Rating: 
Summary: Not one of Goines' Best
Review: Besides introducing you to Kenyatta, Goines' most famous character, this book doesn't live up to the author's standards. Kenyatta is a minor character and the two main characters, Billy and Jackie, aren't very interesting. The story is rather boring, and there is no climax to be seen. It ends badly and abruptly. Not recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT THE BEST BUT VERY GOOD
Review: CRIME PARTNERS IS ABOUT THE HIT MEN BILLY AND JACKIE.THEY MAKE A FEW HITS AND HOOK UP WITH KENYATTA,WHILE MESSING WITH KENYATTA THEY BOTH FIND WOMEN IN KENYATTA'S ORGANIZATION AND JACKIE EVEN STOPS DOING HEROIN CAUSE OF HIS NEW GIRL BUT AT THE END EVERYONE IN THAT GROUP GETS KILLED.THE BOOK WAS SHORT BUT IT IS THE START OF A SERIES,AND I THINK IT'S BAD FOR BILLY AND JACKIE GET LACED BEFORE THE REAL SERIES GETS STARTED.BUT THE BOOK WAS GOOD NOT THE BEST
Rating:
Summary: brutal
Review: Donald Goines' books are brutal depictions of drug abusers, racist & corrupt cops, lethal gangsters & newly politicized blacks trying to fight these scourges. Goines, himself, lived a life like a character in one of his 17 books. He began writing in prison after someone turned him on to the works of Iceberg Slim & was hailed as one of the successors to Chester Himes. After his release, he rattled off as many as 8 novels a year. Then he was gunned down at his typewriter while working on his final book, Kenyatta's Last Hit. This is the first in the Kenyatta series, and it picks up where Sam Greenlee's The Spook Who Sat by the Door left off. Billy Good and Jackie Walker are two small-time hoods on the streets of Detroit, but they hit the big-time when they meet up with Kenyatta, a black nationalist ghetto lord. Kenyatta and his gang have started taking back the streets by killing drug pushers & white cops. As he tells Billy and Jackie: "Kill the honkie. That's our rally cry. Death to Whitey." Then things get wild... GRADE: C+
Rating: 
Summary: Good So Far
Review: I was introduced to Donald Goines when I heard about the movie version of "Never Die Alone". I'm a fan of DMX so I saw it and was amazed by the story and the movie. So when I found out that the movie was based on a book, and that there was lots more, I decided to give them a try.
Since I'd already seen the movie, I didn't wanna get the "Never Die Alone" book first(I will eventually). So I came across "Crime Partners", the first installment of the Kenyatta series. This book introduces us to Jackie and Billy, two stickup partners who are tired of not being recognized for their crimes. So they team up with Kenyatta, a sort of general to an army he's built up to stop crime and corruption by using it. On the other side of the law two detectives, Benson and Ryan, are angered after four fellow police officers are murdered and they're out to find out who did it(it was Jackie, Billy, and Kenyatta's gang). As Jackie and Billy's hits get bigger, so do their hearts as they fall in love with two women in Kenyatta's organization.
I liked this book. This, like I said, is my first Goines book, and it surprised me. It was so real, from the sex, to the drugs, to the cussing, and finally to the brutally true violence. I've heard people say that Benson and Ryan are corrupt cops and I haven't found them to be in this book. True, the book did end quick(along with Jackie and Billy's story), but this book had a first installment feel to it. It's like you almost expect the next book to be Kenyatta's revenge against those who ended his friends' lives. He's an odd character in this book. Sometimes you don't like him at all, and then sometimes you laugh at his charm(especially the part where he walks in on Billy and his newfound honey sleepin together). I hope that Kenyatta is explored more in the other books, because he hasn't effected me like King David did, where you were at a loss of feeling sorry, sickened, or charmed.
Anyways this is a good book, and I suggest everybody read it and read Goines' other books, like I will.
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Rating:
Summary: Good So Far
Review: I was introduced to Donald Goines when I heard about the movie version of "Never Die Alone". I'm a fan of DMX so I saw it and was amazed by the story and the movie. So when I found out that the movie was based on a book, and that there was lots more, I decided to give them a try. Since I'd already seen the movie, I didn't wanna get the "Never Die Alone" book first(I will eventually). So I came across "Crime Partners", the first installment of the Kenyatta series. This book introduces us to Jackie and Billy, two stickup partners who are tired of not being recognized. So they team up with Kenyatta, a sort of general to an army he's built up to stop crime and corruption by using it. On the other side of the law two detectives, Benson and Ryan, are angered after four fellow police officers are murdered and they're out to find out who did it(it was Jackie, Billy, and Kenyatta's gang). As Jackie and Billy's hits get bigger, so do their hearts as they fall in love with two women in Kenyatta's organization. I liked this book. This, like I said, is my first Goines book, and it surprised me. It was so real, from the sex, to the drugs, to the cussing, and finally to the brutally true violence. I've heard people say that Benson and Ryan are corrupt cops and I haven't found them to be in this book. True, the book did end quick(along with Jackie and Billy's story), but this book had a first installment feel to it. It's like you almost expect the next book to be Kenyatta's revenge against those who ended his friends' lives. He's an odd character in this book. Sometimes you don't like him at all, and then sometimes you laugh at his charm(especially the part where he walks in on Billy and his newfound honey sleepin together). I hope that Kenyatta is explored more in the other books, because he hasn't effected me like King David did, where you were at a loss of feeling sorry, sickened, or charmed. Anyways this is a good book, and I suggest everybody read it and read Goines' other books, like I will. Was this review helpful to you?
Rating: 
Summary: Partners in crime
Review: This book brings Billy and Jackie, two hit men to the forefront. However, it wasn't until they ran into Kenyatta when they realized what they were truly capable of. The book is kinda short, but it also sets the tone for the Kenyatta series. There's plenty of murder in the book, but not simply senseless murder. Once you read the book, you'll see what I am talking about.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD BUT NOT THE BEST
Review: THIS IS A GOOD BOOK BY DONALD GOINS
HE SET'S THE STAGE FOR THREE BOOK
SERIES, I THINK HE COULD HAVE WENT
IN TO MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE PEOPLE
IN THE BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: LOYAL ALWAYS
Review: THIS WAS ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT LOYALTY! I ENJOYED THIS BOOK! AT FIRST I WAS LIKE, HERE WE GO HE IS TRYING TO SAVE THE STREETS! WHEN I GOT INTO IT I COULD NOT STOP UNTIL I WAS DONE! CRIME PARTNERS WAS JUST WHAT THAT WERE UNTIL THE END. THEY DID CRIME TOGETHER, LIVED TOGETHER AND DIED TOGETHER! THIS IS A MUST READ! I LIKED THE BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Not too good . . .
Review: This was the first Goines novel I read, as well as being the first one he wrote. Well, let's just say he got a lot better. I mean, the plot isn't great, you don't really care about the characters, and he doesn't give me a good sense of the streets of Detroit. There wasn't any climax, and the ending was dumb and expected. I made myself read his final novel INNER CITY HOODLUM right after I finsihed this, and I can't even say how much better it was. Check out one his other novels, this just ain't were it's at.
Rating:
Summary: Wait a minute
Review: While I must agree that Crime Partners is not one Donald Goines greatest books, it is only book one in a series of three books. The other books in the series are Kenyatta's Escape and Kenyatta's Last Hit. The purpose of Crime Partners is to set the stage for the other two books and that it did. RIQ
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