhat 'calm, cool, respectful, and rational but still a con man where he committed white collar crimes' and I would definitely say by the end of the read he was definitely 'Mr. Confidence.'
Be ready for a fast paced read that will keep your attention as you are turning the pages to see what is coming next in this quite interesting story.
Author: Rahiem Brooks
Publisher: Prodigy Gold Books
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Mr. Confidence" by Rahiem Brooks
"My Thoughts.....
I found Mr. Confidence a very interesting mystery urban erotic thriller with suspense that involved Mr. Don Juan Jackson who has recently gotten out of prison and has a main focus and that was getting to know his six year old daughter Trinity. With the help of Don Juan's [hid childhood friend], Lex he becomes involved with new schemes that draw him into the 'white collar crimes of identity and money theft' leaving the drug game alone. With Don Juan's main objective is to get custody of his daughter but it seems like his BM has other plans that will certainly cause a lots of trouble before that can or will happen. Will Don Jan be able to rebuild a relationship with his daughter and do all of this stuff with Lex and be able to stay out of prison. Well, all that is left to say is there will be a lots of twist and turns with revenge, with scheming and scams that will be presented in this well written depiction of this type of urban life. The characters were well developed, portrayed where the reader will find many were spineless and thugs however, I did find Don Juan Jackson was somewhat 'calm, cool, respectful, and rational but still a con man where he committed white collar crimes' and I would definitely say by the end of the read he was definitely 'Mr. Confidence.'
Be ready for a fast paced read that will keep your attention as you are turning the pages to see what is coming next in this quite interesting story.
April 15, 2018
I pushed through this book to give it my honest review....and here it is.
This is not particularly my choice of genre. It's urban and erotic. I forced myself to read with an open mind. Despite the urban theme of the novel and Wow...the intro to this novel is very erotic no less.
This was a departure from his novel "A Butler Christmas", however, Rahiem Brooks delivers a well written novel with proper diction and descriptive scenes.
Alexis "Lex" Burton is my favorite character in the novel. He isn't spineless but he isn't a thug either. He knows what's out there and where he's going. Calm, cool, respectful and rational but a con-man and a thief committing white-collar crimes. Don Juan Jackson is the pretty boy that is street wise, an ordinary thug.
Agent Mason brought an interesting element to this thriller. He resembled the persistent TV detectives that won't rest until the bad men are captured.
The ending was a little cloudy for me.
This is not particularly my choice of genre. It's urban and erotic. I forced myself to read with an open mind. Despite the urban theme of the novel and Wow...the intro to this novel is very erotic no less.
This was a departure from his novel "A Butler Christmas", however, Rahiem Brooks delivers a well written novel with proper diction and descriptive scenes.
Alexis "Lex" Burton is my favorite character in the novel. He isn't spineless but he isn't a thug either. He knows what's out there and where he's going. Calm, cool, respectful and rational but a con-man and a thief committing white-collar crimes. Don Juan Jackson is the pretty boy that is street wise, an ordinary thug.
Agent Mason brought an interesting element to this thriller. He resembled the persistent TV detectives that won't rest until the bad men are captured.
The ending was a little cloudy for me.
May 26, 2018
Excellent...Excellent. Great depiction of urban life and well written.
May 26, 2018
Straight from the streets of Philadelphia. Reminded me of an early Walter Mosley manuscript.
June 11, 2018
(I received a free copy of this book from Prodigy Gold Books.)
The story begins with Don Juan Jackson being released from prison with a plan to exact revenge. He's been involved with drugs and relationship catastrophes in the past, mostly of his own making. He has not seen his daughter, Trinity, in six years and is anxious to reunite with her. His friend, Lex, has come up with another way to make easy money and wants Don Juan to join him. Don Juan will try the new scheme with Lex, try to rebuild his relationship with his daughter and live it up if he can stay out of prison.
This is a raw, uncompromising look at life through the eyes of of characters that live their lives on the criminal side of society. It was a rough start for me because it is very graphic, but I continued on and was rewarded with a very interesting read. The best feature of this story was its unpredictable. I had no idea what was going to happen. The characters are unique and the story is fast-paced and suspenseful with lots of plot twists. This is highly recommended for adult readers.
The story begins with Don Juan Jackson being released from prison with a plan to exact revenge. He's been involved with drugs and relationship catastrophes in the past, mostly of his own making. He has not seen his daughter, Trinity, in six years and is anxious to reunite with her. His friend, Lex, has come up with another way to make easy money and wants Don Juan to join him. Don Juan will try the new scheme with Lex, try to rebuild his relationship with his daughter and live it up if he can stay out of prison.
This is a raw, uncompromising look at life through the eyes of of characters that live their lives on the criminal side of society. It was a rough start for me because it is very graphic, but I continued on and was rewarded with a very interesting read. The best feature of this story was its unpredictable. I had no idea what was going to happen. The characters are unique and the story is fast-paced and suspenseful with lots of plot twists. This is highly recommended for adult readers.
February 13, 2025
Mr. Confidence was an intriguing book up until the middle, but the ending just so happened to be my favorite part. The description and the first few pages alone, sold me and I knew I was in for a good read. Although it had a good storyline, it became unorganized and felt like it was rushed in certain areas.
Characters popped in and out of the book without an introduction or their reasoning, when the unfamiliar names appeared I thought I may have skipped a page or read ahead but once I kept reading, I understood their role.
Things escalated quickly and the short chapters were appreciated because as I stated, I was sold in the beginning and just needed to know what happened next.
The author has a talent for referencing things, he paints a clear picture of what he is describing.
It is crazy to think that there are some people who get out of jail and know they are going back, Don Juan was no different. I often wondered if he was scared of change, but from what we found out about his childhood, the streets was all he knew.
Lex is the kind of friend you need when you get out, to a certain extent of course, but he did what he knew, and I know Don Juan was grateful.
Lex and Don Juan were partners in crime and in my opinion were good at what they did until things started to unravel. Revenge seemed to be on everyone's mind and that was the downfall of their operation.
I wasn't expecting Sherry's character to flip the way she did and ultimately, she paid for it. Don Juan's mission was to be a good father to Trinity no matter the cost and I believe Sherry envied their relationship.
It was a beautiful ending for Lex and Don Juan, I was not expecting the outcome.
If it wasn't for Lex who knows how things would have ended, haha!
**2.5 Stars**
Characters popped in and out of the book without an introduction or their reasoning, when the unfamiliar names appeared I thought I may have skipped a page or read ahead but once I kept reading, I understood their role.
Things escalated quickly and the short chapters were appreciated because as I stated, I was sold in the beginning and just needed to know what happened next.
The author has a talent for referencing things, he paints a clear picture of what he is describing.
It is crazy to think that there are some people who get out of jail and know they are going back, Don Juan was no different. I often wondered if he was scared of change, but from what we found out about his childhood, the streets was all he knew.
Lex is the kind of friend you need when you get out, to a certain extent of course, but he did what he knew, and I know Don Juan was grateful.
Lex and Don Juan were partners in crime and in my opinion were good at what they did until things started to unravel. Revenge seemed to be on everyone's mind and that was the downfall of their operation.
I wasn't expecting Sherry's character to flip the way she did and ultimately, she paid for it. Don Juan's mission was to be a good father to Trinity no matter the cost and I believe Sherry envied their relationship.
It was a beautiful ending for Lex and Don Juan, I was not expecting the outcome.
If it wasn't for Lex who knows how things would have ended, haha!
**2.5 Stars**
August 15, 2018
This so-so book details the story of Don Juan, a man coming back from prison to go back to his life of crime and see his daughter while forces work against him.
http://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/2018...
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