Need a little more dark and gritty in your life? Urban ficton/street lit focuses on darker characters, and the socio-economic impacts and murky side of city living. If you like books with a little more edge, buckle up. You're in for a treat.
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Description:
"Brooklyn Melody James has finally gotten the punishment she deserves after leaving a web of lies, heartache, and betrayal behind her. As her life slips away, Brooklyn remembers the events that shaped her into the cold, calculating creature she became. Brooklyn learned the art of hustling from her parents who used the church to get money. Idolizing her father and despising her mother, Brooklyn's determined to be the type of woman who makes her own rules. When her back's up against the wall, she sacrifices her family, takes the burnt offering that remains, and runs away. In NYC, young Brooklyn charms her way into the inner circle of hustlers and stick-up kids, learning tricks along the way. She catches the eye of a major player in the drug game, Hassan, and they have a breathless love affair. Brooklyn becomes integrated into his operation, earning the trust of Hassan and his associates. But when she gets the keys to the kingdom, driven by unfettered ambition and a ruthless desire to survive, Brooklyn snatches the pot of gold, leaving bitter retribution promises behind her. From DC to Maryland, Brooklyn burns bridges and breaks hearts. What she doesn't realize is that someone is prepared to end her reign of terror. As she faces her killer and her fate, Brooklyn's stunned that justice comes from the least likely place" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Bro
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"Best friends Sophie, Diamond, and Angel find themselves with their backs against the wall and owing an extremely dangerous man. Short on funds, limited options, and a severe debt hanging over their heads forces the trio to take "getting to the bag" to a new level. While dripping mad sex appeal laced with money schemes, these ruthless vixens hatch a bulletproof plan, and before long--Jack Girlz is born. Hitting licks becomes their new sport as the money piles up, but what happens when these femmes fatales rob the wrong man? With an overzealous cop on their trail, the stakes are raised, and the roles are reversed. One woman's error will be the difference between staying alive...or landing her entire crew in a body bag" --
Format:
Large Print
Call Number:
LP FIC Mar
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"Ten years ago, Sylvia Gray's young daughter, Faye, attacked a classmate in order to impress the Kingman, a monster she and her best friend had encountered on the Internet. When twenty-one-year-old Faye goes missing, leaving her toddler behind, Sylvia launches a search that propels her back into the past and back into the Kingman's orbit. With the help of her estranged husband, her distant sister, and a charismatic professor, Sylvia draws dangerously closer not only to Faye, but also to the truth about the monster that once inspired her. Will Sylvia be able to reach her daughter before history repeats itself? Or will it be Sylvia, this time, who loses her grip on reality and succumbs to the dark powers of this monstrous figure?" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Sta
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Carl Weber's kingpins : the ultimate hustle
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"Being the daughter of a pastor, Erica Collins never got a chance to live a normal life. When she lost her mother at a very young age, she questioned her faith in the Lord. Pastor Collins tried to rescue her faith by tying her everyday life even more closely to the church. Now 21 years old, Erica's only escape from her father and his Bible is when she hooks up with her best friend, Nicole. She finds a little freedom through Nicole's wild stories, with most of them being about her boyfriend, Mekco. Erica is all in, craving the attention and the lifestyle that Nicole has. Mekco is the leader of The Detroit Brick Boyz. Now that Pierre, his best friend and the former leader of the crew, is out of jail, Mekco is ready to put his boy back on without stepping down as the leader. Before getting knocked, Pierre was used to living the fast lifestyle and making money. After he's released, he is introduced to the beautiful Erica Collins. Once Erica enters his life, he questions if he has been living wrong all along. He soon finds himself falling for a young lady who didn't have any business looking his way. He wants to do right by her, but pursuing his position as the leader of the Brick Boyz and dealing with snakes from the past cause him to push her away"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
LP FIC Fri
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A scientific researcher and a disgraced chemist become pawns in a power grab by a billionaire contraband smuggler targeting Paris Duncan and her family, a situation that is further complicated by an assassin lover's return from the dead.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Web
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"A volunteer Virginia Beach firefighter, Alayna Curry faces death every day--and is proud to carry on her retired father's legacy. But with cash always tight and her long-time boyfriend Levi pressuring her to give up what she loves to make more money, she knows she needs more cash flow to stay afloat. All Alayna has to do is keep quiet about a scheme to burn down buildings for insurance-hungry 'clients.' And for a while she's on fire from the rush, making insane cash--and finding new passion in all the wrong places. But when the money suddenly stops rolling in--and one 'client' after another pushes back against the deal--Alayna and the rest of the crew stop watching out for each other and start fighting for their lives. Publishers and publishing" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Swi
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Set in the gritty streets of Newark, New Jersey. The story follows seventeen-year-old Promise Mohammed as she attempts to uphold friendships and new relationships, even if they lead to her demise.
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Kwa
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Romeo and Juliet of the projects
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Description:
"Bostyn "Easy" Reel has always felt like he didn't belong. He is stuck between two worlds: in one world, he is being who he really wants to be, and in the other world, he is being only what his family allows him to be. He feels like he is drowning in darkness, haunted by his past. After finding out that he was adopted, Bostyn finds himself on a search to discover who he really is. When Meelah Summers meets Bostyn, it is as if the broken pieces of her heart fit together perfectly with the broken pieces of his. Meelah felt empty growing up without her mother, being raised by a father who was never there. Meeting Bostyn couldn't have come at a better time. The only problem is Meelah's father is a well-known drug distributor, and Bostyn's adoptive father is the head of the Anne Arundel County Police Department--the same police department responsible for killing her mother" --provided by publisher.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Arm
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Kira raked in a fortune from her last high-end scheme. And she snagged South Beach, Florida’s biggest kingpin, Dylan, as her sexy, very protective fiancé. But more game means nothing but more problems when one of the bodies dropped along the way is a judge friend of Kira’s influential father. And when he has Dylan arrested--and threatens to expose the lethal money behind Kira’s empire--she may have to silence her snitching pops for good. Now a ruthless homicide detective is on her trail. Dylan’s hungry rival will stop at nothing to nail Kira for murder. And Dylan’s right-hand man could be working all sides to become the last thug standing. To stay ahead of all her enemies, Kira must make a deadly choice--where even all the right moves promise no way out.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Swi
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Description:
"Kiara Johnson and her brother Marcus are barely scraping by in a squalid East Oakland apartment complex that calls itself, optimistically, the Royal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison. But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent--which has now more than doubled--and to keep the 9-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. What begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger one night soon becomes the job Kiara never wanted but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. And her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland police department" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Mot
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Three friends who share everything, including a birthday, Bernadette, Tess, and Arizona, face the biggest challenges of their lives when they confront heartache and hard truths in their romantic entanglements.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Hic
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Description:
In "Devil in Sheep's Clothing," loan office worker Karlie helps her man rob the business, but things don't go the way she planned, and in "Twisted Deception," Yazz shacks up with a drug dealer and soon finds that she has a target on her back.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Sch
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Description:
Nautica was raised by the streets and forced to grow up quick. The allure of the fast life pulled her into a world of scandal, schemes, and hustling. When Nautica comes upon a big scam and her biggest payday ever, she decides to move to the East Coast in search of a new beginning. What she thought was to be a new start turns out to be a nightmare.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC JaQ
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"Named for her beauty, Belle Dubois is as sweet as can be. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she is always given the best--until her world is turned upside down. When she is away in her second year of college, she receives a call informing her that her parents have been murdered. She soon finds out that they were broke, and subsequently, so is she. With no home and nowhere to go, Belle is whisked under the wing of a woman named Aria, better known by her stage name, Passion. Before she knows it, Belle becomes a part of an underground world that she knows nothing about--one filled with bright lights, sexy clothing, and shiny poles. The money starts to pour in, and soon Belle loses herself in the very same fantasy she gives every night. Her heart has a void that only money can fill, but when she meets a handsome brother named Kidd. He shows her that the sadness in her heart doesn't have to be there. But just when she is about to say goodbye to the fast life, her past comes knocking on the door, revealing the truth about her parents' murder. Soon, revenge becomes her temptress ... and murder is the only objective"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Her
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Description:
"Tiffanie has lived a sheltered life in a very strict household with her pastor-grandfather and grandmother in Washington, DC. But when she meets Damon King, she falls for the successful entertainment business man despite his history as a drug dealer. Everyone sees nothing but the brightest future for the couple--but there's one person who wants to destroy them. Trey Johnson is Damon's childhood best friend with whom he built quite a successful drug business. But when the game got hot and Damon decided to leave, Trey stayed and continued to sell drugs, until he was arrested and spent seven years in prison. But now he's out and able to attend the wedding. While Damon is thrilled to have Trey back and hopes to bring his best friend into his business, Trey has other plans. He blames Damon for his demise and plans to ruin him, even if that means bringing Tiffanie down as well. Trey is sure he will succeed, but he doesn't know that there will be deadly consequences. And at the end, there will only be one man standing.."--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Mur
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Description:
"Derrick. Ricky. Jamal. One's responsible; one's still a player; one's upwardly-mobile. Sentenced to the Branch Avenue Boys' Youth Institute at twelve, they grabbed the chance for better futures. They stayed tight even when their lives diverged--but the times...they are a-changing. New deputy mayor Jamal is anti-corruption, which means severing ties with Ricky, now a "criminally-adjacent" businessman. But political power plays and unrequited love will lead Jamal to a lethal choice. Ricky doesn't mind running a front for DC's biggest drug dealer, but when he pursues a sexy customer at his strip club and discovers she's a cop, any wrong move could end Ricky's good times permanently. Now the Institute's new leader, Derrick is torn between his job and his fiancée, Melissa. But when a cute new instructor who supports him and his mission arrives, he wonders if he should leave Melissa behind, not the Institute. However, this dilemma is nothing compared to a problem brewing right under his nose, and the fallout will strike at the heart of the three friends' bond--and put more than their survival on the line." -- page [4] of cover.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Ell