Customer Reviews

My Time to Shine

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

 

 

"We wanted the best and were determined to get it at any cost." This sentence sums up the book, MY TIME TO SHINE. Dee, Junie, and Black are raised in a single parent home without the creature comforts that so many Americans take for granted. The brothers are tired of it. They want big cars, palatial houses, lots of jewelry, clothes and plenty of fine women and they make it their business to get those things. Education doesn't seem the way to go because it takes too long so they go the way of the streets. All three brothers know how dangerous it is, but do they really appreciate it?

In their own way, they are kind and considerate. They take care of their mother and auntie, who is also a single parent, first and then they deck themselves out. First come the cars, the clothes, the jewelry and then the houses. The women, looking for a way out themselves, aren't far behind. They know players when they see them and they latch on in spite of the treatment they receive from the men. They are referred to as hoes, bitches and hookers - no matter what their station is in life. Beatings are regular and expected. But the money is too good for them to leave.

Ed McNair has opened a doorway into a life many of us would have no way of knowing about unless someone told us. The book is an education about how poverty can force strange choices. I still have difficulty accepting murder, mutilation and anything-for-a-dollar as a way of life but he has created a page-turner that is hard to put down.

Reviewed by alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

i loved the author's attention to detail, it pulls you in and makes you feel like you know the characters personally. once the story started to take off, i couldn't put the book down, especially when it came to dee and his situations. you'll love this book, and i hear the author's next book is even better.

This story was told with no regrets. You could feel each character. Everybody has a Black and a Dee in their family.
It takes you into the streets and into the mind of young cats trying to become major players. They come from a rough background, but through hustles, murders, and street schemes, they rose above all and shined. Black was a true hustler, Lo was treacherous and Dee was the man, he held it all down. kept me turning the pages. Finished it in a day.
Familiar schenes in New York and VA allowed me to be part of the story.

Please hurry, I need to read part II, it's got to be a sequel.

I enjoyed this book. It tells the story of Black through his brother Dee and their struggle, dreams and desires, rise in the drug game and the "perks" and blood that comes with it and then the heart aches it eventually bring to those that they love.

It was so real that you could feel the emotions of it. I could picture the scenes, that is how vivid McNair writing is in this book. Cannot wait to read more in Black Reign.

I bought this book awhile back and never finished it.It just didnt grab or hold my attention like i thought it was.Oh well,its still sitting to the side,maybe i will get back to reading it soon,one day.

I was not impressed with this book, I wanted to stop reading it, but I had to see if there was more substance to the book. The plot lacked focus and it was too material. This honestly was one of the worse books I have read in a while, it kinda reminded me of Omar Tyree's book Fly Girl, and that got a zero on my scale as well....

I could not finish this book. I felt like so many characters were being thrown into my face that I couldn't keep up with who's who. I can usually read a good book in a day or two. This was one I tried reading every time I went to the bathroom and after two weeks, finally I just gave up. I read the last page just to see what happened. I bought this book and the sequel at the same time. I'm so mad that I wasted my money.

Mr. McNair did a good job on his debut novel, "My Time To Shine". He brings to life three brothers and their cousins' struggle out of poverty. These boys all hunger for the glitz of money and power, but the youngest of the crew is the mastermind. Black is low key but his main goal is to get money and take care of his family. He ain't messed up about the rest. I love the closeness of the familial ties, even down to their mother's relations and how they scuffle to make it in the drug game and keep family first.

Mr. McNair gives plenty details and has a host of characters. The storyline keeps the curious mind's attention awaiting the outcome to this saga.

this was a slow read durning the first couple of chapters. once i got further into the book, i couldn't put it down. the charcters in this book lived a lavious life style, drove nice cars, trucks and motorcycles. they all dressed to impress from head to toe. this book just tells of the real hustlers out here making a living by any means necessary. i am sure that we can relate to how the women were refered to in the book (bitches, hoes and other names). i have to admit that i know of woman who get wide eyed by men with nice toys. such as all the things these brothers had. i can't tell readers how many times i have heard woman speak about ballers. they see dollars signs and nothing else. just like most of the women in this book. these brothers were able to treat them like dirt because their pockets were knotted at all times. i hope that there will be a part 2 to this book i am dying to see what happened to black. did dee sale all the property like black said. what will happen to tara? did dee get married to chanetel?

This book started out slow but the pace picked up and I couldn't put it down. Three brothers trying to come up in the game as major players. They wanted to shine like all the other major players but didn't think about the cost of their actions. What was the price they paid? Find out by reading this story about three brothers outta Norfolk, Va. This was a good book.