Change For A Dollar: cfad (Volume 1) (Paperback) I met and fell in deep like with the writing style of Aaron Bebo a few months ago on Facebook. A native New Yorker and Urban
Lit author, Bebo is blessed with the ability to not only tell a great story but to create characters (err, criminals) that readers from all walks of life...even a chick from Mississippi who has never been east of
Georgia...can identify with.
Though I enjoyed reading the excerpts posted on his page from his newly-released
book, "Change For A Dollar," I'm not ashamed to say that I was saving myself for Choosy (a character from another
of Bebo's soon-to-be-released novels). I wanted to show support for a fellow self-published author; so, I ordered my copy
of "Change..." on www.amazon.com (ISBN 978-1451538571).
The book sat on the table for a few days, maybe
a week. Then, I found myself taking it into the bathroom with me...where I would read one chapter at a time. I thought about
the characters so much 'til I found myself making several trips to the bathroom just to get another chapter or two in. By
the third day (today)--and the start of the seventh chapter--it just made sense to allow Malcom ("Quarters"), Boo, Nikki, Tia, Blackout, and n'em to
come into my bed. Eight hours later...my eyes were tired; I had a crook in my neck; I was spent from the emotional highs and
lows; oh, and I finished the book (even though, at times, I really could've used a glossary)!
I'm not much of
a review writer, but the female in me gravitates to the love/relationships...
In the beginning, my heart filled
with envy of the seemingly unbreakable bond that Quarters and Nikki shared. She was his wife; and though there were many temptations,
he seemed totally commited to protecting and loving her. They were more than just husband and wife...they were friends and
lovers, as well. But Boo's determination to have his love was undeterred at every obstacle. And, just as one might expect,
he eventually gave in and took Boo as his lover.
There is nothing anyone could ever say to make me be okay with
infidelity. Quarters smashed a few in this book; but Boo was his soulmate, in a sense. See, Nikki was a "good girl". There
were pretty significant things that happened in this hustler's life that he felt he could not share with her. Boo was in the
trenches and was, perhaps, a female version of him. Quarters didn't have to hide anything about himself, his business, or
his desires from Boo. There was nothing that she wouldn't do (or hadn't already done) for him. He trusted her. He loved her.
And after he nearly lost his life (and then Boo got pregnant with his child)...I think his heart chose her and wouldn't let
him return to his wife, Nikki.
But there's SO much more to the story than that! The title is a bit of a play on
words...because the underlying theme IS change. There's also drugs and set-ups and murders (R.I.P., Tia!) and prisons and
betrayal and sex and A WHOLE LOTTA SMOKE! "Change For A Dollar" does not disappoint. In the right screenwriter's
hands, this would be a great movie!
I can't wait to see what else Bebo's got up his sleeve...
REVIEWED
BY NARISCIA LOTT.
