C.R.E.A.M. [Paperback]

Solomon Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2007

Karima “Cream” Thomas is an ex-convict from an upper-crust family whose only crime was falling for a drug dealer and refusing to testify against him. Sexy, intelligent, street-smart, and determined to change after serving time in the municipal prison system, Karima returns to find that her ex, Duane Faison, wants her back. And for one passion-filled night, she considers it. But with dawn comes common sense and the realization that she must make a clean break from her past. To do that, she’ll need something she’s never had to ask for—help. And she knows only one person with the power to give it.
      Marilyn Johnson has fought to make it in the rough-and-tumble world of Philadelphia politics. After ten years on the City Council, she’s finally made it to the president’s seat, but she’s had to forge some questionable alliances to make it there, including her long-running affair with the married mayor. When Karima asks for help in finding a job, Marilyn is caught off guard. Her niece’s criminal record is one of the many secrets she has hidden from the public, but seeing an opportunity, crafty Marilyn hatches a plan to get rid of Karima once and for all. The mayor is murdered in cold blood and Marilyn is sworn into office, bringing Karima’s criminal past to light. She is quickly the prime suspect in the murder investigation, and in order to save her own name and get to the bottom of the story, Karima must return to the streets.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Philadelphia politics and drugs complicate the fate of two star-crossed lovers in Jones's gripping new novel. Twenty-three-year-old Karima "Cream" Thomas is just out of prison, having served six months for taking the fall for Duane Faison, a notorious North Philly drug dealer who charmed Cream away from her safe life as a member of one of the city's influential political families. After hooking up with Duane again to say goodbye, she lands a job with Mayor Jeffrey Tatum's office through the connections of her aunt, Marilyn Johnson, who's president of the city council and Jeffrey's (married) lover. Marilyn decides to use Cream's past to manipulate the upcoming elections to her benefit, but things quickly escalate out of control after Duane's crew go on a killing spree. Jones (Ride or Die) deftly describes Philly's mean streets, the slippery slopes of City Hall and the rocky cliffs of Cream's redemption.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Praise for Solomon Jones
Ride or Die
"Like Jones's previous novels, Ride or Die finds heart and soul in bleak surroundings."
--Philadelphia Weekly
 
"Solomon Jones is the real deal.  With page-turning plots and lifelike characters, he takes you beyond the ink and deep into the story."
--K'wan, bestselling author of Street Dreams, Hoodlum, and Eve
 
"In Pipe Dream and The Bridge, Solomon Jones proved himself a vivid storyteller and an adept craftsman.  In his latest effort, the adrenaline-fueled Ride or Die, he infuses the action with enough pathos and heart to set a new standard.  This is a fast-paced, beautifully compelling love story rendered against the gritty, urban backdrop of the best noir."
--Nichelle D. Tramble, author of The Last King and The Dying Ground
 
"Ride or Die is a scorching roller-coaster ride through the intestines of Philly.  Solomon Jones masterfully constructs a world where no one is what they seem."
--Y. Blak Moore, author of The Apostles
 
The Bridge
"Jones tells his tale with confidence and a staccato style that heightens the melodrama.  And in Kenya, he creates a character who remains vivid when she's off the page. . . . The Bridge never fails to engage us."
--The Boston Globe
 
"Jones, whose first book, Pipe Dream, was hailed as a promising debut, shows more of that promise in The Bridge. . . . A powerful, painful look at and inside the world of heroin."
--Philadelphia Inquirer
 
"Passionately unsparing as before in its portrayal of a subculture in despair."
--Kirkus Reviews
 
Pipe Dream
"In his first novel, Solomon Jones shows that for a black piper in Philadelphia, not getting killed by the cops can be harder to pull off than not getting killed by crack."
--The New York Times Book Review
 
"Gripping tale of dope, murder and self-worth . . . a narrative style that's reminiscent of Donald Goines."
--The Source
 

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312361467
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361464
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,502,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author whose novels include The Last Confession, Pipe Dream, The Bridge, Ride Or Die, C.R.E.A.M., and Payback. Jones is the creator of a TV pilot that was optioned by NBC's Peacock Productions. A seasoned public speaker, Jones is an adjunct professor at Temple University and an award-winning columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. Jones is also the creator of Words On The Street, a literacy program for at-risk youth. His next novel, The Gravedigger's Ball, will be released on Oct. 11, 2011. Jones lives in Philadelphia with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Running for Their Lives, July 2, 2006

By 

Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: C.R.E.A.M. (Hardcover)

Solomon Jones, author of The Bridge and Do or Die has garnered a reputation of writing fast-paced, engaging, well-written urban fiction and he continues this trend in his latest release, C.R.E.A.M. In this action-packed suspense, people in high places come tumbling down in Philly.

Karima Thomas AKA Cream has just been released from jail after taking the rap for Duane Faison, a drug dealer she met when she was in college. She is determined to go straight and therefore asks her aunt Marilyn Johnson, Philadelphia City Council president, for a job; soon thereafter she finds herself immersed in a whirlwind action of scandal, murder, and political back stabbing and literally running for her life. She turns to Duane, the one person she does not want to have anything to do with but the only one who can save her from the chaos that has ensued after the mayor is murdered.

The players at City Hall are a cast of crooked politicians masquerading as Philly's finest citizens. They all seem to have their hands in the quagmire of misdeeds and corruption plaguing the city. Karima wonders how she went from having lunch with the mayor to standing over his dead body. Somebody is out to frame her but why? As Cream and Duane traverse the city in disguises going from the hood to the most exclusive high rise complexes, they are determined to find the truth to set both of them free. Along the way Duane finds out even those closest to him can not be trusted and Cream finds out why her recluse mother is estranged from her aunt and the mystery about her paternity is revealed.

A shady cast of characters and sometimes over-the-top movie pursuit action would translate well to the big screen. This was this reviewer's first time reading this author and I would gladly read his work again. Highly recommended to those who enjoy street/urban literature and to those who might be wary of it.


Dera Williams
www.apooo.org

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it, July 29, 2006

By 

deborah t - See all my reviews

This review is from: C.R.E.A.M. (Hardcover)

Ghetto drama married with intelligent writing - I have read and loved all of Solomon's books. Get it

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not his best, August 17, 2007

By 

reader 428 "queencitybooklover" (cincinnati, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: C.R.E.A.M. (Paperback)

this was a fast-paced read for me it was full of deception and corruption, reading mr jones other books this one was ok too many people it was hard to keep up with they all, maybe in the sequel karima character will be better ,without det. lynch there probaly would have been more guns fired but he is my favorite this book left me with feeling like there could have been more to this story