4 out of 4 stars
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Weakness is Charlie Green’s debut novel. It is a crime fiction narrative that explores the world of drug trading and examines the risks people are willing to take for money.
The story begins with Ricardo Brown, or Rick, a black drug dealer from Washington, DC, who is facing his second imprisonment for dealing cocaine. During his incarceration, Rick reflects on his life and contemplates what he should do when he is released. Should he make a fresh start? Should he return to selling drugs? Rick has not been in prison long when he overhears some inmates discussing the profits they made dealing heroin, earning up to fifty thousand dollars a day. Upon hearing this, the direction of Rick’s future is decided. Subsequently, Rick’s incarceration, rather than being a deterrent for repeating the same mistakes, becomes a place to further develop criminal skills, knowledge and contacts. Planning for the future gives Rick a focus. He begins his education, learning all he can about heroin, his goal being to supply a high-quality product. Rick confides his intentions to Larenzo, or Zo, an inmate he has developed trust in. Zo informs Rick that his stepfather, Jake, sells heroin. Unable to believe his luck, Rick enters a partnership with Zo. Finally, his plan is complete and, upon his release, Rick sets out to put this plan into fruition. What follows takes the reader into the world of drugs, greed, relationships, money and street smarts.
Most of this book is written in the first-person, telling the story through Rick's eyes. During chapters where Rick is absent, the third person perspective is adopted. The dialogue between the characters is predominately Washington slang and, once familiar with this style and language, the novel proves to be an easy read.
The novel appears to be professionally edited, however, there were still a few errors discovered. It was interesting to note that all the mistakes found would have evaded detection by a spellchecker since they were not spelling mistakes per se, but, rather, correctly spelled words used incorrectly. Consequently, these faults would only be identifiable through proofreading. Examples included ‘no’ instead of ‘on’ and ‘two nails’ rather than ‘toe nails’.
My favourite aspect of this book was the telling of Rick’s story using the first-person perspective. This allowed the reader to develop an intimate relationship with Rick’s character and experience his thought processes, logic and rationale. It also invited the reader to walk the tightrope alongside Rick and see how one wrong move can lead to a massive fall. I felt the author excelled at creating an intimacy between the reader and protagonist. I became so engrossed in Rick’s story that I forgot my own personal morals, ethics and stance on drugs for the duration of the book. I found myself wanting Rick to come out of the ordeal safely and evade the ever-watchful eyes of the police. I think the author’s success in achieving this was enhanced by his decision to create a protagonist that was so likeable. The nonviolent characteristics displayed by Rick were refreshing and I had a profound respect for the intelligence his character displayed.
The only thing I disliked about this novel was the amount of time dedicated to Rick’s superficial relationships. Rick had numerous affairs throughout the book and, while some were relevant to the storyline, many were not. It was at this point that the pace of the story slowed somewhat. I believe the unnecessary liaisons detracted from the story and the author may have been better off omitting them. Fortunately, after these encounters, it did not take long for the pace to ramp back up, making this temporary lull seem trivial in comparison to the rest of the story.
Rick’s other relationships were more intriguing. Rick identified three people in his life who loved him unconditionally: his grandmother, his daughter and his partner. Rick claimed to reciprocate their love although, at one point, he admitted his love for money was greater than that for his partner. Despite my fondness for Rick, there were times I despised him for what he put his family through. This left me questioning just how much value Rick truly placed on his relationships. I also found it interesting that, during this book, two references were made about Rick’s son but, other than these, there was no further mention of this child. This left me curious about what this relationship consisted of and why the son did not play a significant part in Rick's life.
Overall this novel was an amazing read, with an ending that was both unpredictable and powerful. Never have I been confronted with so many emotions in one story. I rated this book 4 out of 4 stars. I did contemplate detracting a star due to the temporary lull, but the intensity throughout the rest of the book wholly made up for this. This book rendered me speechless and, I feel, any book capable of achieving such a result deserves the four stars I have awarded, anything less would be unjust. I would recommend this book to any reader who appreciates a story with a twist.
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Weakness
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