Rating: 
Summary: Great Variety, ESmooth
Review: I really enjoyed this book. EJD has once again captivated his reading audience. Previous books have addressed a plethora of topics and situations, and in Paridise were brought into the grift world by Cool Hand Dante. EJD shows his versitilty in writing a suspensful, scam, and crime ridden novel,without the loss of the romance. Well Done!
Rating:
Summary: this book was a page turner
Review: I was captured from the first page with this one. This in my list of book received a 5 and a half stars.
Rating:
Summary: A NEW TWIST
Review: I really enjoyed reading Mr. Dickey's latest effort. Mainly, because you took us (me) down a different path. With the same results ... A Good Read!! I suggest this book to friends and to others that have yet to read this one (I have them all). You will not be disappointed. ** I will admit I was thrown a little a first - by Dickey's new twist (style) but the more I read the more he pulled me in like always. Eric Jerome Dickey is # 1 in my book.
Rating:
Summary: You did it Again!!
Review: EJD, you are definitely the man. This latest offering by Mr Dickey is something. a group of people in circumstances beyond their control, and the grift that would help ease their troubles. Dante, who is out of work and have bills piling up. Pam, the girl he is trying to impress, and who has a few secrets of her own, Jackson, an aging converted thief, who owes a small fortune in child support and looking for relief, Robin, his faithful girlfriend who cracks under the load Jackson brings. Sabrina, the philosophical afrocentric baby mamma, who screws Jackson for her child support, and Scamz, the top dog who puts Dante and Jackson on a job to help them out. Add Sierra and Arizona(sisters who share Scamz),Nazario,the Equadorian thug who tries to bust Dante down for his wife's wedding ring,& Big Slim,owner of the pool hall, and you got yourself a book that twists and turns and keep you occupied. good work.
Rating:
Summary: EJD Does IT AGAIN...:)
Review: Now, I have read a lot of EJD's books from Liar's Game to Sister to Sister, and I have yet to be disappointed. I mean in many of his past books, I could always guess about the things I would read about. I always expected to read about the successful sista' and brotha' who went to some type of college, got their degrees, and were constantly faced with two difficult questions each day. Either the girl was asking, "I wonder who that broad is over there talking to my man?" or the boy was asking, "I wonder if I was the best lover that she ever had?" Though these seem to be two boring, everyday questions, EJD delivers the answers to those questions in ways that I could have never expected. He has his own unique style of delivering these answers to the audience, and he really outdid himself in Thieves' Paradise.
In this book, he went outside of his comfort zone and began to think 'street style'. His characters in Thieves' Paradise are in a world full of crime, betrayal, love, and destruction. They have seen a lot and done a lot on the streets of L.A. while trying to survive in a world that seems to be bent on holding them down and keep them from progressing. This world is seen mainly through the eyes of Dante Black. Dante had a rough upbringing, did his time, and is now trying to get his life back on the right track. But when things become bad and he could barely pay his bills or eat, he only knew of one person whom he could get help from, and that was Scamz. Even with the name, one could tell that he was someone not to stay away from. To many of the nighttime hustlers on the streets of L.A. who were trying to get by, Scamz was their God. While giving him praise for being their God and helping them survive on the streets, Scamz was also their biggest fear, and Dante knew this. So when he decides to run the streets again with his ole' buddy Scamz(he even brings his new lady in on the hustling), things really hit the fan. Dante learns just how quickly lovers and friends can become enemies and what it means to "Keep One's Enemies Close."
EJD was on point with this book, and one has got to give the man some props for creating another African-American masterpiece and letting our story be told.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Slow
Review: I am a huge fan of EJD, but this book just didn't capture my attention. I tried to read this several times and every time I end up putting the book back down. This is the first time I've ever been dissapointed in a book by EJD. It just starts a little too slow for me.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Rawlins The Third
Review: If you know and love Easy, let me just say that Dickey's main character 'Cool Hand' Dante, has gotta be Easy's grandson. Stop reading and go get Thieves' Paradise. Now. If you don't know Easy, let me explain. Dickey's main character, Dante Black is a young, cool, reluctant, yet skilled, scam artist. He lives in a cold town, Los Angeles, and hangs with shady characters whom he loves but shouldn't trust. Dante's got his own problems, and as a result he also has a social worker mentality; he's forever trying to fix the broken lives of his fellow grifters. Easy Rawlins is Walter Mosley's much heralded Los Angeles private-eye with a heart. In the 40s and 50s Easy walked the same streets that Dante walks in 2002. Cool Hand Dante and Easy Rawlins move with the same panther grace--dangerous, ultracool, conflicted and black. Dickey's characters are complex and engaging. There's ol' sexy, Pam, whose irrational desire to have a 21 year old, never had a baby tummy, could get her locked up or killed. Jackson is a man driven over the edge by baby-mama and girlfriend drama. And Scamz, the ultimate grifter, is probably a genius, definitely immoral, sexy and dangerous. The characters' dilemmas come not from a scam gone bad, but from personal weaknesses. The action is superb and the sex is steamy and stimulating, but not nasty. Dicky references past and current LA haunts and popular black culture without overdoing it. The story is rich, textured, and very, very good. Comparing it to much of the other black-oriented stuff out there is like comparing a rich chocolate cheesecake to a fat free vanilla wafer. Too bad I can't give it 10 stars.
Rating:
Summary: eric jerome dickey improves
Review: I've read ejd previous book and I wasn't very impressed with some most recent one so I had serious reservation about getting Thieves' Paradise and also because a lot of people I spoke to didn't think the book was that great. I got it anyway and I was hooked from the first page til the very last. It's a page turner to say the least. Ejd has really improved since his last books about love affairs & characters you could care less about. I loved the fact that this story takes place in a whole another world a world that weekly paycheck dependent,9 to 5-ers like average people don't live in. Ejd makes you cheer for these people and understand you got to do what you got to do. I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr.Dickey
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmmm
Review: I was not as impressed with this book. The ending felt rushed and tyipcal. The sex scenes were great - that part I did enjoy, but not what I've come to expect from EJD
Rating:
Summary: GOOD FICTION
Review: I was captivated by this book from cover to cover.
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