When the Grand Design is finally revealed it will spell the last ride for Mr. Armed and Brokenhearted.
In this final installment of the widely popular Animal series, we find our anti-hero on a hunt for the woman who forced him to pick his guns back up when she burned his entire world down. The traitorous Red Sonja. She alone holds the key to saving his children and avenging his murdered wife, Gucci, but first he has to find her.
To do this, Animal reassembles his old gang: The Dog Pound for what will prove to be their most dangerous mission yet. The stakes are higher than ever and not everyone is expected to make it, but the members of the Pound readily accept the task and the risks that come with it. With his old friends, and a few new ones, Animal is on the hunt for his elusive prey. Then the unthinkable happens and there is an earth-shattering discovery that will change everything, including loyalties.
Meanwhile, the Black Lotus finds herself a prisoner in a place she had once called home. Having been branded a traitor by the Brotherhood of Blood, she is remanded to the mountain fortress while awaiting trial for the crimes she stands accused of. Unbeknownst to her, there are some within the Brotherhood who would rather see her dead than exonerated. Kahllah has unearthed a dark conspiracy which could clear her name, but at the cost of destroying the Brotherhood of Blood, which makes her a threat to the conspirators and a moving target. The hunter finds herself the hunted and her only chance of surviving the mountain will be to place her fate in the hands of an unlikely champion.
In 2002 K'wan hit the scene with his debut novel Gangsta, under Triple Crown Publications. It was the first novel released by the budding house and would eventually become the building block for what is now a multimillion dollar company. What started as a therapeutic release went on to become a part of urban-lit history and an Essence bestseller, as well as drawing rave reviews overseas. After penning his second novel, Road Dawgz (2003), K'wan drew the attention of St. Martins press. The literary powerhouse quickly signed K'wan to a multi-book deal, the first of which being Street Dreams (2004). In 2008 he received the Black Author of the year award from Black Press Radio for the novella Blow. Since his insertion into the publishing world K'wan has been featured in Vibe, Pages, King, Felon, Big News, The Library Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Press, Clutch and most notably Time Magazine, to name a few. He was also interviewed by MTV News for a feature on Hip-Hop fiction, and a guest on Power 105s morning show as well as NPR (national public radio). In addition to being an accomplished author, K'wan is also a motivational speaker, mentor to at risk children and the C.E.O of Black Dawn, Inc. K'wan currently resides in New Jersey where he is working on his next novel.
I suppose we’ve reached the end of the road… or have we? If you’ve read this latest installment to The Animal series, you’re privy to that information, and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?! Like all the rest of the installments in this series, it’s packed with lots of drama, lots of action, and lots of bloodshed. But what would a K’wan read be without bloodshed? *Inserts evil villain laugh* But all jokes aside, Animal 5 is probably the most anticipated read of 2021, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a fan. Myself, like other readers vested in this series, have a waited a few years for this book and it did not disappoint! K’wan ties up a few loose ends in this installment, but not before unraveling just as many. "Animal could not say for sure where the things that he was going through would lead, but in an attempt at establishing some sort of clarity, he had to start where it had all begun."
Animal is still on the hunt for his kids, TJ and Celeste, and his team is right there to help him. "Some dogs will kill for you because that's what they've been trained to do, and some dogs will die for you because they love you." The closer Animal thinks he's getting to finding his kids, the further away they seem. Loyalty, family, and the willingness to die is what Animal needs to complete his mission and bring his kids home. But nothing in Animal's life is that simple. Readers know Animal is cursed, but we aren't certain if his curse extends to his kids.
K'wan brought back all our favorite characters and even some of our least favorite characters. And if they didn't make an appearance, they were mentioned. The Animal series may be done, but he left endless possibilities for spin-off series. This book was action packed and read just like a movie. With The Order, The Brotherhood, The Dog Pound, and a new group introduced to us, The Gorilla Tribe, there's plenty of fighting, and plenty of dying. "When you get to hell, show this to the devil so that he knows you were one of mine while you were on earth. That'll make sure you get treated right, and let him know he and I will settle up shortly." K'wan has a special knack of ending books leaving you questioning if you've even read the story correctly, and this book wasn't any different. Be prepared for the shock of your life. This book was worth the wait and then some.
Very quick thoughts from an exhausted reader. I have more to say and will later
Now this was fire 🔥 I had to rewind at multiple spots to get clarity of what was happening events were unfolding at lightning speed. We were introduced to new characters and found out hidden twist about old. It didn't go without notice that a few characters from the series dropped off in this book. The readers don't have closure. We are also privy to new discoveries at the books end without backstory.
So, it lends that new books with Celeste at the helm will be written.
I'm going back to 2014 to read Ghetto Bastard. When Animal was Tayshawn Torres a little boy left to fend for himself due to an absent dad and a drug addict mom.
I was one of the fortunate people to receive an advanced physical copy of Animal 5. I was excited to receive it and very much so afraid to start. Once I started, I def wanted to stop because in Kwan’s own words “you just rushing your heartbreak” but once you start you can’t stop and the heartbreak is inevitable. Get ready for another wild ride and your emotions being all over the place
This was soooo worth the wait. The way all of the characters connected and the pieces started to fall into place ugh it was the perfect ending to THE greatest series EVER. I am going to miss the bastard son but he’ll forever be my favorite. K’wan is the 🐐 and I truly can not stress this enough. Now. Also I f’n LOVE LOVE LOVE CAIN 🥰
First, I want to start by saying the story of Animal is one of my favorites; however, I was left with too many unanswered questions. There are a lot of characters that seemingly just fell out of the story. What ever happened to King James, Frankie Angles, and why did the Clark’s play such a minimal role in this book?Why weren’t they there in the end? Whatever happened with Porsha? These are things that for me needed to be addressed. Did the cop die? Hopefully, there is more to come because there’s just too much left hanging in the balance. The action in the book was great! A lot of killing and some unexpected deaths. I gave this book 3 stars because it seemed unfinished and I didn’t like the fact they kept repeating things that we already knew. The grammatical errors had me reading some passages over just to make sure I understood what I was reading, but my over all opinion is that this was a good read.
I didn’t think K’Wan can top Ghetto Bastard but A5 was the best book he wrote and the best book I ever waited for! This man really had some of his best characters in here and boy was it a sight to read! I laughed out loud at some parts, gasped at so many parts, cursed at way too many parts and was so shocked at so much!! I’m not exaggerating when I say this book will have you liking characters you didn’t like and have you side eyeing characters you loved! So many surprises, happy moments and gruesome memories that will be stuck with me forever. It’s been almost two weeks since I read the book and I’m still mesmerized by this book. All in all this the best book I read all year so I definitely recommend this at the top of my list!
It took me soooo long to start this book. Man I love Animal and it's nothing like the other male characters I read about. He was the first one I loved and I don't know how I feel about not knowing what's up. I still have un answered questions but that took nothing away from the story and how one night had so much drama, murder and mayhem. How one person can cause a domino effect in alot of lives. Animal and the Dog Pound are something great but I see Celeste recking ish!!!!
It never takes me long to read a K'wan novel... But this one here? I had to savor. You can only read a great book for the first time once and no matter how hard it hits the book dragon in your soul... You can never get that first time feeling ever again.
Animal 5 was a book that I've waited YEARS for and I can honestly say that it was worth every second I've waited lol. So many questions were answered. So many emotions were felt. This book was like poetry. And that's saying a lot cuz I'm not a fan of poetry. K'wan's words were BEAUTIFUL! I felt every single action as if it was playing live action in my face. If a punch was thrown, I felt it. A tear shed? Felt it! The passion behind the words? Still resonating in my spirit. Animal is a character who could never ever be duplicated. His leading characters Ashanti, Khallah, Cain even his brother Justice all touched me deeply but as I read this book i found myself anxious to get back to the scenes with Animal. K'wan clearly had a sound gameplan with this storyline and he definitely exceeded whatever those expectations were.
I am so stuck.. I know there will be more.. I have so many questions.. Where did Sonya go?? And That Daughter of Hers is gonna be something else. I want more about The Brotherhood & CROSS.
You're one of my all-time favorite authors frfr! But, I agree with everyone else there was just too many errors! But, this isn't an ending for me... Where is Animal? Who is Cross? And how did Gucci survive? And ,Why can't Animal be in his children's life after ALL he did to get them back?! I'm confused this isn't an ending more of a cliffhanger. So, please don't leave us hanging! Baby Celeste was a baby GOAT! I was dying laughing when she was choking the caretaker😂😂😂 the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Animal & Red Sonya! Waiting on the conclusion! Well done!!
This story was very interesting. It was a long time coming but worth the wait. There were many errors found but the story was still good. I have read all of the books in the Animal series. Those boys and girl belonging to the Dog Pound are my guys, especially Ashanti. I was glad that Lilith was destroyed in the end along with her sons. Celeste is definitely Animal's daughter. I was confused about what happened to Animal following the fire. Where did Gucci and Cross come from. Will Animal see his kids again. Liked Cain also.
*spoilers* I can’t believe it’s over. Or is it? It’s been a long ride. So is Animal dead? Is Gucci even dead? Kallah took care of her body but who is this “Cross.” Can Animal only see out of his one eye because now he has a patch like his father? Is he the new priest? I have mixed emotions about Celest being inducted into the order. And when Kallah left the mountain us was being run by the bad guys did Kallah single handily take it all of them? I have question K’wan…Nonetheless this was an amazing book. An emotional rollercoaster. RIP to the pound members lost.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Always satisfied when I open a K'wan book and always ready for the next read when I close one of his books! This one goes down in History with so many of the past characters and a few new ones. From start to finish I couldn't read it fast enough anxiously trying to read what was to come. Salute to Author, Crime Novelist Kwan for another awesome read!!!!!!
Very mystical and it’s weird bc K’wan took a left turn after animal 4. I love animal and gucci together but i dont see the point of bringing gucci back from the dead (vampire version?). I gave the book 4 stars bc I needed closure but the mountains, elders, talking monkeys…..too much
Aight so this picks up right where we left off almost. The guys had sunk the ship & was still looking for that dirty, double crossing Red Sonja. But of course you know she's ghost, she knows all the chaos that she's caused. All the usual suspects are present in this tale plus a few that we might not have known about and a few that we didn't even know were involved in the takeover. In fact, it was bigger than I had even thought it was. Black Lotus has made it to the mountain because she got some business to handle but things get really real for her up there. She's not even thinking straight at first, she thinks she's on some type of reunion tour but quickly has to come to her senses. Tiger Lily is still pulling strings like the murderous puppet master that she is and Nightshade (SMH) is hanging on to her every command like a puppy. Only thing is, things aren't going as fast as Ms. Shade would like so she sets off on her own to speed things up. This is where I had to close the book cause I was hoping for a different outcome at this point. Then, when Ashanti is trying to make some type of sense of things them damn detectives (you know the ones) come at him. Just when he's cuffed and about to be carted off to jail, a "guardian angel" of sorts helps him out. Sort of. Animal is of course determined as ever to get his children back and he has no sympathy for anyone in his way. Except Sonja. Always a soft spot for that damn BM. It's so much going on I never wanted it to end. I'm actually skimming over it again because it's always something you missed. I started off reading slow because I wanted to savor the story. I knew it was gonna be a rollercoaster ride. Then I couldn't put it down because I needed to know what was gonna happen next. Once again I thought I was gonna shed a tear at the end but I was strong! Those last few chapters were hectic and exciting. If you've read the other books in this series you'll definitely enjoy this much anticipated conclusion to the series. You'll never guess this ending nor will you be disappointed.
I'm glad I continued on in the story because the 4th part of the book was a bit of a detour from the original story. They went from being prolific gang bangers to these awesome mercenaries and they knew how to murder in ways that any normal gang banger would admire and aspire to in their deepest, bloody dreams. This story didn't end well for about 80% of the dog pound. This story is filled, with heart ache and sorrow and no one leaves unscathed regardless if it is physical or emotional. I can appreciate it about this story. It wasnt nice, it didn't end wrapped in a neat bow and I dare say that it didn't really end at all but created an opening for a new series. Animal is a man that there would be no half measuring in loving that man. He made you be all or nothing and I was here for it. In the end, he got his kids back but what was the cost?
Animal still got me in a chokehold because of the way this man moves. The way he loves. The way he handles business. Yeah… that’s my problematic fave and I stand on that.
Knowing this was the last book of the series had me on edge the whole time. Final books can be hit or miss, but this one? Oh, it went out with a whole explosion, not just a bang. K’wan closed this series like he was trying to knock the wind out of me one last time. Every chapter had something. A twist, a betrayal, a moment that made me clutch my chest. It felt like a farewell tour of pure stress and greatness.
What I loved most about this series is the layering. Revenge, loyalty, heartbreak all mixed with that gritty street energy.
K’wan wrapped up an iconic series with fire, pain, love, and pure chaos and my nerves are done, but my soul? Fully fed. Now I need a break to recuperate.
I'm going to start with my prerequisite "Why would K'wan do this to me?" Why does this have to be the end? We could have gotten a good 2 more books out of this series! Why did the end make me feel like it wasn't really the end? Great read. As per the usual K'wan not only fleshes out his characters. But he creates situations in which they intertwine. He also has a vast knowledge of NYC, the five boroughs and the outskirts. I can envision everything. He's a great storyteller and creates perfect villains and unlikely heroes. Animal is such a noble character. It's been a ride reading about him. I do agree with the other comments that talked about the typos and errors. It was glaringly obvious because Kwan books never ever have errors. 4.5 stars
This one (Animal V) is my least favorite of the series. It was all over the place at times and there were too many new characters introduced in this one. Also, I didn’t like how they never really acknowledged Zo’s death and it took forever for anyone to even know that he was gone! I’m glad that Ashanti, Cane and Animal were still standing at the end but I wish that it didn’t end with another fake death for Animal (especially since he has children). And where did Gucci come from? There was just a LOT going on in this book!
Overall, the series as a whole is pretty good and I’ll likely read the next one (Animal VI). What can I say, I love Animal and Ashanti! LOL. The author is talented so I plan to read more of his work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
First respect to all of those who meet their honorable soldiers death rest easy homies. You earned it but it's also said to know they will no longer be read about but will always be my favorite characters since the 1st book. Animal n Gucci are and will forever be my favorite couple from these series. Cain Ashanti black lotus and the rest I would love to read about somewhere else doing other things but never forgetting The Dog Pound. KDawg got away but I want to see him pay greatly especially Shai Clark
I have waited years for this book and am very disappointed. There was too much mystical stuff. The way Animal has always been written was not reflected in this book. I figured since this was (supposedly) the last book, I expected some Dog pound losses but must admit that I was sad to see that Zo fell victim, and I know the author isn't afraid to kill a main or beloved character.. I've been reading Kwon since Ghetto Bastards and Section 8 and this book was his first book that I was overly disappointed in.
“I told you that I would always love you, in this life and the next,” Gucci said with a smile. 🤯🤯🤯
I’m lost for words! Is Gucci dead? What about animal? Who the hell is The Cross?!? I need answers K’wan!!!!
This journey has been an emotional roller coaster and I’m sad it’s over 😔. Before I head out, I would like to say R.I.P to : Zo-Pound, Abel, and Bizzle, y’all truly died a soldier’s death. 🫡🫡🫡
To Red Sonja… your days are numbered. Cain took it easy on you, but you should be dead!!!
And to the little homie Ashanti, I’m glad you stayed alive to see your daughter born. 🫡
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I did not think it was possible that K’wan could surpass Ghetto Bastard.. but my gosh! This, in my opinion, is his best work to date! He added so many different genres to a series and brought in all the different characters from different series and made them all make sense. Genius! I have no questions and my soul is satisfied! Tayshawn Torres will always have my heart! Perfect ending.
I felt let down right from the beginning. It became clear to me that I was being manipulated. These so-called tough guys, who are meant to be at the top of their game, are often overpowered by women. I'm not impressed by this twisted reality where women dominate the streets. In the end, they came across as a group of tough-talking individuals who, despite having guns, seemed more like weaklings than true fighters.
The level of anxiety, joy, and sadness wrapped into one big ball. K'wan has did it again!!!!!! This was a read read! I would wait years again if needed to get this book all over. I just finished and can't wait to start it again. I love everything single thing about this! Keep it up Bro.
There's too many spelling errors in this book to be the work of art that one of my favorite authors, K'Wan Foye writes! I'm thoroughly upset. However, the book is good. I just wish I didn't have to keep repeating the sentences because of the errors.
There were just waaaaaaaaay too many editing errors/character switching within the story that took away from some of the scenes and it frustrated me! Once I was able to determine what was going on after figuring out the errors, the story was a good one. Still one of my favorite authors!