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Being of the female persuasion, I was curious to know what goes inside the mind of a man in the above situation. Whether the woman in the book planned her pregnancy (as a way to trap her man) or used the unexpected pregnancy (as a lever over her man), she was in the wrong. If a man doesn't want the child, he should be able to opt out in my way of thinking. I know it is a controversial issue, but still it is unfair to force one into an unwanted relationship or fatherhood. This is in fact the theme of the book and the all point of the story.
This is the story of DeShaun Childerns, a young black man who got tricked by a greedy woman. Deshaun isn't thinking about marriage or a serious relationship as yet and he is playing the field so to speak. He is out and about sowing his wild oats and damn the consequences. DeShaun is a smooth player and doesn't hesitate to butter up the girls in order to get into their drawers. He makes no bones about wanting sex only and is happy in his lots. That is till Tiffy enters the picture. Tiffy wants more than a fling and tries to hold into our hero by all means possible. DeShaun sees through her game and soon breaks up with her. He hooks up with another female who is more to his taste (and pockets) and forgets all about his ex- girlfriend.
One day out of the blue, his ex-girlfriend calls him and informs him she is pregnant. DeShaun is in shock and has no doubts that the baby isn't his. Even if the baby is his, he isn't ready to settle down yet (at least not with his ex) or becoming a dad. He feels trapped, and rightly so, and determined to do everything in his powers to get out of the trap. He plays the game and pretends to get along with Tiffy's plans, but secretly is thinking of ways to get out of the mess he is in. He bites his time and plays along to keep his head out of the water. Things go downhill in the baby shower (a party which his ex is hosting and in which an expectant mother is "showered" with gifts) when his Ex and his current girl butt heads. The protagonist has to overcome many hurdles and gets out of many awkward (though funny) situations to win the game. To find out what happened next or if he is indeed the dad, you will have to read the book…
The author certainly knows how to captivate his audience and to keep them interested right to the last page. The author did a good job of keeping up the suspense and till a certain point in the story I wasn't sure if the protagonist was the dad and what surprise will come next. I often chuckled to myself during the reading. I liked the humor of the author and the unique way he had of describing the scenes. Alas, the protagonist I liked less and even distaste to a point. I couldn't connect to him at all, though I sympathized with his situation. I found him to be shallow, vain hypocrite, and even a jerk at times. He didn't come out smelling good, though he was in the right. I liked his honesty though and found his voice original and refreshing.
That brings us to the writing. The writing style is chatty with the use of slang as befits a young man. This and the direct address to the reader throughout the story made the story more personal and authentic. It took me time to get used to the writing, but once I did the story sucked me in. Not many authors can pull this off without fallen into the stereotyping trap and the author managed to pull this off admirably.
The only issues I had with this book were that the sentences were a bit winded at times, there were some typos (r's replaced by v's) and the end was a bit abrupt. I also didn't like the hero, his outdated views about women and his wandering ways…I prefer more likeable heroes generally. There were also a lot of graphic language, profane language and redundant sex descriptions which may not suited a certain audience.
Saying that, overall I quite enjoyed this romp through the colorful mind of a male and recommend it. After giving it much though, I decided to rate this book 4 out of 4 stars due the originality of the premise, the subject matter and the style of writing. Any author who manages to cause me to feel that strongly about the hero and his situation worth his salt and deserves full points and kudos. If you ever wonder what goes through the mind of "Deadbeat Dad", and even if you didn't, don't miss out this book!
***
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