Review : Dutch by Teri Woods

Title : Dutch

Author : Teri Woods

Publisher : Grand Central Publishing

Genre : Fiction

ISBN : 978-0446551533

Rating : 2/5 - Okay

Description from Amazon :

James Bernard Jr., a.k.a. Dutch, has become the most dangerous criminal in New Jersey. From his early skill as a car thief, Dutch recognized the opportunity to rule the streets and he seized it. Feared by all, and completely fearless, Dutch and his dangerous clique take over the lucrative heroin business of a local African drug lord. With both the protection and respect of the Mafia, Dutch becomes the most terrifying force on the streets. District Attorney Anthony Jacobs is determined to take down Dutch and his crew, and he's confident that his witnesses will testify against them. But a sudden turn of events will soon make the DA's job harder than he imagined.

Review :

James Bernard, better knows as Dutch, is nothing more than a young hoodlum out to get what he wants, including his freedom. He's nothing more than a youngster when he begins stealing cars, and robbing people with the help of his best friend Craze. Dutch knows that this isn't the way to do things though, and he uses his street smarts to get the help and respect from the Mafia. With his crew, consisting of other youngsters they take the city as their own, selling drugs and running the streets. They don't let anything get in their way, even if it means murder.

Dutch now can look back on those years while he fights for his freedom once again, in a court of law. Everything that he did when he was young, up until now, as a man is coming back to bite him in the butt. He's confident everything will turn out alright in the end, but will it cost him his freedom and his life?

I just finished reading Dutch, and I'm not sure whether I can honestly say this was a book for me. I was excited to read about gangsters and such, because I am from New York and wanted to get an inside look at the streets. I got what I was looking for, but I just wasn't enjoying all the slang in this novel. There was a lot of cursing, and racial slurs. I don't mind cursing, believe me, I have a habit of going off at the mouth sometimes, but this was just too much for me. I'm also a firm believer that no matter the color of a persons skin, they still bleed red, so I didn't enjoy reading the many racial slurs that were sprinkled throughout every page of this book.

This book has been rated as a Best Seller, but not in my book. I will most likely not be reading the rest of this trilogy, as this was the first book. I'd like to thank Miriam Parker from Hatchette Books for allowing me to read and review this novel, even though I didn't particularly enjoy it very much.