It's a life to be envied and desired, filled with private jets, millions of dollars, and tons of cocaine. It is also a life many would kill for-literally. After paying his debt to society, Kilo fights to reclaim his place in that life. Fresh out of prison, he's back on the streets as lethal as ever. As the number one drug lord, he is the head of one of the most notorious cocaine and heroin operations in America. Kilo's power and wealth surpasses even that of Q, a man who is feared by all. But Q is much more than Kilo's rival-he is also the father of Tina, Kilo's beautiful half-African American, half-Colombian fiancee. Desperate to protect his place and power, Q coerces Derrick, a lethal, young fifth-degree black belt into becoming an enforcer in his empire. Now, no one is safe. Derrick quickly builds his reputation by kicking ass from Baltimore to Philly to Virginia. Just as quickly, his honesty, loyalty, and respect earn Q's loyalty in return-and this brings him no small amount of animosity from the other drug lords. Big R, Q's right-hand man, has put his new rival in his sights. Can both survive in this bloody society? Spanning decades tainted by murder, deception, lies, and greed, Street Certified continues the saga of Hustler's Greed.

In the tradition of Pulitzer Prize nominated, Positively Fifth Street, here is a riveting account of a high stakes shoot-out between pool’s two most famous personalities. It was Valentine’s Day, 1978, and Howard Cosell was hosting the long-awaited show-down between the best-ever tournament player, Willie Mosconi, and the game’s most famous hustler, Minnesota Fats. This was The Great Pool Shoot-Out, one of the most highly rated televised sporting events of the year, exceeding even World Series games and basketball championships. R.A. Dyer, author of the best-selling Hustler Days, which recounts the rise of pool during the 1960s, writes of the acrid, but mutually beneficial rivalry between Fats and Mosconi, and how the televised shoot-outs came to embody that rivalry, which was nothing less than a bitter rift within the soul of American pocket billiards. Fats and Mosconi were born the same year, but were vastly different characters: one stood for artistry, the other for show business; one brought dignity to pool, the other made it fun. They are without a doubt the two most important players ever to hold a cue. This is the ultimate tale of American sportsmanship. R.A. Dyer is a columnist for Billiards Digest, and lives in Austin, Texas.

Describes the lives and schemes of noted con artists, including Lord Gordon-Gordon, Charles Ponzi, and Clifford Irving.

A look at life on the streets. A locksmith tries to build a better life. An ex soldier looks for his sister who has been sold into slavery. A homeless man helps a church lady. A smart lady from New Orleans tries to make it in D.C.

Ali, a drug dealer/business man, tries to change the way the game is played by giving back to the community. His life take a serious turn when a local rival, a crooked cop, his pregnant girlfriend, and his little brother comes into the picture. A gritty street tale that everyone will enjoy.

Columns and articles originally written between 1992 and 1999. Includes index. Signed by Author.

"Screams of a Hustler" is a collection of "SPOKOETRY" by an author who takes his paradigm to describe who he is, reasons & meanings in his life, and his thoughts & feelings. Feel free to go in to his mind and try to feel his thoughts as he takes you into his screams.

On the cold streets of Crackston, Georgia, there was only one commandant the young hustler lived by: get rich or die tryin’. While decent folks worked a 9–5 and waited on the Lord for salvation, the young took to the streets for their own deliverance. Instead of waiting for a pie in the sky, they whipped up their own pies. Cutting precise slices, they toiled daily delivering their load up and down the highway of sin, praying for profit. But their hustle did not go unanswered, as some were saved out a life of poverty , while the rest were cast into the hell of despair. Money become their salvation and fame their deliverance. In the end, what seemed as the way out was the trap that keep them enslaved. Old School: “Young blood, the game is lose-lose: you either go lose everything you got or everyone you love.”

Wandering in the cultural upheaval of 1968 in Chicago, a wise-cracking street girl (Zak) meets an itinerant, brilliant and slightly mad old gardener, Rose, through Sophie, a middle-aged librarian who lives by the rules “ conservative even in her one major break, when she fell in love with a woman. The real and potential losses in all their lives have made them edgy. Sparks begin to fly, fanned by clashing aesthetics, defenses, and denial into a conflagration of misunderstanding that births an awkward, tentative and pragmatic partnership.Society, money and their perceived needs threaten the tentative alliance. With the help of neighbor Stan, Zak "s old protector Suzee, and the misfits at St. Martin "s soup kitchen, they must decide which of the few bad choices each has is truly damaging and which might be vaguely beneficialSearching for some little success in a world that doesn "t wish them any, they are unaware of how their pasts might make them embrace the changes embodied at the Democratic National Convention protests. Chicago is a main character, a most unlikely setting for the social upheaval that would define the next few generations. The Convention and all it entails is the moving force.