The Connection: Murder, Money, Sex And A Warehouse Full of Cocaine

Rating:
Summary: As long as I get mine
Review: Growing up in one of the worst projects in New Orleans, lawyer Nina Jones's childhood was not a bed of roses. The street life was her life, and she did whatever she needed to survive, including selling her body to the highest bidder. Nina wanted more out of life and knew her book smarts would be her ticket out of the ghetto.

Once Nina finishes law school, she returns to the streets of New Orleans, but in a different way. Now she has a daughter to raise and wants only the best for her child. Before she passes the bar, she makes her living by giving lectures to those in the drug community on how to avoid conviction. After she passes the bar, she seeks out rapists, drug dealers, pimps and other criminals to represent. As long as she gets paid upfront, she doesn't care about their guilt.

She doesn't care until one of her clients is murdered, and now the people who set up his murder want to silence her. The only problem is, she knows next to nothing. Her client had lied to her about the motive behind the murder he'd committed. It's a race for her life. If she has a chance at surviving, she must take the bits of truth she has and make the connections: murder, money, cocaine, politics, conspiracy.

THE CONNECTION is a fast paced, exciting read. Smith started the novel out with Nina as a teen. She showed how Nina became a woman that would have no qualms about defending people she knew were guilty as long as she got paid. Nina was not a likeable character. When the tides turned against her, I felt that it served her right, yet I still didn't want for her to be harmed because Smith had done a great job of showing you her background. In a way, I felt sorry for her.

There was one large hole in her character development. She didn't mind defending criminals, even one who she knew had raped an eight year old child, yet when she defended a murderer, she felt kind of guilty. That didn't add up, especially since she had a daughter close to the age of the child that had been raped. Otherwise, her character makeup was consistent and this book is still a great read. I look forward to more works by S.W. Smith.

Reviewed by Deatri King-Bey
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers


Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Hot, Steamy, Fast-pace and an excellent read. What can I say. I know this is a first time author but the stuff was good.
The main character is a lawyer who starts off bad, and tries to do right but circumstances get in the way so she ends up back in the game. I can't wait until the author's next book come in.

Rating:
Summary: Ghetto Law and Order
Review: Never knowing her father and after loosing her mother to drugs, Nina Jones was raised by her Granny in the Magnolia Housing Project of New Orleans. She started hustling at a young age. Being both street and book smart, Nina graduated law school as an extension of her hustle. As a lawyer, she represents everyone from accident victims to drug dealers. Her motto is "pay my fee, you got me!" As a single mother, with a thriving practice Nina is able provide for her child the things she did not have. Life is good. Things get even better when a high profile murder case falls in her lap. Seeing dollar signs, she jumps at the chance despite never having tried a murder case before. But nothing is as it appears and Nina finds herself quickly over her head. Will the case make her career or end her life? Can Nina make the connection before it's too late?
Smith delivers an intense fast paced urban legal thriller. Great debut novel.

Rating:
Summary: Mahogany Book Club Best Hip Hop Fiction Award 2003
Review: This was an oustanding novel. A great mix of hip hop fiction and mystery.
Lawyer Nina Jones knows how to play the street game, but it turns against her. Her boyfriend is killed, the Mayor is on the shady side. When Nina finds Evidence she shouldn't have,she finds herself running for her life.

Rating:
Summary: The Hottest Book I've Read All Year. It's that Good!!!
Review: Well, I bought this book at 9pm one night and was finished by 3am the next morning. It is that good! I love the infusion of New Orleans culture; I love the upbeat, fast-paced story-line; I love the writer's hip and modern style. The legal thriller follows a young, hip, attorney, Nina Jones, who entangles herself in the hunt for a murderer, and the writer's fresh approach to a timelessly enticing tale makes it stand out among any other thriller I have read. If you like Mary Higgins Clark, if you like John Grisham, you'll be blown away by the captivating technique of this new writer. Guaranteed thrill!! Check it out.