T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E.

May 12, 2008
In this fiction follow-up to his well-received memoir, Monster
, Shakur produces a visceral and strikingly real portrayal of gang life in Los Angeles, replete with sudden and inexplicable violence, revenge, betrayal, ostentatious living, racism, the strong arm of law enforcement, drugs, love and loyalty indistinguishably blurred. Protagonist Lapeace Shakur, a high-ranking Crip, is forced to live as a fugitive when his longtime archenemy, Anyhow, a high-ranking Blood, is arrested and tortured until he confesses about Lapeace's involvement in a fatal shooting. When the word on the street comes back that there was a videotape of the shooting, it leads to the deaths of several gang bangers and some of the cops on Lapeace's trail. Shakur is better than anyone else in the street lit game at making his characters feel like real people, even if the psychology is sometimes ham-fisted. This gang life novel is the real deal.

May 1, 2008
Four years ago, Shakur wrote the best-selling Monster, chronicling gang life on the streets of Los Angeles. In his fiction debut, he again takes the reader into the life of South Central L.A. gangs. Lapeace, an associate of the Crips, gets into an exceptionally bloody shoot-out with Anyhow, a member of the Bloods. The two have been rivals since childhood and see the eight innocent civilians killed in the shoot-out as collateral damage. A pair of corrupt detectives, John Sweeney and Jesse Mendoza, track down the shooters. On the run, Lapeace takes refuge with Tashima, a beautiful hip-hop mogul with a weakness for gangster types but an insight into the plight and struggle of such men. Lapeaces relationship with Tashima reflects his own propensity for and interest in business successand legitimacybeyond the street level. But with associates like Sekou, the streets always seem necessary for survival. This fascinating novel reflects the raw violence and moral ambiguities of street gangs and the cops who police them.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)