Eric Jerome DickeyRecensioni

I have a lot to say about this book that I'm not going to finish. In no particular order:

1. I thought about creating an "urban" tag for this book because that's what these kinds of books get called, but I decided against it because I don't like "urban" as a euphemism for "black". I may create an "african-american" tag.

2. I wanted to read something by EJD because he's so popular.

3. I picked Chasing Destiny because MY name is Destinee.

4. I did not enjoy reading this book. The sex scenes were pretty good, but they didn't make up for everything else.

5. Why didn't I like this book? There are a few reasons. As a nerdy white person from Seattle I had trouble hearing the voices of the characters in my head. Also, it felt like EJD didn't edit anything from real life. It's a novel! Skip the boring parts of conversations!

6. I may give another EJD book a try. Any recommendations?

shell of emptiness

Naughtier than Nice was a fantastic read by Eric Jerome Dickey that is perfect for anyone wanting a soap opera feel kind of book.

This book is incredible! When I first started reading it I wasn't sure what to expect. Is this book a romance? A drama? It's both! This novel felt like one of the soap operas I used to watch on tv but instead in book form.

I couldn't say there was much wrong with this novel, because it did seem like a soap opera. Something was always changing, there was always some kind of romantic action or spite between characters going on and it never seemed boring. There was times that I was quite frustrated with characters or where different plot twists seemed unreal, but if this book was aiming towards being a book soap opera than it did it's job.

Overall, I was impressed. I would love more books like this where there is constant twists, drama and a big splash of romance!

Five out of five stars!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

It's taken me a long time to get around to another Eric Jerome Dickey simply because When We Were Wicked was so powerful I needed to recover! That book was a hurricane.

This novel moves smartly when two smart characters talk in a coffee shop.

This is read by Zoë Bell and Dominic Hoffman. Zoe Bell's New Zealand accent - heavens! - sounds pretty authentic to me!

I've just looked her up and there's a reason why she sounds so authentic! Zoë E. Bell is a New Zealand stuntwoman and actress. Some of her most notable stunt-work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless in Xena: Warrior Princess and for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. As an actress, she has appeared on television and in feature-films; she has starred in the web series Angel of Death.

Unfortunately, I haven't found another book that she narrates.

Back to the book. I've given this an extra half star to make 4 stars because no one writes with the intensity of Eric Jerome Dickey - his writing is remarkable. The book loses half a star because it is about an assassin, and I don't understand why this job type is of such interest to so many great writers. On principal, I don't read books about assassins, thieves, gangsters, etc.

This book was okay but I think the author copped out a bit at the end. this is a book about a black man falling in love with a white woman and the problems that ensue with family and friends and stuff. Then at the end we find out the heroine's father is black. Well fine but that wasn't exactly the story you told us you were telling was it? What was wrong with letting her be white? The author just seemed to lack the courage of his convictions.

Intense novel about so many emotional topics, but well-worth the read.

Eric Jerome Dickey has been on my 'To Read' list for awhile as he so often appears on recommendation lists for Romance. Just about to give this up due to the overly enthusiastic reading by Dion Graham, who has real fun with his role. But then his lead character walks up to 'white skirt' and the relationship that follows is intense and so alive, and funny too. I looked up who EJD is and wow, he died in January this year! at 59. What a loss!

He's described as often employing a cast of international characters in his novels and it's true here, where we meet Ethopian Jimmy Lee.

How come there are no other reviews for this novel? The audiobook was released over two years ago by Audible, in April 2019, and there it gets a 4.4/5 score from 554 ratings!

I'm only 2/8 parts into the novel - which is nearly 10 hours – so I'll revisit these thoughts later, but I was hoping to learn something about this book from fellow Library Things.

Finished, and this novel packs a punch. It gets increasingly more serious in tone but it is always superbly written. This novel blew me away. The lead character, Ken Swift, will remain with me for a long time. I'm almost a little tired of first person narratives, but this one, how else could it be done if the author is to tell this deeply personal story. It's not a cop out here but a necessity, to express the intensity and character of this man.½

Vincent Calvary Browne, Jr. is a Negro Black Man trying to date after divorce. His ex-wife cheated. Adding insult to injury, she left him taking their three year old daughter out of the country. Baggage, baggage, baggage. Dana Ann Smith is a single woman trying to land on her feet in Los Angeles after leaving heavy debts and an even heavier romance in New York. Baggage, baggage, baggage. When Vince and Dana meet they are immediately attracted to one another. They seem like the perfect fit. However, in an effort to present their best selves to one another they hide their secrets under a pile of lies and more lies. Sooner or later, those lies start to reveal themselves as the couple gets more and more involved and Dana’s ex arrives from New York. Can Dana see beyond Vince’s lie about never being married or having children? Can she respect him as a father with an ex-wife? Can Vince hear Dana over the warning bells about her debt? Can he trust she is truly over her rich and hunky ex? What makes Liar’s Game so much fun is the varying perspectives of the same story. As the saying goes, there are are always three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth. Dickey gives us all three.
A word of warning - the writing is a little dated. In today's society, I don’t think many people would consider a cell phone a piece of technology for players.½

I'm very upset I waited so long to read this book. I got reprimanded at work because I wouldn't stop reading!!!

I picked this up mostly out of curiosity. For one, I like the X-Men series, so this seemed like a good item to read. Also, I saw that it was written by Jerome Dickey, and he has a pretty good reputation. So that was another reason. When I see a comic book company let a "regular" author write one of their stories, it catches my eye. Gaiman's work on Marvel 1602 was a very good example (then again, maybe not the best example of what I am trying to say here. Gaiman did write the Sandman series). Anyhow, this was an excellent collection. The story is a very nice coming of age story centered on the characters of Storm and the T'chala, who will in time become The Black Panther. Fans already know where the story is headed, but I think they will enjoy this tale as well. The art for the story is very good also. Overall, this is one volume worth picking up. And for some readers, it may light up the desire to explore the author's fiction. In addition, I think readers of African American/Black Literature will also enjoy this work, even if they are not comic or graphic novel readers.

"Kenya and Amir" was kinda lame, notably the ending.
We should continue to put up with this disrespect...? Why?

"Cafe Piel" was fairly predictable and Bobby's obsession with his bosses' mistress
went on way too long. Maybe in the year 2000, the sexual tease language was innovative,
now it feels overdrawn and boring.

"I'm Still Waiting" also overplays the F.
Story morphs through boring music recording industry interactions interwoven
with compelling and evocative descriptions of Jamaica.
If only the characters and the romance had been the same.

"Money Can't Buy Me Love" was definitely the most fun to read,
with actual suspense as the professor and the escort gravitate in unusual ways.½

There was so much going on in this story I hardly knew where to focus. He threw everything in it except the kitchen sink. A bit too graphic for me but the story was solid.

Loved this series. International scenes, crazy sex, great dialogue, suspense, intrigue, murderous femme fetales......would make a great movie series.

Too convoluted. Could not get into characters or the plot. Read about half.

Did not get pass chapter three. Wasnt author`s usual writing style.

The worst day of Ken Swift’s life begins with his long-estranged daughter Margaux attempting to blackmail him and continues as he and his best friend Jake Ellis head out on a job as enforcers for crime lord San Bernardino. While the underlying domestic drama and criminal enterprises move the plot, the question of what it means to be black in American truly drives this gripping narrative. Graham perfectly captures the rage and frustration of black experiences in the current social environment and prevailing political attitudes. As pressures mount, Swift and Ellis provide a retrospective of the black experiences in America, discussing people and events from distant history as well as events their own lives. Graham’s voice draws the listener across vast emotional landscapes: from Ellis’ playfully seductions to the gasping struggles of a drowning man and from Swift’s odes to the beauty of black women to deadly clashes with fists or guns. Lives are molded by love and violence. The accents Graham creates are as diverse as the black community in Los Angeles, including Mississippi born Swift and Ghanaian Ellis as well as Ethiopian and British. Graham maintains both the high-octane action and thought-provoking discourse. In the end, the novel showcases how life shapes bad men and wicked women, although understandings of “bad” and “wicked” shift as the truth is revealed.

The improved review was published in Booklist Online in February 20, 2019 issue.

Bad Men and Wicked Women

I Picked Up This Book Because: It’s been a long time since I picked up and EJD book and the cover to this one was irresistible.

The Characters:

Ken Swift:
Jake Ellis, Margaux, several other characters whose importance to the storyline I could not determine

The Story:

This book did more annoying me than entertaining me so I had to call it quits. I wanted to find out what was going on with Margaux, I really did, but I couldn’t take all the stalling. The political rants were distracting. The narrator's incessant yelling as JakeEllis and whispering as one of the female characters grated on my nerves. The fight with KenSwift’s so called girlfriend was the last straw. Really, KenSwift get over the bullshit with the ex. Man up or move on. Oh and I type everyone’s name as one word on purpose because whenever a name is called (except Margaux) it’s said first and last all together, which was just strange.

I would love to find out the conclusion of this book because I think the mystery of Margaux was interesting however I need the cliff notes version.

The Random Thoughts:

DNF so no rating

Exhilarating, Titillating, Explosive!

Gideon, a hard-hearted hit man and lover extraordinaire, finds himself in an uncomfortable rivalry war when he cannot say no to the woman who haunts his heart. There is much damage on both sides, and there is a personal revengeful element that will lead Gideon to become more introspective than in previous books. But the other side, knows how to mess with his head leading Gideon to ponder what type of monster he has become but also opening his eyes to the trail of broken hearts he abandoned in the call of business.

As expected, the fast-paced storyline is filled with scary twists, violent encounters, and tantalizing intimate moments. One of the aspects that I enjoy in this series, is the author’s amazing description of the landscapes as the characters romp through North and South America.

This is the fifth book in the Gideon series, after a hiatus, but the author reminds the reader who the cast of characters are and what they mean to Gideon.

This is an edgy turn-pager that answered questions that have puzzled me in the past but to the author’s credit has now provided another cliff-hanger ending that I did not see coming. I hope the wait for the next Gideon will be a short one!

I consider myself an Eric Jerome Dickey fan that’s fallen off the wagon. I began reading his novels in my early 20s, and after I read Chasing Destiny, Genevieve, and Pleasure, he could do no wrong in my eyes. I’ve since expanded what I read, so it’s been a few years since I checked for him. I was surfing my public library’s audiobooks when I came across One Night and was completely intrigued by the description. Two strangers, one night, murder, lies, etc? I was sucked in immediately. Unfortunately, the book failed to live up to my lofty expectations of EJD.

One Night is a few hours short of a day in the life of former actress Jackie and The Man from Orange County. Seriously, that’s how he is referred to throughout the book. The book chronicles their introduction and parting in painstaking detail, giving minute-by-minute accounts. It starts with Jackie trying to scam the wealthy, attractive man at the gas station into purchasing a iPad. It ends with a body in the trunk of a luxury car with sirens approaching.

I will give EJD his credit — this has all the makings of a fantastic suspense-romance novel. He introduces his two main characters surreptitiously, almost as if the reader isn’t supposed to ever know more about them. Then, he slowly peels back the layers about both Jackie and TMFOC, almost too slowly. You learn about Jackie’s struggle to cope with the loss of her family years later, while TMFOC grapples with whether he can keep his together. As the book goes on, however, I picked up on the fact that Jackie is, in many ways, an open book, but TMFOC is nearly a polar opposite. He comes across as cold and unfeeling, with quite a few secrets. The meeting between the two is filled with a sexual tension that is palpable, and is probably the most engaging part of this book. EJD’s style of foreshadowing lets you know that what he reveals matters, but he definitely makes you wait to understand why. Nonetheless, the two characters do manage to pull you into them — their previous hurts, their future goals, their motivations — while still retaining an air of mystery. I never felt like I got the whole truth about either of them, and I had a lot more questions at the end of the book.

I expected a ton of drama, enticing sex, and plot twists to make my head spin. Somehow, all of those factors were there, but still felt bland. Part of this came from the dialogue between Jackie and TMFOC, which felt forced and unrealistic given the quality of their interactions. More often than not, it bordered on pretentious, as if the characters needed to demonstrate their worth through their vocabulary. Then, the sheer outlandishness of what happened to them and how they responded to these events throughout the day teetered on the edge of disbelief. Part of what I’ve always appreciated about EJD is that even when what happens in the books seems a bit unbelievable, they’re still very much plausible.

It’s not fair to say I didn’t enjoy this book. After all, I kept listening and wanted to know what happened next. However, this is the first audiobook in a while that I’ve had to really force myself to finish, so I know it’s not an issue with the format. While I’m still an EJD fan, this book definitely did not earn a place among my favorites.

Unreadable - clearly I'm not the intended audience

The premise is Jordan and Kimberly are supposed to each take turns telling their side of their seemingly doomed romance. While I tagged this "chick lit" it isn't. Not really. It's the story of two people trying to overcome the color of their skin and their deep rooted opinions. I appreciated Jordan's ingrained racism that spoke to a long standing tradition of passing prejudice through history. He continually referred to the South unapologetically (my word), as if that's just the way it will always be, like it or not. His perceptions of Kimberley as a white woman are generations old. There was more drama in this story expected but that didn't take away from the story.

Milk in My Coffee is broken into four parts. The first eleven chapters are from Jordan Green's point of view. Every chapter is titled "Jordan Greene" before it switches to Kimberley Chambers (for one chapter). Wouldn't it have been simpler (and I would have preferred this) to have one giant section of Jordan Greene narrative?
This isn't a huge deal, but Milk in My Coffee contains references that date the plot. I didn't know Erica Kane or Nurse Rachid so I didn't get the jokes referencing them.

It was good, use of big words and at times predictable.

I've been a long time fan of EJD, and couldn't wait to read this book. It was ok, but a bit slow at times, and a bit difficult to understand in a few parts. Overall though, the book was okay, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next with Reaper. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for lots of action, and drama.

The McBroom trio of sisters are having major disruptions in their relationships. Distance is growing among the married and those with long-term liaisons. There are break-ups and affairs, lust, graphic sex, a threesome with an exotic partner and a mysterious security man. It's a quick afternoon read with plenty of emotion and steamy behavior. These women get what they want. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a compimentary copy.

Leer este libro fue como ver una obra de teatro . Cuando estàs viendo una escena , absorbès solamente lo que los actores estàn diciendo . El decorado no te interesa , elambiente carece de importancia . A veces ni siquiera existe muebles ni àrboles de cartòn . Lo que te llega , lo que te provoca dolor y te hace un nudo en la garganta es lo que en ese momento , sentado en una butaca con otras decenas de personas, estàs compartiendo vos como mero espectador con los actores . Lo que se vive arriba en el escenario . Estàs tan obnubilado que , a pesar de estar dònde estàs, rodeado de desconocidos , lo que te rodea deja de existir y no podès concetrarte màs que en un par de personas respresentando una historia que durante unas horas se te hace lo màs tangible en el mundo .

Exactamente lo mismo me pasò con este libro .

En todo momento estàs pendiente de cada diàlogo ,cada gesto . Lo que se dice es lo màs importante y lo que no es lo que desencadena las acciones. El autor te hace vivir cada momento en tiempo real , te describe casi sin llegar a describirlo las emociones que se suceden en el corazòn y la cabeza de una mujer que ,no sòlo descubre que su marido le es infiel sino que tiene la chance de leer cada palabra de amor,cada conversaciòn de chat y correos intercambiados entre su amor y el amor de otro .


Còmo puede haber tanta emociòn , tanta verdad ,tantos corazones desgarrados , tanta locura ... Tanto ,tanto en un libro tan corto . Mucha realidad y palabras que una misma puede haber dicho , cosas que una pudo haber hecho , TODO ESTO escrito por un hombre que nos habla como una mujer . IN-CRE-I-BLE.

Despuès del final te quedàspensando ,poniendote en el lugar de cada personaje y ,como bien dice el autor al final , vs que no hay un villano , ninguno es malo malo . Cada uno tiene un poco de culpa y en el fondo ,por ahì podès entender porque hicieron lo que hicieron.

Y ,còmo termina ... durante varias escenas del libro , el autor te deja anticipar que final se va a vivir .

Les dejo un par de citas que me gustaron .Un par entre decenas porque el libro està muy bien escrito.

“Was it something I did?” I ask, falling into that Stupid Woman Syndrome. “Or didn’t do? Have I not been holding up my end of this marriage?”
“It wasn’t you. It was ... It was stupid. That’s all.”
Feels like everything I’ve done is wrong. I’m the victim, victimizing myself even more.
I’m not incompetent. And I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m nobody’s victim.
I say, “Your biggest complaint is that I’m successful. That’s my crime.”
He says nada. The wedding pictures on our walls stare at us.

Esto es genial....

Lista de preguntas al marido infiel . Por favor responder a mano y hacer una copia en Microsoft Word :

1. Did she know that you were married?
2. Did you know that she was married?
3. Do I know her? Have I met her anywhere at any time, even in passing?
4. How long has this been going on? Give me a start date. The first time it happened (location) and when. Last time. You claim this wasn’t that serious, but her husband seems to think differently, so I need to know whose fuck ‘n’ chuck count is off. Guess how many times you were with her.
5. Where did you meet to have sex? Give me geographi callocations. Cities, hotels, homes, apartments, parks, vehicles, all of that should be included.
6. Did you use a condom EVERY time? (If so, did it ever break or slip off? If not, what were you thinking?)
7. Did you give her oral sex at ANY time?
8. Did she go down on you?
9. Did you ever tell her you loved her?
10. Did you ever tell her that you didn’t or don’t love me?
11. Did you discuss our sex life with her?
12. After sex did you hold her?
13. Who else knows? How many other people? Give me names. Friends and non-friends. Coworkers count as non-friends.
14. How often did you meet? Approximate dates.
15. Did you date? (The answer is obvious.) Where did you go? And a DATE (to avoid any double-talk or ambiguity) includes being in separate cars OR traveling in the same plane, train, or automobile, and it doesn’t matter if you split the tab or one of you picked up the check. It doesn’t have to be a high-class dinner at EuroChow or a discreet meeting at TGIF, could just be walking on the beach, in a mall, on Crenshaw, talking.
16. Did you fuck her the same days you made love to me?
17. Did you make love to me the same days you went off and fucked her? I know this sounds like question 16, but trust me, in my mind it’s different.
18. Were you ever planning to leave me for her?
19. Did you ever want her to want you in that way, to take you away from me?
20. What did I do wrong? Or what didn’t I do?
21. Since trust is no longer a constant in our relationship (your fault, not mine), we have to come up with a way to verify your answers. And to verify all of your answers, this is what we do: Arrange a meeting between David and Jessica Lawrence, not over the phone, face-to-face, like mature adults, at a neutral place, a public place where we can check ID (driver’s license or passport) and verify that everyone is who they say they are, so we can sit down and talk this out and see where we all stand. We’ll split the tab 50/50.
22. Questions 22-25 are pending. Don’t worry, when my headache dies down, I will think of something to ask Jessica when we’re face-to-face.