Down These Mean Streets

Amazon.com

The 30th anniversary edition of this classic memoir about growing up in Spanish Harlem includes an afterword reminding us that its streets are even meaner now, thanks to crack cocaine and the dismantling of government poverty programs. As a dark-skinned Puerto Rican, born in 1928, Piri Thomas faced with painful immediacy the absurd contradictions of America's racial attitudes (among people of all colors) in a time of wrenching social change. Three decades have not dimmed the luster of his jazzy prose, rich in Hispanic rhythms and beat-generation slang.

Book Description

Thirty years ago Piri Thomas made literary history with this lacerating, lyrical memoir of his coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem. Here was the testament of a born outsider: a Puerto Rican in English-speaking America; a dark-skinned morenito in a family that refused to acknowledge its African blood. Here was an unsparing document of Thomas's plunge into the deadly consolations of drugs, street fighting, and armed robbery--a descent that ended when the twenty-two-year-old Piri was sent to prison for shooting a cop.

As he recounts the journey that took him from adolescence in El Barrio to a lock-up in Sing Sing to the freedom that comes of self-acceptance, faith, and inner confidence, Piri Thomas gives us a book that is as exultant as it is harrowing and whose every page bears the irrepressible rhythm of its author's voice. Thirty years after its first appearance, this classic of manhood, marginalization, survival, and transcendence is available in an anniversary edition with a new Introduction by the author.

Customer Reviews:

Forever a classic.......2007-08-12

Down These Mean Streets is the story of Piri Thomas' journey into adulthood. The book is set in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s. The author's writing style is refreshing and lyrical. He uses some Spanish words here and there(readers might find the glossary in the back of the book helpful), and kicks in a few slang words as well, which makes the dialogs that much more genuine.

Piri struggles through poverty, family troubles, and desperately wanting to belong. He fights with being a dark skinned Puerto Rican during a time when racism was strong, and trying to find his place as neither black nor white. Piri did some not-so-good things in his life, being in a gang, drug addiction, and armed robbery among other things, but throughout it all it is easy to tell that Piri is a good guy at heart.

Overall, this is a captivating story. You might find yourself wondering what you would have done faced with the same situations. I even found myself rooting for Piri at times. This book is still a very accurate depiction of "the hoods" of New York, despite being published for the first time about 40 years ago.

I was sad to have to finish the book, and in the end I felt like I knew Piri. I look forward to re-reading this book over the years. It is truly a classic. Everyone should read it. Anyone can find something in the story that they will be able to relate to.

an exciting nonfiction book!.......2007-06-28

This book really told me what it was like to live in Harlem in the 40s. The discrimination and racism is real and raw (although Mr Thomas does get a little jaded and think all white people are bad). The way he describes coming off heroin is realistic, colorful, and explosive. This whole book is very alive, as a memoir. It was funny to see the slang they used back then!

One of the best memoirs ever written.......2007-05-10

I've read this book more than a few times and have taught it to different level readers a few extra times. There was one high school student who came to me after the book was done and told me, "This is the first book I ever finished." Even if it's not the first book you've read, you'll find writing that is fearless, honest, and powerful. You won't forget it, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to share it with someone else.

I will always love this book.......2006-12-28

Grabbed it off my english teachers shelf junior year of high school, loved it so much I never gave it back. This is an amazingly wonderful book. Vivid writing style...I could see every last detail in my head. It was like a movie in my brain. Love it.

We recommend this book.......2006-12-07

Book Review: Down These Mean Streets

We recommend this book because Piri Thomas wrote the book in a way that you can visualize the story. This book is interesting because it talks about a young Latino's life growing up in the streets of Harlem New York in the 30's. However Piri the main character in the story gets discriminated throughout his young life for being a black Puerto Rican. We think this book has some strong scenes suitable for children under 13. Little by little the story gets interesting to the point where you don't want to stop reading. To conclude, this story is a good autobiography to learn from

Down These Mean Streets (Spider-Man (Pocket Star))

Average customer rating:

Could have been better
A good actioner
Your Friendly Neighberhood Spiderman
Finally!
I regret reading this book

Down These Mean Streets (Spider-Man (Pocket Star))
Keith R. A. DeCandido
Manufacturer: Pocket Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1416509682

Book Description

A brand-new designer drug arrives in New York City with the force of a hurricane: Triple X, a potentially lethal combination of ecstasy and gamma radiation that is literally turning users from the shadowy, dank alleys to the glittering, raucous party circuit into living, rampaging nightmares. For high school science teacher Peter Parker, Triple X's onslaught on some of his students and his wife's professional life is as dangerous as it is unexpected. For Peter's secret alter-ego, the costumed crime-fighter known to the world as Spider-Man, the situation quickly accelerates from bad to worse, as the drug's effects run unchecked against law enforcement's and his own valiant efforts to rein in the city-wide chaos. But there is a growing consensus between Spider-Man and the police that, for reasons yet unknown, one of the arachnid's most fearsome enemies may be behind it all as part of a greater scheme to bring the city -- and one of its most heroic and hated defenders -- to its knees at long last...

Customer Reviews:

Could have been better.......2007-10-04

I am a huge Spider-Man fan. I know pretty much all there is to know about the wall crawler. I had just finished reading "Spider-Man: The Darkest hours" and was impressed. It was a great book. I decided that I would keep on the streak and move to this book.

"Down these Mean Streets" was a disapointment to me. The plot itself was very good, but the exacution was lacking. I encountered several spelling grammar errors which were not caught by the editor. There were also a few parts that were worded funny.

All in all I'm giving it a 2/5. Like I said, good plot, but the writing in and of itself was lacking.

A good actioner.......2006-07-25

Triple X,a potent combination of Ecstasy and gamma radiation,is
turning people into Hulkish monsters.Now it's up to Spiderman to stop them and find out who's responsible.This is a well-done,
fast-paced thriller that works up quite a head of suspense.It also has a surprising dark adult tone and some rough but very
appropriate language.I like how DeCandido also lightens things
at times with some of Spidey's trademark zingers.He also creates very believable characters.All in all,this is a very
satisfying read.

Your Friendly Neighberhood Spiderman.......2006-04-25

When a mysterious drug starts spreading across NYC turning people into gamma sized Hulks, it's up to Spidey to figure out the why's and how's. That's pretty much the story in a nutshell. It's an entertaining story throughout but some places where it stops short.

In general, I'm a fan of Spidey and I was glad to see him back in a full length novel and when I heard it was being written by Keith De Candido, I was even happier. For those who don't follow Star Trek, De Candido has written many Trek bestselers and is one of the more poular authors in that line.
There were times in the book where there's some cursing and reading it, surprised me if only because it's not something you see in his Trek books (at least I haven't).

His writing style here is similiar to his style in other pieces of his novels. The chapters aren't as long as usual but it does go at a fast pace with the story beginning right away. It is a qucik read (less then 300 pages), wheras most of his other stuff is more then that. There were times in the story where I thought The Incrediable Hulk himself would make a cameo but the only one we get is from Doc Ock but that pretty much was, IMO, a cop out only cause the author knew he had to end it at some point and he did so rather quickly.

The good thing about it is no one will suspect who the main culprit is pretty much until the end when all the clues are solved. In fact, the book plays like a mystery novel more then a sci fi (though why Spiderman is considered Sci Fi is beyond me).

All in all, if you like Spiderman, you'll like this book. If you don't like Spiderman but like De Candido's work. you'll probalby like this.

Finally!.......2006-03-15

After being disappointed with a couple of the DC Comics novels of late, I decided to give one of the Marvel versions a try. And I'm glad that I did!

While "Green Lantern: Hero's Quest" and "Superman: The Never-Ending Battle" were both fairly bland, this novel was quite refreshing. For one thing, it was clearly written with a mature audience in mind. That does NOT mean that there is endless swearing (there is some) or unnecessary sex scenes (none), but that the theme and tone are geared toward a thoughtful audience.

This is a drug novel. It might be a science-fiction drug with science-fiction side effects, but it is a drug story nonetheless. Young people die from this drug. And both Spider-Man and the police have to use their wits for detective work just as much as for battle scenes.

As far as I know, I have never read any of Keith R. A. DeCandido's work before, but I would love it if he were to write more of these types of super hero novels. In fact, if this series of books maintains such a mature feel, I would love to see Dean R. Koontz or Christopher Andrews take a crack at one.

My ONLY complaint, the only reason I am not giving this novel 5 stars, is because of the ending. While my favorite elements were the down to earth, realistic issues, when it eventually became evident that a popular Spider-Man super villain was behind it all, THEN I was ready for a climactic battle. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The final fights, of which there were two, were handled very briefly, adding up to only a few pages the first time, and over in essentially one page the second time. A bit disappointing. I wish the author had taken just one more chapter to play up those elements. But ...

Overall, I was very pleased. This book was very refreshing after DC's let downs. Thanks to this novel, I am now looking forward to Christopher Andrews' "Paranormals," which is apparently ALSO a super human story (though not from DC or Marvel). I'll be reviewing that one next!

I regret reading this book.......2006-01-09

If you're a fan of superhero fiction, you'll probably like the first four-fifths of this book. It's well written, the characters ring true, and the story sticks to the Spidey universe.

The ending, though, is almost like the writer got tired of the whole thing and just wrote a quick ending so he could be done with it.

It is only in this last small part that you find out Doc Ock is the villain. There's a kind of lame connection between Doc Ock and this designer drug which is the main source of the conflict, and the characterization of Ock makes him out to be a kind of tight-assed sissy.

Worse, there's a bogus final scene where the Doc is taken into custody -- by ordinary cops, no less -- that you'll probably hate. Sadly, the epilog is better reading than the main story ending.

It's not often that I really, really wish I'd found a better use for my time than reading a book, but this was one of them.

Street Ninja: Ancient Secrets for Today's Mean Streets

Average customer rating:

Those two stars are for the reviews
go read a stephen k hayes book instead
Suckered in Again
A very complete book on self-defense
Nut Cracker

Street Ninja: Ancient Secrets for Today's Mean Streets
Dirk Skinner
Manufacturer: Barricade Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1569800294

Customer Reviews:

Those two stars are for the reviews.......2003-04-22

I don't plan on buying this book, while I have looked through it at a Borders some time back. However, it should be said that, while the arguments against aren't entirely disuasive, the supporting argumens aren't at all persuasive! Katas are a time honored tradition FOR A REASON; they build muscle memory in coherent patterns that both lead to understanding of how patterns go together and are sometimes useful unmodified in the progress of a real fight. Second, no fighting system that centers around "Nut Crunching" is comprehensive enough to be of any use against a streetwise fighter. Look elsewhere; I certainly will.

go read a stephen k hayes book instead.......2003-01-12

You would be better off reading stephen K hayes 5 book series on the ninja. I got this as a gift when I was in jr. high and even then i knew i had read better. Admittedly there is nothing in the diagrams wrong enough to get you killed but i think the whole "off the highway" concept can only be shown in motion. Otherwise your balance will fail you. And no vigilate stuff this book refers to either.

Suckered in Again.......2002-12-28

This book provides little help in navigating the mean streets of any cities. Why the author took it upon himself to draw the pictures himself is beyond me. This book is cartoony, and pretty much a waste of money. I regret having bought this book, but what can you do? Instead of buying this, get something on a tangible martial art (not karate or tae kwon do), enter that class, and then work on it. But don't buy this book. Please, don't buy this book.

A very complete book on self-defense.......2002-09-23

Most martial arts today focus on forms(katas etc.), respect and teaching good sportsmanship. All of which are nowhere to be found when someone has to fight for real! This book teaches there's no such thing as "dirty fighting" when your life is in danger. It also teaches versatility and how to use your mind as the greatest of tools. It suggests relaxation, visualisation and meditation exercises which is one of the best aspect of the book. A panicked mind will get you killed where a trained and relaxed mind will easily find the attacker's weaknesses and exploit them. Ninjas have a cheesy reputation because of bad movies but they were very down-to-earth and quick to adapt. Their fighting style reflects this. This is a very good book except for the "burning down the local crackhouse" parts. BUY IT!

Nut Cracker.......2001-12-08

Wow, this book is great. One thing, this book is all about people getting hit in the private area! They show the steps of elbowing the "private parts", kneeing the "private parts", kicking the "private parts", and biting the "private parts." This book is awesome! Everyone should get it, it is the ancient way of fighting. [ The Ancient Art Of Street Ninja ]
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Average customer rating:

It's a shame it's out of print
Great sign language book!!

Sesame Street Sign Language Fun
Sesame Street
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 039484212X
Release Date: 1980-09-12

Customer Reviews:

It's a shame it's out of print.......2004-01-22

The first two pages are of Linda Bove showing the signs for the alphabet. Each page after that is based on a theme (for example: "In the morning" has pictures of Linda doing words like "Good, Morning, Alarm clock, window, comb, toothpaste, mirror..." followed by another page with drawings of Sesame street characters and settings with each of those signs in it and something along the line of "How many things in this picture can you sign?" (with all of those things in it).

The themes are "In the morning", "The family", "School days", "Colors", "on the farm", "playground fun", "Opposites", "Action words", "People in the neighborhood", "Spring", "Summer", "autumn", "Winter", "Utensils and food", "In the woods", "How people get around", "In the Jungle", "The way you feel", and "Nighttime". The final two pages of the book are dedicated to signing the numbers 1-10.

It is a fantastic book and I hope they decide to start printing it again so my friends can stop looking for discarded library copies. ;)

Great sign language book!!.......1999-04-29

This book is a great place to learn sign language. There are pictures of people acting out words and phrases. Makes it fun and easy to learn a little sign language!

Alfred Hitchcock's and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazines: Mean Streets and a Vacation to Die for (Great Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Alfred Hitchcock's and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazines: Mean Streets and a Vacation to Die for (Great Mystery)
Lawrence Block , and Mary Higgins Clark
Manufacturer: Media Books Audio Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries (Mystery Masters Series)

ASIN: 157815538X
Release Date: 2003-02-04

Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace

Average customer rating:

I think even my mother would like this book!
Intercity computer whiz-kid(pretty good book)
American Dream Story

Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace
David Chanoff , and Ejovi Nuwere
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060935812
Release Date: 2003-12-16

Book Description

Like other kids in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Ejovi Nuwere grew up among thugs and drug dealers. When he was eleven, he helped form a gang; at twelve, he attempted suicide. In his large, extended family, one uncle was a career criminal, one a graduate student with his own computer. By the time Ejovi was fourteen, he was spending as much time on the computer as his uncle was. Within a year he was well on his way to a hacking career that would lead him to one of the most audacious and potentially dangerous computer break-ins of all time, secret until now.

Before he finished high school he had created a hidden life in the hacker underground and an increasingly prominent career as a computer security consultant. At the age of twenty-two, he was a top security specialist for one of the world's largest financial houses.

Hacker Cracker is at once the most candid revelation to date of the dark secrets of cyberspace and the simple, unaffected story of an inner-city child's triumph over shattering odds to achieve unparalleled success.

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One of the most gripping yet improbable stories spawned by the computer revolution, Hacker Cracker is a classic American-dream success story set on the razor edge of high technology. Ejovi Nuwere takes the reader on the roller-coaster ride of his extraordinary life, from the bullet-riddled, drugged-out streets of one of America's most notorious ghettos to a virtual world where identities shift and paranoia rules, where black-hat hackers and white-hat sleuths confront each other by day and witch roles at night in the ongoing war to control America's most sensitive computer systems. It is a story of an African American boy coming of age in the new millennium, a story that vibrates with the themes of American life, those we know and those we are just beginning to glimpse. Like other neighborhood kids in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Ejovi Nuwere grew up among thugs and drug dealers. When he was eleven, he helped form a gang; when he was twelve, oppressed by the violence around him, he attempted suicide. In his large, extended family, one uncle was a career criminal, one a graduate student with his own computer. By the time Ejovi was fourteen, he was spending as much time on the computer as his uncle in college was. Within a year he was well on his way to a hacking career that would lead him to one of the most audacious and potentially dangerous computer break-ins of all time, secret until now.

Customer Reviews:

I think even my mother would like this book!.......2005-06-17

The first part of the book deals entirely with the authors plight of growing up in a very rough area of town and the struggles that he faces with on a day to day basis. Apart from the first 4 or 5 pages, which contained a fast moving account of what happens when a rogue Chief Technology Officer gets sacked, for the first 71 pages I was wondering whether a differnet book had been slipped inside the jacket of hacker cracker as there was no mention of computers at all. The story was still pretty interesting though. Eventually he gets round to his first experience with computers and his encounters with hacking and the addictiveness of it all. Eventually the story ends up with a moving account of being at the site of the twin towers on 9/11 and a very touching part about a strange whistling noise (which I won't explain as it is a bit of a spoiler). An easy read and not really the usual hacker biography type book. I think this is partly due to the fact that the author is assuming his readers are not technical as some of the explanations (IRC for example) are very basic and some are almost "media stereotypical assumptions" of what really goes on.
As the theme of the book is the struggle to overcome and make life a lot better for his family, the target audience for this book is increased beyond the geek and I think even my mother would like this book!

Intercity computer whiz-kid(pretty good book).......2004-02-17

Ejovi Nuwere is from Bedford Stuyvesant a neighborhood in brooklyn he comes from somewhat of a brokenhome doesnot really know his father and has a mother who does just about anything in the world for her children but she is a drug addict and has Aids he lives with his grandmother uncle and brother and numerous others that hang out at his grandmothers apartment were something is always going on.

He faces the struggles most other intercity kids face with the gangs,drugs poverty and violence but he seems to pick up on the fact that the gangs and drugs are a losing way to go.In one part of the book while he attend a school for the performing arts he ends up joining a gang just for his own protection but it seem a somewhat differant type of gang besides the violence they where teaching the members. While in school he had a few brushes with some basic IBM computer but when he hooked up with the principal and asst. principal who had apple mac he started to develop a real interest in computer and this interest was fed by the uncle who also lived with who had a computer and would let Ejovi many 10-14 hour days on.
Along with another computer hacker he had met in school they begin getting into hacker chat rooms and learning and developing their skills and trying to make a name as is the thing to do in the hacker community.With his knowledge and desire to succede he ends starting to get jobs while still a teenager and as time goes on decides that full time may not be the way to go one thing for sure it does not pay the bills
Alot of the computer hacking involves stolen credit cards and manufactured cards one story when Ejovi couldnot stand it and decided to buy his own computer with a stolen number and has the computer delivered to a run down building nextdoor and the FBI ends up coming was pretty funny story.

This is a pretty good book about somebody having the drive and desire to succcede even living in tough and living through tough conditions and making it along the way he also takes up a form of kung fu.It was a little difficult at times understanding some of the computer stuff for a novice like me but there are definitions in the back of the book and he describes thing pretty good.

American Dream Story.......2004-02-14

This is an amazing story of a young man who goes from nothing to something, using technology. After reading this I was inspired to do something with my life!

If you like hacking, if you like feel good stories, if you like excitement, this book has all of that!

Average customer rating:
Hit and Run (Mean Streets)
Maxine O'Callaghan
Manufacturer: St Martins Mass Market Paper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Set Up Set Up

ASIN: 0312924402

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Mean Streets: Youth Crime and Homelessness (Cambridge Studies in Criminology)
John Hagan , and Bill McCarthy
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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With No Direction Home: Homeless Youth on the Road and In the Streets (Case Studies on Contemporary Social Issues)

Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum

ASIN: 052164626X

Book Description

This field study features intensive personal interviews of more than four hundred young people who have left home and school and are living on the streets of Toronto and Vancouver. The study examines why youth take to the streets, their struggles to survive there, their victimization and involvement in crime, their associations with other street youth, especially within "street families," their contacts with the police, and their efforts to rejoin conventional society. Major theories of youth crime are analyzed and reappraised in the context of a new social capital theory of crime.

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Tales of Mean Streets (Academy Victorian Classic)

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The Original Mean Streets

Tales of Mean Streets (Academy Victorian Classic)
Arthur Morrison
Manufacturer: Academy Chicago Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

The Original Mean Streets.......2000-11-10

"Down these mean streets a man must go," wrote Raymond Chandler on the subject of the detective novel. Few knew he was paying tribute to another writer, now almost forgotten, who wrote about the mean streets of London's Docks around 1900. In TALES OF MEAN STREETS, CHILD OF THE JAGO, and THE HOLE IN THE WALL, Arthur Morrison wrote about the world into which he was born. (Interestingly, he also wrote some great detective novels at the same time that Doyle was writing his Sherlock Holmes stories.)

Some of the stories in TALES OF MEAN STREETS seem sentimental today: There is no lurid sex, the cursing is subject to the "code" of Queen Victoria's day, and much of the violence takes place off stage. If you accept the givens of that day, you will enjoy Morrison; and you will see how the American detective novel and the film noir owe far more to Morrison than to Conan Doyle or anyone else. Morrison deserved to be remembered and honored.

Average customer rating:

Good intro to a Chicago crime fiction writer

A Weak Effort!

Bad Guys (Mean Streets)
Eugene Izzi
Manufacturer: St Martins Mass Market Paper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Take

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PRIME ROLL, THE (Crime Line)

Booster: A Novel

A Matter of Honor

ASIN: 0312914938

Customer Reviews:

Good intro to a Chicago crime fiction writer.......2006-10-05

I've been meaning to read something by Eugene Izzi and had his BAD GUYS in paperback sitting on my TBR. I finally finished it. Years ago I read a long piece in the WASHINGTON POST on Izzi's life and bizarre death. Library Journal reported one of his books had a $50K publisher budget (in 1991 money), so I guess he was publicized. My count shows he was nominated three times for an Edgar.

BAD GUYS Jimbo Marino, a tough guy detective working undercover against the Mob. I like Izzi's characters and dialogue here more than I did the plot. The deaf computer wiz named Gizmo, for instance. The portray of Chicago's seamy side is convincing and the story's pace is fine.

A Weak Effort!.......2005-12-20

I'm usually a big fan of mob-related novels so I was looking forward to reading this book, which received a very favorable review from Publishers Weekly. However, Bad Guys was a major league disappointment. The basic plot about a cop that infiltrated the mob in Chicago has been done many times before and done better. The characters are stereotypical, one-dimensional (at best), somewhat cartoon-like and lack credibility. The only character that Izzi created that I cared anything about and that had evoked some sort of emotional reaction was the dog, Sparky. If this isn't enough criticism, the plot was very predictable. Do yourself a favor and skip this book.

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