Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Pages: 448
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Released: 2nd of June 2016
Sixteen-year-old Marlon has promised his widowed mum that he'll be good, and nothing like his gang-leader brother Andre. It's easy when you keep yourself to yourself, listening to your dead dad's Earth, Wind and Fire albums and watching sci-fi. But everything changes when Marlon's first date with the beautiful Sonya ends in tragedy; he becomes a hunted man and he has no idea why. With his dad dead and his brother helpless, Marlon has little choice but to enter Andre's old world of guns, knives and drug runs in order to uncover the truth and protect those close to him. It's time to fight to be the last man standing.
What I Have to Say
This was an intense ride through a world of gangs, knives and drugs. For me, it highlighted the difference that black teenagers face, especially boys with older brothers who were gang leaders, because for me, as a white reader, the solution was obvious. I thought that Marlon should go to the police, tell them everything and let them sort it out. But the book led me to understand the fear that was going through Marlon's head. He didn't believe the police were on his side (and the statistics that I've seen do suggest that he'd be right). It was definitely and eye opening book.
It took a while for me to get into it. Books about gangs and drugs aren't my usual go to read, but I fell into it easier that I thought I would. I liked the pace of it and the dilemmas that Marlon went to. I found it interesting that he was being dragged into a world that he didn't want to be part of.
If you like thrillers and enjoy exploring what it means to be part of another culture, the read this book.
.My thanks goes to Hodder Children's Books and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.
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