The game once had three major rules that were never to be broken or compromised, regardless of how serious things got in one's life. Death before dishonor was more than just a code; it was the law of the streets, written in the blood of the OGs who killed and died upholding it. Back then, there were many rewards for those who followed the codes. On the other hand, the penalty was death for anyone who violated the laws, and anybody close to him. At the very least, that person would be blackballed from the hood and any illegal street ventures. Clearly the game as we once knew it has been changed by today's hustlers, gangsters, and crooks. Most of them have strayed far from the script. The majority of them would rather save their asses than save face. They would sooner live with shame and disgrace than die with honor and respect. With the current status of the game and the sheisty individuals who are playing it, is there anyone who will honor the past and acknowledge the rules of the game for what they used to be? A newcomer to the urban lit scene, Amir Sanchez delivers a realistic, gripping story of life on the streets, where hustlers still rule, but honor and loyalty have taken on new meaning.

Atlanta raised, Ace and Bishop want to get back on top of the dope game and they want to get back immediately after doing thirteen months in jail… After finding a scheme to get back on top, Bishop decides to go his own separate way with his wife, Latoya, and son, Junior, by moving them to Los Angeles. Eighteen years later, Junior becomes a young nigga who follows his father’s same footsteps with big dreams of getting rich and living the life. When Bishop announces that they will be going back to Atlanta to visit family, Junior isn’t too happy about the news. Ace finally discovers that Brandy’s son, Ricky, is his biological child. He takes him under his wing immediately and teaches him what real hustling is all about. Coming face to face after so many years, Ace and Bishop hash things out and Ricky and Junior hit it off immediately. Ace and Bishop’s scheme finally catches up to them, leaving Ricky and Junior to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, Latoya finds she may not be over her old high school fling. Brandy tries to make Ricky see that he is a man now and he can go on with life just fine. Junior and Ricky find themselves in more drama as the money starts to pile up. The women they put their trust in, really aren’t who they think they are. Will Ace and Bishop’s past leave Ricky and Junior in turmoil? Million Dollar Dreams and Federal Nightmares is the ultimate non-stop page turning street novel, full of suspense, greed, envy, sex, money, desire, revenge, betrayal and unforgettable friendships that will risk it all for the dreams or for one another to find out.

From the concert stage to the dressing room, from the recording studio to the digital realm, SPIN surveys the modern musical landscape and the culture around it with authoritative reporting, provocative interviews, and a discerning critical ear. With dynamic photography, bold graphic design, and informed irreverence, the pages of SPIN pulsate with the energy of today's most innovative sounds. Whether covering what's new or what's next, SPIN is your monthly VIP pass to all that rocks.

An American Dream The Life To the majority of America, the infamous State of Ohio is just made up of farm fi elds and politics, but in the quiet city of Columbus is a major money market in the criminal underworld where every drug from Mexican marijuana to Afgan heroin fl oods the economy on a monthly basis. And every small time hustler to every international dealer wants a piece of the pie. For Sizalino and his notorious mentor Michael Pettway, they’re looking to control it all, forming an outfi t similar to the mythical mafi a’s ‘Commission’, called the West Side Firm; teaming up with the most powerful heads of the East and North Side, creating a conglomerate organization stretching all the way down to South Florida and into South America. With the connection to Emmanuelle Mendez, a close associate to the Columbian Godmother, they go on an unstoppable path to obtaining the ultimate American Dream of money, power, and respect. By any means necessary! Overnight their success becomes legendary. Th ey quickly create a takeover like no one in Ohio has ever done or ever seen. But with success comes hate and envy, from everyone tojealous locals, to local State and Federal Law Enforcement Offi cials. And that envious attention comes crashing down right when the Commission hits the peak of its success. Everyone from the Law to bitter rivals begin to try and attack and penetrate their concrete wall of solid structure and silence. Sizalino feels the heat, and tries to take his business mind and savvy in a diff erent direction for the benefi t of his related family and the foundation of their future. But his Mentor, Mike P., and the Commission, have other plans for him. And they’re not the only ones. Will Sizalino make it out? Will the Commission and its Firms survive the storm and the war against them, threatening to cripple and destroy their organization? Th ey say for hustlers that the American Dream has two faces; an American Dream and an American Nightmare! What will Sizalino’s American Fate be?

Small City Big Paper By: A-Town Avery Haigler aka A-Town better known as Mr. 803 was born and raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Growing up in the poverty stricken part of the city led Avery to a life of crime at a very young age. With his first arrest coming at the age of 9 years old. Always wanting more and having street savvy with book smarts to match led to a career criminal in the making. In and out of juvenile detention, jail and prison from the age of 10 up until his final arrest at the age of 26 that landed him in federal prison with a 10 year sentence for drug conspiracy and money laundering. Avery went from petty criminal to one of the largest drug dealers in his city during his era. From basically having nothing to becoming a millionaire off the drug trade all while in a small city knows as Orangeburg. While incarcerated in the Federal Prison, Avery read numerous urban novels that depicted the drug scenes in major cities. He then realized that while he was from a small city, the drug scene in Orangeburg was on a major level like in bigger cities, which let him to writing this book. Letting readers know that even though Orangeburg is a small city, it’s some Big Paper (serious money) being made there. Since his release from federal prison in March of 2017, Avery has been working a regular 9 to 5 job and enjoying life spending time with his family and 7 beautiful kids. Also, he has a promotion company called ‘I Ain’t Press Entertainment’, in which he promotes parties, events and local artists. He is also investing into real estate with hopes of having 10 rental properties by his 40th birthday.

For Erik Reece, life, at last, was good: he was newly married, gainfully employed, living in a creekside cabin in his beloved Kentucky woods. It sounded, as he describes it, "like a country song with a happy ending." And yet he was still haunted by a sense that the world--or, more specifically, his country--could be better. He couldn't ignore his conviction that, in fact, the good ol' USA was in the midst of great social, environmental, and political crises--that for the first time in our history, we were being swept into a future that had no future. Where did we--here, in the land of Jeffersonian optimism and better tomorrows--go wrong? Rather than despair, Reece turned to those who had dared to imagine radically different futures for America. What followed was a giant road trip and research adventure through the sites of America's utopian communities, both historical and contemporary, known and unknown, successful and catastrophic. What he uncovered was not just a series of lost histories and broken visionaries but also a continuing and vital but hidden idealistic tradition in American intellectual history. Utopia Drive is an important and definitive reconstruction of that tradition. It is also, perhaps, a new framework to help us find a genuinely sustainable way forward. " ... an engaging exploration -- and example -- of the fruitful tunnel-visions of dreamers turned doers." - Publishers Weekly

The drug scene during the 1990s crippled the crime filled West Philadelphia neighborhoods. Mya, Takia and Raven, three high school seniors, were caught in the midst of a tug of war between right and wrong. They were blinded by their love for young hustlers with fast money and fast cars. Their sisterhood will ultimately be tested and their lives will forever be changed by the hasty decisions each makes.