Never As Good As the First Time [Paperback]

Mari Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

For years Samai Collins has been a faithful Christian, devoted wife and loving mother. But suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a nasty divorce from her minister husband and struggling to find a job, with almost no work skills, in order to support her three children. As Samai tries to get back on her feet, loneliness and the deep longing for a man's touch cause her to stumble in her spiritual beliefs.

 

Then an old high school crush reappears and Samai's life takes a wild new turn. She is seduced completely by Zane Blackmon's passion and zest for life and soon finds herself being led down a dark path that she never knew existed. An underworld of drugs threatens her life and the lives of her three children. But is love...and just a little bit of faith enough to save them all?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Debut novelist Walker presents a tedious chronicle of heroine Samai Collins's postdivorce escapades with sex and drugs. After splitting up with her husband, Samai is lonely and misses sex. In this vulnerable state, she is taken in by a golden-tongued ne'er-do-well named Zane, who leads her down a primrose path to perdition. The character development is thin, and some scenes important to the plot seem totally implausible, such as when Samai is fired on trumped-up charges and given no opportunity to defend herself. The sex scenes, while passionate, are clunky and risibly trite: his tongue touched my 'jewel,' which sent a hot electrical jolt to my brain. The novel does dabble in deeper themes that may resonate with spiritual seekers: Samai is restless and wrestles with her identity as an individual after her divorce. Her struggles to do what she thinks she should do, rather than what she wants to do, are moving. But while Samai's tortured relationship with the church constitutes a major theme of the novel, what's at stake in her spiritual peregrinations is never made clear. Readers who make it to the end will find an inspiring conclusion that seems to come out of nowhere. Fans of African-American Christian fiction will fare better elsewhere. (Apr.)
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Review

"Mari Walker's fresh new voice brings an era to life with a style as enthralling as it is entertaining."—Solomon Jones, Essence bestselling author of C.R.E.A.M.

“Never As Good As The First Time is a fascinating novel...Readers will no doubt have a hard time putting this intriguing book down.” –Books2Mention Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375425
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375423
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mari Walker developed a love of words at a very young age, listening to her mother's smooth mellow voice reading tales from an old Southern fairy tale book or spinning tales about her childhood growing up in Blakely, Georgia. Mari imagined that she could see worlds unfolding and characters acting out the adventures that were spun from those beloved stories.

Overcome with curiosity about whether the pictures in her head matched the ones in the book from which her mother read, she climbed onto her mother's lap with cries of "Can I see the pictures?" To her utter amazement, there were none. A new and wonderful thought was birthed inside her that day. A person could carve out worlds, adventures, people, pictures, sounds, and at times even smells out of mere words. From that moment, she knew she wanted to become an author.

Mari divides her time between freelance writing and editing, and advising aspiring writers on the techniques she has learned on creative writing. Her first novel, NEVER AS GOOD AS THE FIRST TIME, was an Essence Magazine bestseller and was featured on the list twice in 2008 and once in January of 2009. Ms. Walker has been a featured guest on BlogTalk Radio,Classic Soul 107.5.com,and is currently being featured on Terra Little's Blogzine the week beginning June 1, 2010. Her newest novel, NOT QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS is also featured on UrbanReviews Flash Drive promotion, as well as The Midwest Bookfest Promotion. Follow Mari on Twitter or Facebook!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sea of Darkness, May 7, 2008

By 

Urban Reviews "Your Source for the Best in AA... (Online) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Never As Good As the First Time (Paperback)

Samai Collins has been a dutiful Christian for most of her life. Her world is turned upside down when she is in the middle of a divorce from her minister husband. Samai is also dealing with trying to find a job to support herself and her three children without any work skills. As she attempts to get her life on track, Samai is struggling with her own beliefs and the longing for a man's touch. When an old high-school crush Zane Blackmon comes back into Samai's life, he brings the wild excitement that she craves. But when Samai is suddenly led to a destructive path into the world of drugs, her life and the lives of her children are in danger. Will Samai be able to get her life back in order to save herself and her children?

Never As Good As The First Time is a riveting debut novel by Mari Walker. Walker expertly leads the reader into the complex world of Samai Collins. What made this novel stand out was that Samai was just a regular woman that got lured into drug addiction by her boyfriend. You will see the downward spiral of Samai's life as her drug addiction gets out of control. Walker accurately describes how much in denial that Samai is in once she reaches her lowest point. Readers will find themselves pulling for Samai to turn her life around. There are some scenes in this novel that will really tug at your heart-strings. Never As Good As The First Time is a heart-wrenching page-turner that is a perfect start to Mari Walker's writing career.

Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert
for Urban Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars (RAW Rating: 3.5) - Going Nowhere Fast, March 29, 2008

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never As Good As the First Time (Paperback)

The catchphrase, 'never as good as the first time,' aptly describes Samai Collins' sentiments about her crack cocaine abuse. Thanks to an old high school crush, Zane Blackmon, she discovers euphoria for the first time and afterward, she expends much of her energy seeking euphoria again. What's left of her time is semi-devoted to her three children.

Prior to all this, Samai was not happily married, nor is she the devoted Christian she thinks she is. Following an acrimonious divorce, she is ripe for the picking and eager to be picked. She is obsessed with her sexual desires and spinning her wheels, but going nowhere fast.

Mari Walker paints a vivid portrait of a life consumed by addiction in NEVER AS GOOD AS THE FIRST TIME, but I found it difficult to empathize with Samai. I would have liked to know more about what drove her to drugs, before skipping right to the post-drugs chaos. A little more character development would have made all the difference for me as I followed Samai down her slippery slope. Also, the quickie ending cheated me out of possibly caring about her plight. While I got that Samai needed help, I wasn't entirely convinced she really wanted it.

Reviewed by T. Shelly B.
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Never As Good AS the First Time., February 2, 2009

By 

Just Tiff "Ms Tea" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never As Good As the First Time (Paperback)

I think this book was depressing to say the least. This is my frist novel by Mari Walker and I have to say I don't think I'll be reading any more of her books. I actually recommened this book to my book club, everyone who was able to finish it agreed that the book was depressing & sad.