Goodfellas

by Carl Weber

Headlined by New York Times bestseller Carl Weber, three authors bring readers tales of power, greed, and ambition set in some of the country’s roughest neighborhoods.
           
“ Sibling Rivalry” by Carl They say the parent’s sins always fall into the children’s laps. Twins Kayden and Jayden Vincent have walked in their father’s kingpin shadow as two princes fighting for the same throne since they were children. Now, finally at the age where the transition is inevitable, it seems as if the twins are going head to head when it comes to everything around them. What they don’t know is that the crown they are fighting for comes with its own burdens—like a past the kingpin forgot to tell them about. It’s a past that, if not dealt with, will leave both men without an empire to inherit.

“Love Seldom, Trust Never” by Ty   While attending his estranged father’s funeral, East is approached by the legendary Ricardo Wheeler, who offers him the opportunity of a lifetime. Wheeler takes the young man under his wing, but when Wheeler’s son and heir-in-waiting becomes jealous, his excessive ambition and quest for power lead to betrayal. A treacherous war is set in motion that will force the powerful legend to choose between his two sons. Anything built on a lie will eventually crumble. When no one and nothing are what they seem, who can you trust?

“The Bag Is In” by Marlon PS   Slow grinding for years, Greedy and GiGi are ready to step up their game, with a thirst to be Detroit’s King and Queen of the Trap. The struggle is real, but the payoff will be major. After cashing out their middleman up front, the couple’s hood dream tragically turns into a nightmare. The middleman is popped, and the infamous Mexican pipeline is broken. Greedy and GiGi devise a seemingly flawless plan to not only recoup their invested cash, but to link up with one of the most notorious cartels across the border. What seems like sunshine quickly turns to rain, however, and chaos erupts.

Genres: Urban, Crime, Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2018

About the author

Carl Weber is a New York Times and #1 Essence® bestselling novelist.

In addition to his writing, Weber is the founder and publisher of Urban Books and in 2005, he was named Blackboard's Publisher of the Year. He is the owner of the Urban Knowledge chain of book stores and a past recipient of Blackboard's Bookseller of the Year award.

Weber graduated from Virginia State University and holds an MBA in marketing from the University of Virginia.

Reviews

[K2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Stories.....This Five Star Rating is for the first story written by Weber. And this is the best story I read by Weber so far, normally I give him four stars but I really enjoyed this story. And eventho there was a bit of predictability there were definitely elements of surprise as well. The other two Stories were cool.

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A compilation of 3 short stories, I enjoyed the second, "Love Seldom, Trust Never", the most. Nothing earth shattering here, just OK. 4 out of 10.

[Kitani · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it came to sibling rivalry Kayden was constantly going overboard. He was selfish and instead of changing his ways he continued lying and doing dumb things. It was messed up what he did with Treasure and it was as if he only wanted to succeed in hurting Jayden. Jayden proved to be the good one and even though it took some time to see what was staring in his face I'm glad things worked for him. Damn Regret. The meaning behind the name heightened the issues Faye dealt with at a young age. I really would've loved to know how things went after Greyson was faced with his biggest regret, as well as the amount of hatred Kayden had and the lengths he was willing to go to secure his position.
In love seldom, trust never there was so much disloyalty going on. It's crazy how Ricardo came into East's life with ill intent. I'll admit I was thinking some bad things about Lauryn until everything was revealed. Tez did right with his teachings and I'm glad he told East the truth so he'd know what to expect when it came to Ricardo. Dos was sorry and felt entitled when he really wasn't cut out for the lifestyle. Dos and Ricardo both showed why one should love seldom but trust never considering how trifling they were.
Marisa was a criminalist just by watching law and order. Juan and Karen's carelessness caused all their problems and things didn't seem to get too much better. Chasing what was in the bag really did create problems ontop of problems. Greedy was down to get his bag and although Gigi normally held things down, her jealousy didn't help. I just knew Maria would end up doing something wrong and have her and Bobby in trouble. She did look out and I hate her asking questions complicated things. As crazy as Marisa's story was that one call sealed the fate of those involved. Most of the men in these stories really didn't amount to anything but there were a few goodfellas that were able to do what was right after dealing with greed, envy, jealousy, power, and the drive to be better.

[Page Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Carl Weber and this was my first read by Ty Marshall and Marlon P.S. White. I enjoyed Carl's and Ty's but I wasn't as enthralled by Marlon's as I would have liked to be. At any rate, there's enough crime, sex and blood to keep you entertained if this is what you like.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story written by Carl Weber and Ty Marshall but Marlon White's story was a total fail! It was a total disconnect and could've been left off. The twins in Carl's story were total opposites and then to discover there was a sister, whew! I really enjoyed that storyline. Ty Marshall's story about East just shows you real what you sow. I really enjoyed that storyline as well! Overall a great collaboration of authors, 2 more so than the third.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Sibling Rivalry, and Love Seldom , Trust Never were good, but I thought The Bag Is In was just so, so.

[Rise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each story was interesting, however I enjoyed reading Sibling Rivalry the most of them all. Kayden thought that he should be ruler over everything and to get rid of his brother, however a third sibling came into the picture that her never knew about. I thought it was a good story that the siblings finally got to meet before one of them ended up losing their life. In the second story Love seldom, Trust Never was also a good read and to finally see how everything turned out for East. I'm hoping eventually there will be more coming from sibling Rivalry because I would like to see how the father reacts to finally seeing Faye after so many years. Also I would like to know what happens next in The Bag Is In which was the third story in the book.

[Deedee Henson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an anthology featuring 3 authors. Carl's story was kind of predictable with the evil twin vs good twin. He did throw in a few twists but he also left questions to be answered. However, I still enjoyed the story.
Ty Marshall's story was the best one! His story flowed effortlessly and kept a steady pace. I really enjoyed it.
PS White's story had me boggled for awhile because I couldn't figure out exactly where he was going with it until I got to the end. Overall I did enjoy the book and would recommend it.

[Alison is probably reading smut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off so strong.. but got weaker as I progressed. Loved story 1, "Sibling Rivalry" by Carl Weber. Story 2 "Love Seldom, Trust Never" was pretty good (big fan of Ty Marshall over here!), but when it came to story 3 "The Bag is In" .. just not a fan and could not get into it. As I kept reading I honestly couldn't wait for it to be over. If the entire book was more like stories 1 & 2, I would have given it 5 stars. Just honestly cant get into Marlon PS White.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh...typical urban fiction

Finish this in a day...don’t drag this out more like I did.

I also didn’t realize upon first reading this that this book contained three separate stories.

All three had eye-rolling moments.

They weren’t horrible; but that last one really had me ready to speed read through to the end.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this book a 3 stars because i only really enjoyed one of the stories, which was Love Seldom, Trust Never by Ty Marshall. Sibling Rivalry by Carl Weber was very predictable and I honestly expected more from my favorite author. The Bag Is In by Marlon PS White was not good at all.

[Kandise Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

2ND story was the best to me, 1ST one was very good also but 3 was very hard for me to follow , it seemed to keep doing too much back and forth to understand the story!! Overall a nice fast paced read.

[Adrianne Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book wasn’t really my thing. Only because I’m not really into books about kingpins and drug dealings but since Carl Weber is my favorite author I bought it anyway. I figured I wasn’t going to like it from the time I bought it but decided to give it a shot. It is what it is.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Carl’s writings and appreciate Ty Marshal. I didn’t really like the last story.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like nothing I’ve ever read before, quite interesting.... all three authors did the dam think, it definitely leaves wanting more. Would love to see them come together again!

[Shannan Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really an urban lit kind of reader. I kinda likes the first story written by Mr. Weber. The other two were ok stories, but the ending of the third story left me a little confused.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed thinking it was a
story they collaborated on not 3 stories. Enjoyed Carl and Ty stories but PS White story was ok.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three authors present three stories about ambition, power and greed.

[Ann Merriweather · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 books in one, love it. The first two, grabbed me, I was all in. The last, took a minute to get into. Overall, a good read.

[La Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had three stories in it. I hadn’t realized it at first when I purchased it. I really enjoyed the first two stories. The last one was just ok for me.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

SIBLING RIVALRY by Carl Weber***

"You were enough, but a rib can't fit into the body of the wrong man. It doesn't matter what you could have done or would have done differently; if he didn't see you, then he doesn't deserve you at any time." (p77)

LOVE SELDOM. TRUST NEVER. by Ty Marshall*****+

"The heart was just a motor. The head was meant to drive." (pg195)

"Nobody is who they seem, but everybody is exactly who they are." (pg226)

"Confidence could be a weakness if it exceeds its limit." (pg262)

"Nothing beats a double cross like a triple cross." (pg264)

THE BAG IS IN by Marlon PS White -

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I disliked the narrator

[Jerricka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay book. Wasn’t what I expected

[Danielle Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

OMG Carl Weber has done it again!! I enjoyed Sibling Rivalry so much! Love Seldom, Trust Never by Ty Marshall was okay. It was boring at first, but then during the end was when I really got into it. The Bag Is In by Marlon PS White took me forever to finish. I just could not stay interested in it. I had to force myself.

[Chere' Brady]

I am not a fan of anthologies. Once you get into the story it ends. They could easily be novels...