Customer Reviews

Lady Sings the Cruels

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Eric Pete's latest novel, Lady Sings the Cruels, we meet Amelia Bonds. Amelia had dreams of becoming the next big thing. She had an amazing voice that everyone loved and had plans on going places. That was until her world was crushed when her long-time boyfriend, Bodie, was sent to prison for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

However, after helping out her cousin in a time of need, she was drawn back into the singing career whether she wanted to or not. Overall, things seemed to be going well. She met a new man and is finally started to let go of Bodie.

Bodie was intent on getting out and getting back to Amelia. He had an undying love for her and would do anything to make sure that she would be in his life forever. He refused to accept that she did not want to be with him anymore. As Bodie sat in prison, he came up with a plan to make sure that things happened the way he wanted them to.

I loved this book. One of the reasons why is because the characters seemed real to me. Eric Pete did such a good job with these characters and the descriptions of what was going on, that I felt I was sitting in the room watching everything play out. There were characters that I learned to love, while others made me want to reach into the book and shake some sense into them. Full of drama and action, Lady Sings the Cruels was a page-turner from page one all the way to the end.

Shaquitta Leday
APOOO BookClub

Lady Sings the Cruels by Eric Pete is a wonderful series of intertwining events that dissolve into each other. Together they create a riveting yet toxic tale. With dreams deferred, life altering decisions made in a second, Lady Sings the Cruels explores how the choices made not only by our selves, but, by others as well can corrupt every event that follows.

For every songbird that has given up, this tale will stir up any lingering hope. Anyone who has been incarcerated, is living a life likely heading there or whose life has been spent trying to be supportive of that type of person, this book will expose some of often underplayed blurring of lines between who should be on what side of the bars. Mr. Eric Pete's deftly forces the reader to feel and see every event that occurs. You will be transported to places where brutality rules and power is abused at every turn.

The reader watches jealousies and envy corrupt . Through all of the many smaller stories woven into the fabric of Lady Sings the Cruels, the reader is drawn into the eye of a long brewing storm. Of the three central characters around which this vortex blows Amelia Bonds is the Lady who seems to suffer the most. Love for the misguided Bodie rips away her hopes at a crucial turning point in her life, Years have passed when Ike, a decent hard working prison guard, fights with the choices he is forced to make both in and out of work. His powerful presence adds new elements. When their worlds collide the maelstrom takes more than a few casualties. With believable personalities and a carefully told story, Lady Sings the Cruels is a must read. Ironically it is not my favorite of Mr. Eric Pete's books. So if this is your first or second venture into his literary universe, I strongly suggest you read all of them. You'll be glad you did.


Insight

In my opinion, novels that have true-to-life characters, situations, and down-to-earth personalities are what stimulates the reading. In
"Lady Sings the Cruels," it captures those charateristics and then some. From the abrupt turn of events to the steamy sex episodes, it is what makes this book a non-stop page turner. I hope you have a great reading endurance because you won't want to put this one down.

Well let me start by saying this was a two day read for me and I loved it! The story was fast moving and never dull. The SEX was off the chain in this book and it had me a little hot and bothered at times. Let me go over the characters.

I was down for Bodie until the end of the book, I couldn't hate on him in the beginning because he was trying to do right and got caught up in Abdel's murder, took the fall for his friends and was trying to do his time and get home to Ameila. He had good intentions but it didn't work out for him and he could not let it go. I think that most would not blame him for wanting to hurt the man who loved his Ameila but the reality was he was inside she was not and he should not have tried to control what was going on in her life.

Ike was STUPID for not having any ideal that Deryn was cheating on him with Marshall, enough said about that. I started to like him once he met Amelia but why couldn't he keep his pants up around Deryn??

Dumb & Dumber the Fontaine Brothers....I guess we needed them for the end of this story.

Tookie, loved her she was a friend till the end and wasn't shy in sharing her man, but at first he wasn't her man and when he got hurt he became her man?? That was a little confusing, but she was down for her friends and led a full life.

Natailia was a lesbian? that was a shocker because we didn't really get to know her in this story just that she was a singer and Ameila's best friend, it would have been nice to get a better picture of who she was as a person and then find out she was gay. I liked her directness and the fact that even though she knew Amelia was a better singer than her, their friendship never stressed and she wanted Amelia to blow up like her and she was gonna do whatever she could to help her friend.

Ameila was the Lover left behind to pick up her life and get on with it. She did it as best as she could but I wish she wouldn't have given up her singing. She led a no-existent life after Bodie went inside. It took her friends and her cousin to get her out of her shell and once she sang again she opened herself up to a whole new world! She began to live again and she loved again. Everything was looking really bright for this sista until all hell broke loose, she lost her new love, her old love and the thing that she loved to do, singing. This story does have a some-what happy ending for it's star Ameila. Eric Pete you have a fan for life!

For the first time in a very, very long time I was able to read a novel and be TOTALLY wrong about what I THOUGHT the ending was going to be. This is my first time reading an Eric Pete novel, and I'm definitely hooked. Unpredictable twists and turns, captivating characters, and a scandalous story line guarantees that you will not want to put this book down. Be sure to have some free time on your hands when reading this, because is has more twists, turns, and drama than a VH1 reality show!

Amelia Bonds is a girl with big dreams when her boyfriend Bodie does the unthinkable and gets sent to prison. This changes Amelia's life so drastically that her dreams of ever finding stardom or a man who is capable of loving her back seems far from ever becoming a reality for her.

Bodie believes Amelia is his soulmate and the love of his life. He'll do anything to protect her and make her happy except let go. It's all that keeps him going to know that his sweetie will be waiting for him on the other side.

Ike is a correctional officer and a good man all around but, will his history with Bodie somehow influence his new relationship with Amelia even though they have no knowledge of the connection they share?

Eric Pete did an awesome job of ending this story with a bang!

Anyone who is familiar with Eric Pete's work knows that he can always be counted on to deliver a novel that lives. With LADY SINGS THE CRUELS, he does not disappoint. This one not only lives, it breathes and sings. This is Eric Pete at his best, a novel that combines the intricate characterization found in GETS NO LOVE and the masterful use of foreshadowing found in DON'T GET IT TWISTED with a new dimension of depth and passion that is birthed out of living through and surviving tumultuous times. Pete, a native of New Orleans, and his family experienced first hand the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and found themselves having to relocate to Houston, TX. If this book is any indication, Eric Pete has emerged even stronger as a person and an author.


From the door, Eric Pete compels the reader to enter into the world of Amelia Bonds, the lady whose dreams of becoming a professional singer are derailed by a cruel twist of fate. The title itself conjures an image of the late, great Billie Holiday, whose awesome vocal prowess was underscored by a turbulent life that included struggles with drug dealing husbands and lovers, bisexuality, sexism, and corrupt conduct by law enforcement. All of that and more is found in the pages of this artfully crafted novel, but don't get it twisted; it does not go down exactly as one might think. The sense of foreboding is tangible; you know that you are headed for a tragic end, but the journey and the ending is anything but predictable. Pete has so masterfully weaved this wicked tale, I actually found myself pleading with fate to be kind, but with each cruel and unusual twist, I knew no such thing was possible.

Add to the awesome plot believable dialogue and masterful characterization. Each character has dimension that is tangible. You can feel them. You know the inner turmoil of Amelia who deals day to day with the residual damage of losing it all in one day: her best friend, her man and a chance at stardom. You fear for Antoine Campbell (Bodie) whose damaged psyche keeps him bound to his destructive nature, fueled by a cruel twist of fate that thwarts his one honest effort to get it right with his girl, Amelia. You cringe at the raw, sadistic nature of Serena Arnold, the manipulative sex-crazed sergeant who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. You adore Ike Winters, the correctional officer with a heart as big as Texas who suffers through cruel twists of fate all his own.

LADY SINGS THE CRUELS is everything a modern day novel should be: fast-paced, intoxicating, and mind-blowing. Eric Pete has scored a hit, one that will have readers singing his praises across the nation. No cruel twists here; this one is assuredly a bestseller.

Amelia and Bodie are lovers who are suddenly parted because of a crime that Bodie has supposedly commited. Amelia stops her music career that is just about to break out. Bodie is now in prison and Amelia is still angry with him but also still in love with him. Bodie is trying to survive in prison and has his homeboys keeping an eye on Amelia making sure she doesn't move on without him, but when a correctional officer(Ike) meets Amelia they have no idea what they have in common. Ike has his own problems but soon finds himself falling for this beautiful yet familar singer and that's where the trouble begins!!!

Great Read! Each chapter ends in a cliffhanger which compels you to read a little further until you find yourself fully entangled in this thrilling journey. The surprises don't stop!!!

This is the second book I have read of Eric's and both were really good(Dont get it twisted). This one was off the chain,the ending was messed up, but made for an intriguing read. Greatly recommend this....