This month's column features something old and something new, but I did not run across any title borrowed or blue. However, I was giddy as a new groom reading Karen Williams's Dirty to the Grave. It's that GREAT. Another trend I've noticed is the reissuing of street lit titles in the mass-market paperback format. Kiki Swinson's 2008 Still Wifey Material comes out this November with an affordable $6.99 price tag. It's a handy and cheap option to replace lost or worn copies of your trade version.

For novice readers, here's a brief street lit lexicon:

Burner=gun or pistol
OG=original gangster
187=law enforcement numeric code for murder
Smoking trees=marijuana use
Hen=Hennessy liquor
Shoot a double feature=have sex twice in a row

Here's a teaser. Each slang term appears somewhere in this month's selections.

Pick of the Month

Williams, Karen. Dirty to the Grave. Urban Bks. 2010. 216p. ISBN 978-1-60162-269-3. pap. $14.95. F
Friends Red, Goldie, and Cha share tragic pasts and now cruise the streets of Long Beach, CA, getting into fights, drug dealing, and worse. They're so dirty they turn out young girls to pimps for a $200 transport fee and then try for bigger cash rolling with dealers moving cocaine. Each woman is scraping the bottom of their finances and are willing to betray each other for easy money. Oh-oh, all of a sudden there ain't nobody watching anybody's back.
Verdict Raw, nasty, grimy, dirty, and outrageous, this is pure, stripped-down urban fiction. Each scene, nastier than the previous one, is narrated by voices that are pure street: "At another table one chickenhead, one weavealicious, and a red bone redder than my girl Red shot looks our way, clearly mean-mugging us." Even the most callous urban fiction readers will drop the book saying OMG! Cool thing is, they'll pick it up and continue reading to see what happens next. Trust me, you won't believe your eyes.

Gray, Eric S. & others. Streets of New York. Vol. 1. Augustus Pub. 2009. 225p. ISBN 978-0-9792816-7-9. pap. $14.95. F
This 2009 novel may have slid under readers' radar, but it deserves notice. Brooklyn boys Squeeze, Pooh, Show, and Promise are a tight four-man crew dabbling in breaking and entering. Promise, a single father to Ashley, grows reluctant to deal with revenge on other crews when he falls in love with Audrey. She's all woman to him, but the pull of the streets is strong. When Pooh is shot, the crew vows revenge expecting Promise to ride with them, no questions asked. Will Audrey stand with her man, even if he's a thug?
Verdict With a foreword by Shannon Holmes, this book throws together three top street lit authors (Gray, Anthony Whyte, and Mark Anthony) in a tag team. Each takes turns writing a section; the result has a wonderful flow, with a raw and true-to-the-streets tone and a sympathetic character in Promise. The drama continues to grind out in Volumes 2 and 3, and seasoned readers will love the grittiness. Check out other promising titles at AugustusPublishing.com.

King, Deja. Trife Life to Lavish. Part 2: Genesis & Genevieve? Am I My Brother's Keeper. King Production. 2010. 250p. ISBN 978-0-984-33250-2. pap. $15. F
Nichelle is a gorgeous model on her way up to making it big. Genesis mourns his murdered wife but finds comfort in the arms of CoCo, another centerfold-worthy babe with her own agenda. Lurking in the wings is the story's villain, Arnez, who vows revenge on Genesis. Toss in T-Roc, a rap industry mogul, and Supreme, who has a shaky relationship with Precious, and the cast gets crowded in a hurry. Greed drives everyone, but the secret is Nichelle is not who she claims to be. Behind the glitz of hip-hop and model contracts are snakes scurrying for cover. They end up being poisonous.
Verdict This title is almost impossible to follow without having read the first book in the series, Trife Life to Lavish. Characters pop in without a background check, and we don't know if they're friend or foe. Melodramatic dialog and unbelievable coincidences will have eyes rolling, although the plot would make a good telenovela script. King's "Bitch" series (Bitch, Bitch Reloaded) will move this title off the shelves.

Oasis. Duplicity. Strebor: S. & S. 2010. 235p. ISBN 978-1-59309-297-9. pap. $15. F
Parrish Clovis and his sister, Tuesday, own Upscale Pictures. Their lavish wealth covers the siblings' horrific past when their mother rented them out as sex slaves for men, which are truly nasty flashbacks in the story. Now married to Hana, Parrish is in a quandary. Did he rape his wife? Something happened; her face is all messed up. But earlier she revealed a kinky fantasy of threesome sex. So who is this Shamar Lindsay guy who's lurking in the wings?
Verdict A wealthy backdrop, sexy cover art, and the "Zane Presents" brand will draw attention. Husband-and-wife scheme on each other throughout the purposely murky plot. However, plenty of steamy sex (of course, it's Zane) will hold interest. Purchase if demand arises.

Swinson, Kiki. Still Wifey Material. Dafina: Kensington. Nov. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-7582-3893-1. pap. $6.99. F
Kira definitely still has it. Her sexy 36-24-38 body fills out a Heidi Weisel strapless number very nicely. But cousin Nikki thinks it's too tight around her butt. Can we say jealous? Alternating chapters reveal Kira's and Nikki's increasing hate for each other, and Swinson's ear for trash talk is unparalleled. The women co-own a Houston beauty salon and meet two Nigerian brothers with a boatload of money. These dudes are not on the up and up, and underneath their smooth exterior is ruthlessness more deadly than any thug. Nikki and Kira each parlay their sexual prowess to cozy up to lavish wealth. Um, girls? You need to get off your backs and starting watching each other's back.
Verdict This mass-market reprint of the 2008 original is a handy and affordable replacement for lost or discarded trade versions. The entire "Wifey" series should be in all urban fiction collections.

Williams, Brittani. Black Diamond 2: Nicety. Urban Bks. 2010. 216p. ISBN 978-1-60162-270-9. pap. $14.95. F
Following her shooting of her man, Kemp, and his mistress in Black Diamond, Diamond Brooks lands on her feet in the streets of North Philly. She's inherited Kemp's drug business and now is hooked up with Kemp's lieutenant, Black. Ambitious! But who's this guy shadowing Diamond? Kemp's really dead, right? Or is he seeking revenge from the grave? Diamond forgot to check the bodies for a pulse, and that could be a problem. Here's another tip for our girlfriend here: bad, bad idea to sleep with your man's partner when he's in jail for a murder YOU committed.
Verdict Black and Diamond narrate in alternate chapters, and they're both easy to hate. Ruthlesse Black uses any means to protect his drug business, while Diamond pulls out a plethora of sexual tricks to get what she wants. A bang-up ending readies the launch of the third installment.