My Time to Shine

by Edd McNair

Book Overview

Black, a small-time thug with big dreams, discovers the demand for crack cocaine in the Virginia housing projects in which he lives, and sees the drug as a meal ticket for his family. His younger cousin Lo, who idolises Black, joins him in his business endeavours, but they are soon thrown into situations way beyond their control.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1893196720
• ISBN13: 9781893196728
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Urban Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

best street novel

i loved the author's attention to detail, it pulls you in and makes you feel like you know the characters personally. once the story started to take off, i couldn't put the book down, especially when it came to dee and his situations. you'll love this book, and i hear the author's next book is even better.

I want it all!

"We wanted the best and were determined to get it at any cost." This sentence sums up the book, MY TIME TO SHINE. Dee, Junie, and Black are raised in a single parent home without the creature comforts that so many Americans take for granted. The brothers are tired of it. They want big cars, palatial houses, lots of jewelry, clothes and plenty of fine women and they make it their business to get those things. Education doesn't seem the way to go because it takes too long so they go the way of the streets. All three brothers know how dangerous it is, but do they really appreciate it?In their own way, they are kind and considerate. They take care of their mother and auntie, who is also a single parent, first and then they deck themselves out. First come the cars, the clothes, the jewelry and then the houses. The women, looking for a way out themselves, aren't far behind. They know players when they see them and they latch on in spite of the treatment they receive from the men. They are referred to as hoes, bitches and hookers - no matter what their station is in life. Beatings are regular and expected. But the money is too good for them to leave.Ed McNair has opened a doorway into a life many of us would have no way of knowing about unless someone told us. The book is an education about how poverty can force strange choices. I still have difficulty accepting murder, mutilation and anything-for-a-dollar as a way of life but he has created a page-turner that is hard to put down.Reviewed by alice Holmanof The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

My Time to Shine

I found this book extraordinary. If you have never lived the fast life, this is the book for you. You will no longer be naive to it. I found it fascinating that the characters could get away with so much under-handed activities. This would be a book that could easily become a movie, R-rated, mind you. This is not a book for people with weak stomachs. There is a lot of violence but also real to life street life. I cannot wait for his next novel.

Brooklyn Gal

This book was hot I believe that if you have a slow paced life you wouldn't understand this book. I think people that grew up in poverty stricken families with relatives on drugs and so on could relate to the need to get money by any means necessary. All the characters in the book were off the hook but i knew where they all were coming from. I think this man did his thing and i can't wait for the next one.

Real life story

This story was told with no regrets. You could feel each character. Everybody has a Black and a Dee in their family.It takes you into the streets and into the mind of young cats trying to become major players. They come from a rough background, but through hustles, murders, and street schemes, they rose above all and shined. Black was a true hustler, Lo was treacherous and Dee was the man, he held it all down. kept me turning the pages. Finished it in a day.Familiar schenes in New York and VA allowed me to be part of the story. Please hurry, I need to read part II, it's got to be a sequel.