Trouble Man
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Growing up on Philadelphia’s gritty streets, Jermaine Banks was used to fighting, but life has now thrown him some unexpected hooks and jabs. Almost thirty years old, with a three-year-old son who worships the ground he walks on, a pregnant girlfriend whose family hates every breath he takes, and a slain best friend whose death racks him with guilt, Jermaine realizes it’s time to change. But can he step up to the challenge, or will he continue to be a trouble man?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Colorful characters from Hunter's previous two novels (The Hearts of Men; Married But Still Looking) return in this earnest, well-intentioned exploration of the complexities of the urban African-American male experience. Marijuana dealer Jermaine Banks is nearing 30, and while he doesn't see anything wrong with his job ("he felt like he was doing Philadelphians a favor by providing a natural herb that helped folks calm the hell down"), his pregnant girlfriend and her policeman father want him to clean up and become a decent role model for his three-year-old son, Khalil, and his unborn child. Meanwhile, across town, 51-year-old Calvin Sharpe, a shady real estate magnate, asks his wife, Robin, for a divorce so he can marry his white trophy mistress; Robin promptly informs their 15-year-old son, C.J., who has polycystic disease, that Calvin also abandoned another son Jermaine. When Jermaine's best friend is gunned down by a rival drug gang, Jermaine knows the law of the street demands that he retaliate. Several more twists follow: Jermaine discovers that Khalil's mom is a lesbian; C.J.'s kidneys fail him; and Jermaine's uncle Herb, a heroin addict just out of prison, steals $30,000 of Jermaine's pot proceeds. All of these complications strengthen Jermaine's resolve to find a decent job and get Khalil out of the ghetto. Despite the book's somewhat clumsy prose, prosaic plots and Pollyanna resolutions, motivational speaker Hunter tells a readable tale with an uplifting message. 5-city author tour.
