Rosario does not have an easy life. He's trying to move past his days as a banger. His girlfriend is going to have a baby, he's finishing his G.E.D., and he's about to get a promotion at work. There is one problem: his best friend from the Barrios Kings, his former gang, has just gotten out of prison and needs a place to stay. This does not make Rosario's girlfriend happy in the least. As it turns out, Juan has an agenda. He wants to avenge the death of Rosario's older brother Tomas, and he wants Rosario to help. Rosario is torn between two worlds—the world of the past violence, which took his brother's life, and the world of his future, which is represented by his girlfriend and his soon-to-be-born son Emilio. A drive-by shooting is about to turn his life upside down whether he likes it or not. The Barrio Kings is a fast-paced thriller of a book. Even if reading is not your favorite activity in the world, this book may really grab your attention. Rosario's problems are tough, and he's going to have to make a choice: his old life or his new life. He can't have it both ways. I think, whether or not someone has actually been in a gang like Rosario, a person can relate to the way that Rosario feels trapped by his life and is going to have to make choices that are bound to make some people happy and some people really upset. It was an okay book about a former gang member trying to go straight. It seemed a little thin and I have a hard time believing someone with the last name Kowalski who lives in Canada really know much of anything about gangs & the Barrio. I suppose I could always look up the author and check out his creds....It would just be more believable if it was written by someone who seemed like they knew where the characters were coming from and what they were experiencing!
What do You think about The Barrio Kings (2010)?
I finished it in a day I couldn't put it down and it takes a lot for me to read a book in one day !
—talt
This book was poorly written but besides that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
—piwow
