The Streets

Franco #1

by Tom Sheridan

A mixed martial artist has one last fight. To make things right. He just wants to train. Hop an NJ Transit train. Do some work in Newark. Rep his fight team and his fans across the nation. Outlast that international sensation. Hopefully raise a victorious glove. Maybe get back with his love.

But he’s feelin the heat. On Jersey’s streets. They docked his dock job. He owes a favor to The Frog. And his teen son T's bein bullied. His plan’s all gettin sullied. Not to mention dealing with issues of class. Race. The mirror's reflecting face. It’s like there’s no escapin ’08. But wait. Let the haters hate. Franco’s goin for great.

Fightin straight outta Woodbridge. Aka Hoodbridge. The Wood. The Hood. By any name, a town. Too small to be a city. Too broke to be a burb. Too rough to be rural. Just a tough little Turnpike town. Older than America yet representative of today’s America. Connecting north to south. Red to blue. Old to new. Either a perfect alchemy. Or an insane stew. In March of ’08 it was looking like the latter. One that would swallow up Franco and T both.

LP Novel: (n.) A novel that is written lyrical. At times. In its usage of wordplay. And rhymes.

Genres: Fiction

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

Tom grew up in the two most infamous parts of Jersey: the Turnpike and the Shore. But as all locals know, both areas are hidden gems. From lessons learned on the streets of Woodbridge to moving and becoming "Tom from Toms River," Tom treasured his working-class upbringing that led him to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey where he graduated magna cum laude, earning a B.S. in Finance.

Inspired to overcome the financial hardship faced by him and his family growing up, Tom next arrived in New York City where he worked as an Analyst then Assistant VP at Merrill Lynch's world headquarters. Tom then took the next obvious step...and...headed west to become a writer!

Tom earned a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, & TV--waiting tables at the Olive Garden in the process. After a couple post-graduate years struggling to break in, Tom founded a tutoring organization and eventually went on to write for Sony, Disney, Paramount, Nickelodeon, and Universal Studios. Five major Hollywood studios! Zero projects produced! At which point Tom decided to write his way out of "development hell" with three critically-praised novels that achieve his true aim as a writer: sharing his work with others.

Tom also enjoys teaching high school students, coaching youth baseball, and spending time with friends and family including his two kids and wife, Tammi.

Reviews

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Franco once worked for Frog (dad, Catholic), & TJ (aka T, Frog’s teen son). It was a way to make lots of money.
Coach Thomas “Nelly” Nelson IX (Wrestling coach, athletic director) did his best to keep Franco in line.
Franco & Julie Lane (energy customer service rep, UCLA) got married & had a son.

A 1998, Blue Mustang was the family car.
3/8, Woodbridge, NJ. (aka Hoodbridge, the Wood, the Hood). Franco (MMA, boxer, soccer, balling) ran & trained everyday of his life.
The next stop the Power Plant gym.
Those working out were: Henry Hill, Willy Momo, Whitey Bulger, Little Benny (Samoan,) Five for Five (500 lbs.), Tito “Conway” Chang, Bluto, Peggy (Bluto’s wife), & Brother Darryl.
Fast forward, yrs./miles, Detroit, MI. Franco was 10-1 on the circuit.
London, England. It was time for Franco to meet his maker “Prince” Naseem Hamed.
9/8/2001, Round 1 Prince. Round 2 Franco…

Joey Yo (1/2 Puerto Rican, Franco’s BMF, trainer, boxer), TJ, Nelly, Brazil, & Taz, were his support team & took care of his round needs.
What was the Frog asking Franco (33) to do?
Franco (Bunns Lane Brawler) was riding out the circuit again.
3 MMA fighters right in a row: Shui Ming, Umar Basayev (Chechen), & Thiago Alves.
What will Franco’s MMA future be?

This is how I grew up in big cities. Ballin, & stick ball till the sun went down or UR mom, or kid’s mom yelled or rang a cow bell & said it’s time for supper.
& God forbid we called each other racial names & knew each other by a nickname. Mine was Whop.

UR a lil F*****’ hood rat aren’t chu’?

Warning: This book contains graphic adult content, violence, or expletive language &/or uncensored sexually explicit material which is only suitable for mature readers. It may be offensive or have potential adverse psychological effects on the reader.

If you don’t read/understand street slang, this book is not for you.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written adventure book. It wasn’t always easy for me to read/follow from start/finish, but never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a large set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great inner-city adventure movie, or better yet a mini TV series. A very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; Goodreads; MakingConnections; Making Connections discussion group talk; Streets Creations; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Jennifer Cano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, lyrical novel!

I decided to give this book five stars after thinking a little bit about the way it is written. I've never read anything like it before. The whole book has a lyrical style, almost like it's a song or epic poem, that is brand new and completely original for a novel. And the story is an awesome updating of the classic boxing thriller for MMA. This book is a fresh read that I highly recommend!

[Larissa Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Bad-ass Rhyming-Rapping-Rhythm***

My inner warrior was ready to rumble with Franco on the streets of New Jersey in 'The Streets'! The audio performance was super well done and captured the rhythm of the prose with a unique sentence structure abbreviated in an almost rap style at times. The overall story line is filled with cultural and geographical references that engage the brain. :)

[Pretty Peony Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the style of this book. I loved the word play. It's what got me hooked. I found the story dragged on a little bit but otherwise, it was definitely a worthy read.

Note: I won this ebook in a giveaway but the review is my honest opinion.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book highly entertaining. I have never read a book like this before but I liked it! Recommended reading.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I too enjoyed this book. I won a kindle copy of it. I really did not think I would like it, but I enjoyed. Recommend giving it a try even if fighting and martial arts aren’t your thing.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I'm not into MMA or fighting but this book was still very entertaining and an interesting read. Also loved reading all about the neighborhoods in New Jersey, I'm a Cali girl so it was nice to get to know the Jerz. Especially since I am a big fan of the show Jersey Shore :)

Book definitely gets in your head...makes me want to just write in rhyme all the time after reading all of Tom's lines.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Kindle Copy Win

One last fight for a mixed martial artist turns out to be more than he expects. Life on the streets is portrayed as he tries to survive and make amends along the way. A quick paced read that moves along at a steady paced. Interesting read that was a bit different.

[Clavin1210 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for anyone with a dream, a family, a hometown, or a heart. Like a Rocky 2K, but with lyrical flows on every page that’ll keep your head noddin’.

[Arianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made it to page 26 and stopped. When I start to avoid reading altogether because I find a book just that unenjoyable I know it's time to throw in the towel. I'm still really not sure what this story was even going to be about. It was a lot of small rhymes and using words in their multiple meaning in one sentence, which made it really unpleasant to get through. I'm sure there are plenty who might appreciate that, but I felt it really detracted from whatever was actually supposed to be happening. There was a whole lot of back story scattered here and there, too. It's just not my cup of tea.

[Victoria Haugen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit, I had NO IDEA what I was getting into, but wow what a ride! That was crazy!
Super interesting, never heard anything like that before.

As I'm very new to the genre I don't have much to compare it to, but hey this was nicely done!
Clever, raw, crazy, really had a fun time with this one! :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a number of other reviews have said, this is a different sort of book. The writing is what captivated me ... it was almost lyrical in places ... creating images and emotions that kept the story going. Other than the fight scene at the end of the book and the father/son relationship, I really didn't think the story offered too much but I have to say it really had me interested.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[timj26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well past his prime mma fighter looking to go out on top while trying to keep his son and himself on the right path
Written lyrically I thought this was a very creative way to tell a story
The narration was excellent the audiobook is definitely the way to go
If you like urban drama and classic hip hop check this out
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

[oohlalabooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was entertaining and I loved the references to NJ & the 90’s! MC Franco is a MMA fighter, loves Jersey, and his family but sadly life happens & things don’t work out.
Thanks to the author for an ebook copy. This is my honest honest review.

[Joan Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetry?

This was hard to read because of the way words rhymed and the alliteration. Couldn't quite get into the story.

[Ryan Murphy]

NOOOOOOOO!!! I WON THE GIVEWAY AND ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT. T^T