Iced

Rating:
Summary: You will never forget this book if you read it!
Review: Because I am a recovering addict, it is a hobby of mine to read books on the addiction experience. This book is one of the most compelling books on addiction that I have ever had the luck to stumble on! It's a look into the mind of a hard-core crack addict. Some reviewers say that too much happens to our tragic hero, but I think it is a very accurate portrayal of an addicts life!

Rating:
Summary: You will never forget this book if you read it!
Review: Because I am a recovering addict, it is a hobby of mine to read books on the addiction experience. This book is one of the most compelling books on addiction that I have ever had the luck to stumble on! It's a look into the mind of a hard-core crack addict. Some reviewers say that too much happens to our tragic hero, but I think it is a very accurate portrayal of an addicts life!

Rating:
Summary: Spread the word
Review: Dec. 31, 1999

Grateful that ICED has a growing army of readers...every time I check the site more readers have turned on to it.

I am currently working on a stage version of ICED to be produced at The American Place Theatre in New York City and a treatment for a screen version.

ICED got lost in the U.S. because the day I arrived for my promotion was the day the police arrested O.J. Simpsom for murder, so I got dumped for most of my promotional spots; everyone was O.J. crazy and stayed that way for a year...I guess you could say that O.J. owes me...

Tag me. I'd like to chat with my readers. I'm currently writing another novel called HOST and a musical called WHITE FOLKS....

Ray Shell

P.S...A writer is only as strong as his readership...tell your friends about ICED...would love to hear from you...tag me...opening a web site soon so I download some things...

all the best...Ray Shell

Rating:
Summary: A dark and brilliant powerhouse of a novel
Review: Have you seen a drug addict and always wondered what their life was like? Iced is a like being inside the mind of a crack addict. You should know the synopsis by now. It's the life and times of Cornelius Washington, Jr. a 40 year old crack addict and his descent from the bottom to virtual nothingness. What makes this book different from the countless other dope feind books is the style of writing used by the writer Ray Shell. (a real talent) It's told in diary form, but not in the from of dear diary this happened, that happened ect... It's like you are inside of Cornelius' thoughts. You expreience every high he takes you go throught all the highs and lows throught his life. Not for the faint of heart and spirit, take caution when reading this book it's addictive, I read three quarters of the book in the bookstore before I brought. I finished it that night. It's a shame that this book is out of print and more people don't know about it because it's so powerful. I recommed this book highly to anyone who appreciates great writing.

Rating:
Summary: het neemt je mee op een reis....
Review: Het verteld een verhaal van een drugs verslaafde persoon.
Het verhaal is ten einde als je het boek begint te lezen, Cornelius (en niet de schrijver!) neemt je mee naar zijn wereld, zijn gedachte zijn parionide wereld. Heel erg vlak geschreven, heel erg simpel, maar o zo puur naar voren gebracht. Het item drugs speelt een rode draad in het boek.
Hij beschrijft zijn wereld in fases, periodes, van die heel goed gingen en die hel waren.
Het einde van het boek is een beetje zwak, maar dat moet je op de kop toenemen. Want het is de moeite waard om het te lezen en te BELEVEN!

Rating:
Summary: Hubris.. a great book..
Review: How do those bums become bums on the street? Who were they? Questions one asks oneself when driving down the street or being hasseled on the street by panhandlers.

The main character of the books is a crack addict. He tells you about his life as a crack addict. Which is something most of us who read probably don't know much about.

THEN he starts to tell you what he used to do. You think. "Hold On, is this the same story, the same person? This young, hip, black man, ready for the world?" Well it is. Then you watch the way selfishness and ego starts to destroy potential, then once that ego and self centerness takes over how quickly drugs takes over.

It is a very beautiful piece of prose, about how a man can fall and how far a man can fall. But without the usual moral majority tone bashing into our skulls.

It blew me away, and showed me a different side to the world.

My only thing i disliked was there was far too much tragedy to befall one man. In many ways if less happenned and he still became a drug addict the story would have rung truer. Still worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: i couldn't put it down!!!!!
Review: i picked up "iced" in the library and i didn't know what i was in for. i loved it from the very start. i found it funny, sad, and at times unbelievable. if this book is autobiographical i can't believe he is still alive. i had an opportunity to walk in the head of a crack addict and it wasn't pretty. the pictures that he painted when he was "high" was unreal. i hope he writes another book in the future. i hope he doesn't have to go through so much to get the material!

Rating:
Summary: Very real
Review: I read the book a few times, because it really got to me. Out of own experiences with drugs I know that it is so authentic and it describes exactly how the selfdeceiving and -destruction works. And the pain you have inside and you can just not deal with. I never read somebody which came so close.

I saw friends going the way Cornelius did over the years and the book is very close to reality (besides the extreme ending) and that is why it touched me deep. It describes the life of a junkie how it is without that "social" touch.

Considering the biography of the author, it can hardly be his own experience and I keep wondering how he got this inside.

Rating:
Summary: A POWER HOUSE!
Review: I read this book many years back. I came across it while perusing a book store in Chicago on a business trip. I returned to my hotel room, cracked the cover and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening eating up every single page.

I could not believe I had not heard of the book before, that it was not covered in mass by the media and other literary organiations. The work was so gritty so real, so in your face I kept on checking Mr. Shell's picture and reading his biography trying to determing if this was in fact 'fact' or well developed fiction. To this day I am not sure, only that this was a major piece of literary work that hardly anyone knew about and a great work came and went away from the world in near silence.

I don't know where Mr. Shell is or what he is doing this days but it's never over until the 'fat lady sings". A smart publisher would reissue this work, put some advertising dollars behind it and bring it back to the world in force. No doubt it would hit the blackboard best sellers list and would sell many more copies. Maya Angelou gave a review...when was the last time you saw this illuminari of the Literary World's thoughts on the front of somebodies book? That says it all.

Mr. Shell, wherever you are, whatever you are doing these days please know that there is a whole bunch of people out in the world who 'got it', and not only did we get it, we applauded it, we became engrossed in it, we heralded it, we were enthralled by it and we want more of your talents. I hope you have not laid down the pen. You have shown true genius and we are hungry for more.

They say good things comes to those who wait, well I hope that you are planning more books Mr. Shell, because I'm certain it will be worth the wait.

Margaret Johnson-Hodge, Author of "The Real Deal" and "A New Day"

Rating:
Summary: ICED,The Novel is one of the best books out on the market
Review: ICED,The Novel is one of the most intense books that is out today.I am a avid reader,it has been a very long time since I've read a book of this magnitude. I am telling everyone about this book. I feel it needs to be shared with the rest of the world. When you read it, it's hard to tell if he (Ray Shell) is talking about a real person or a character that he has in his imagination. Myself and a friend think that Ray Shell is a very talented author. Sarah Sheldon