Sugar of Lead

Rating:
Summary: A definite page-turner
Review: A page-turner that will have time fly by, "Sugar of Lead" dives into the lifestyle and culture of Asian mafias. The rules and codes adhered to in this forbidden world are explored and tested in this riveting story. This novel masterfully presents the art of drama as the main character of Michael Pierce wrestles with the conflicts that occur as his society, his adopted culture, and his inner desires all tear him in different directions. A must-read!

Rating:
Summary: Detailed and Interesting
Review: I reviewed "Sugar of Lead" for "The Yale Review of Books." Some excerpts:

Almer John Davis's Sugar of Lead presents us with the newly entrenched and very real generation of L.A. gangsters composed of the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Koreans. It's an underground world that most Angelenos don't know about or choose not to talk about. So while The Los Angeles Times continues printing articles on the 18th Street Gang, everyone seems to have forgotten the Asians who are racking in the cash, aggressively carrying out operations in high-end crimes.

Davis's Gothic-gangster-surreal novel is the most different picture of Los Angeles the rest of America will receive. It's an L.A. Confidential set in the `90s, with hats tipped off to crime writer extraordinaire Elmore Leonard, as well. It is poetry peppered with hot lead, showing us the new "voracious imploding serpentine labyrinthian megalopolian cowtown sprawl called Los Angeles"

The novel continually brings us back to the opening scene of the novel, with the image of the flat plain of the Pacific mingling in the horizon with the blue waters of the swimming pool in Simon Rhee's backyard Malibu mansion. There's a pervading sense of an eerie and illusory calm, and the powerful presence of the world's largest ocean stands as an inevitable natural force that dwarfs the characters and their machinations, a reminder of the pettiness and inanity of their criminal feuding juxtaposed with Davis's melodramatic and epic representation of their story. Clearly, Davis aspires not to create an airplane paperback here, but an engaging action-studded story with some serious soul-searching philosophy - a work of literary value.

Rating:
Summary: Dangerous but Sweet
Review: In his gothic-gangster story of Fall and Redemption, Almer John Davis's SUGAR OF LEAD captures the dangerous pulse of international crime, racial politics, unique characters and magical realism. I was caught up in this story from the very beginning and found myself talking to the characters, warning them of dangers around the corner, urging them to take the right actions, the sort of things you do when a story has grabbed you and taken into its reality.

Set in contemporary Los Angeles this novel is about Michael "Sugar" Pierce, a stranger in his own homeland and increasingly a stranger to himself. Adopted into a powerful family of Korean mobsters currently under siege from rival Chinese gangs, Sugar is torn between duty and desire when one of the brothers kills the other, setting off a chain reaction of power, violence and twisted desire.

With shades of forbidden love, alternate realities, convoluted power-plays and mystical action, Davis's novel is a gripping, haunting and ultimately satisfying story.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: It's been a VERY long time since I've been able to pick up a book and put it back down after reading it all in one sitting. The book played out like a well-planned movie. Every moment, every character, and every line of dialogue had me feening for more. It is one of the most accurate potrayals of the Asian-American gangster scene. Expect no boring cliches filled with typical Asian-American strereotypes. I cannot wait until this author churns out another book. Pick up this book today.

Rating:
Summary: Intellectual Delight, Thriller
Review: Rarely do thrillers attempt much more than thrilling; they are generally designed as "pleasure fiction," to distract the reader for a period of a few hours. Almer John Davis has apparently decided that he'd rather not walk down the narrow alley of another gangster thriller, but the backdrop of Korean gangsters in Los Angeles provides the appropriate setting to get much of his message across. The novel mixes the best of old and new--there are shades of Hamlet and Beowolf mixed with the best of Elmore Leonard--upon my first reading (there have been many since) I remarked that this book is a sort of higher-echelon Elmore Leonard novel. Davis presents his views on crime, death, and most importantly, life through the eyes of protagonist Micheal "Sugar" Pierce.
An outsider of sorts, being white in a Korean gang, yet with an insider's knowledge, being best friend of the boss and in love with the boss's wife, Sugar is caught in a web of deception, love, hate, and violence. His desperate attempt to break out, forced by the actions of others, leads to a fast-paced novel, with riveting aciton and constant tension. Yet, Davis seamlessly works in his literary perspectives, using effective and poignant symbolism, allegory and metaphor in order to fully acheive his purpose. Above all a novel that will make you think, examine yourself, and ponder the dilemmas of the characters (the true sign of good literature), Sugar Of Lead has my highest recommendation. I only hope that many more books of the same quality will be produced by its author.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read.
Review: Sugar of Lead is one of those novels that provides a deep, rich tale of one man's introspection after trying to survive in this world, as well as a deep, rich context for its setting and background. This reminds me of novels written by some guys named Hemingway and Bellow. In true fashion as a story in this postmodern era, Sugar of Lead tells of a white male trying to find his place in the Asian gang world, which no other novels offer. The reader is left in introspection of his own identity, as well as with the satisfaction of finishing a good book. People of any ethnicity or age will be able to enjoy this book, which is much more than a gangster novel. It is a classic just waiting to be deemed so, and a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Davis Produces A Contemporary Classic with Sugar of Lead
Review: Sugar of Lead is one of those novels that provides a deep, rich tale of one man's introspection after trying to survive in this world, as well as a deep, rich context for its setting and background. This reminds me of novels written by some guys named Hemingway and Bellow. In true fashion as a story in this postmodern era, Sugar of Lead tells of a white male trying to find his place in the Asian gang world, which no other novels offer. The reader is left in introspection of his own identity, as well as with the satisfaction of finishing a good book. People of any ethnicity or age will be able to enjoy this book, which is much more than a gangster novel. It is a classic just waiting to be deemed so, and a must-read.