"Johnny Washington, a black teenager in Los Angeles, knows the freight yards like the back of his hand. He and his pals, Josh and Buddy, hit them often, stealing for a fence. They have to. They're the sole support of their families. But when Josh is killed by a security guard, they are forced to look for other work. They find it with the underworld kings in Elliot Davis." -- Back cover.

Donald Goines was a pimp, a truck driver, a heroin addict, a factory worker, and a career criminal. He was also one of world's most popular Black contemporary writers. Having published 16 novels, including Whoreson, Dopefiend, and Daddy Cool, Goines's unique brand of "street narrative" and "ghetto realism" mark him as the original street writer. Now, in the first in-depth biography of Goines's life, author Eddie B. Allen explores exactly how one man could make the transition from street hustler to bestselling author. With exclusive access to personal letters, treatments from unwritten books, photographs, and family members, Allen uncovers Goines's personal experiences with drugs, prostitutes, prison, and urban violence. Fans of Goines's novels will note a dramatic parallelism between his life and his fictional tales.

Clawing his way to the top, pimp Earl the Black Pearl believes he is untouchable, but when someone puts a hit on his friends, he has to fight back to save his own life.

Originally published in 1972 by Holloway House.

"The streets run red with blood when war breaks out between Blacks and Chicanos."--Cover.

Terry and Teddy's relationship crumbles and they go in separate directions as they become heroin addicts and seek their dealer's favor in order to feed the addiction.

A story of black organized crime follows Prince from his beginning as a teenage ganglord to his position as head of Detroit's powerful mob.

Teenagers Sandra and Chink fall in love after they start selling drugs in inner-city Los Angeles, but when he goes to jail and Sandra is later raped, Chink escapes to seek revenge against the men responsible.

"Tragic revenge is the theme when a crime kingpin is betrayed by his own son."--Cover.

Includes excert from the author's Dopefiend (pages 178-202).