Review by Booklist Review
Ice-T, famous rapper, actor, and lead singer in the band Body Count, teams up with his former partner-in-theft, Spike, and, again, as in the earlier memoir, Ice (2011), with writer Douglas Century. Here they tell an astounding and provocative tale of growing up in L.A., turning to crime, and living two intertwined yet very different existences. Ice-T and Spike share stories of their jewelry store robberies as well the key decisions that irrevocably altered their life trajectories. While Ice-T delved deeper into rap, recording and performing and moving toward abandoning their jewelry heists, Spike continued to plan and execute them, taking ever greater risks. When he was on the streets, Ice-T earned the nickname Crazy Tray and employed it to earn respect. "In the game we always say, 'You raise the risk, you raise the profit.' It's like an equation, and it's very personal." Ultimately, Ice-T exited the game to take calculated risks in music, while Spike continued on his path with tragic results, paying for his mistakes with years behind bars. A powerful memoir of diverging lives.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Two paths diverge to beget staggeringly different tales in this potent dual narrative about the cost of living dangerously. With the help of journalist Century, rapper Ice-T and his former, literal partner-in-crime Spike deliver a propulsive chronicle of the choices that shaped their lives, beginning with the smash-and-grab jewelry robberies that brought the two together in L.A. in their early 20s in the early 1980s. "Armed only with baby sledgehammers," Ice recalls, "we'd... smash the glass, filling bags with the loot and escaping without anyone in the store getting hurt." But after the violence escalated and a car crash left him nearly dead, Ice stepped away, changed gears, and pursued his rap, and eventual acting, career. While Ice's star was rising, Spike, blinded by "dollar signs," chose to "keep speeding in the fast lane" and ended up in prison for a 1992 jewelry store heist that went awry when a member of his crew murdered a customer. As they chart their trajectories through alternating perspectives--with Ice eventually landing a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU and Spike serving 23 years behind bars before helping at-risk youth after his release--what unfolds is less a story of redemption than a raw testament to life's consequential decisions. This grave and astonishing account will leave fans in awe. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this two-voice memoir cowritten by Douglas Century (coauthor, Under and Alone), rapper and actor Ice-T and his friend Spike look back on the choices that led them down different paths. Living for the moment, the two robbed Los Angeles jewelry stores. However, Ice-T started to get into the music industry and realized that if he didn't go straight, he would be jeopardizing his future. Meanwhile, Spike, an aspiring musician himself, continued masterminding heists until 1992, when one ended tragically and he was sentenced to 35 years to life in the California detention system. While Ice-T recalls his rise in music, film, and television, Spike discusses his journey to self-discovery and redemption, which eventually led to his parole after more than 20 years in prison. The dual narrative is compelling and reflective. Ice-T and Spike give voice to growing up in Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s, amid gang violence, with few ways out of poverty. Although readers know how life turns out for each narrator, they'll still root for both Spike and Ice-T and share in their joys, fears, struggles, and triumphs. VERDICT Poignant and powerful, this work will resonate with a wide audience: rap and Law {{}}amp; Order fans, young adults, and readers of memoir.--Rebekah J. Buchanan
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A joint memoir from rapper and actor Ice-T and his former partner in crime. Ice-T (born Tracy Morrow) has been ahead of the cultural curve his entire career, so it's hardly surprising that this collaboration takes multiverse storytelling conventions and applies them to nonfiction. The result is much more than a gritty, Sliding Doors--style story. Though he has been in the public eye for decades, Ice-T, whose two-decade-plus portrayal of detective Fin Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit made him the longest-running Black actor in TV history, is a relatively private guy. Ice-T opens up about being orphaned at age 12 and being quickly attracted to the trappings of criminal life, where he began working on jewelry store heists with his friend Spike. His love of hip-hop was connected to that life, but once he started drawing attention for his music, he realized he had to make a choice, and he chose music. "I'm going to show you the glamour and fast money that entice cats to want to be players, but also how they end up getting shot, overdosing, doing life in prison," he writes. "There are no success stories among gangsters and players unless, like me, they manage to get out in time. No one's invincible. You stay in the game long enough and you will go to prison or get killed." Spike chose to stay in the game longer, telling himself he would get out after he had saved enough money to comfortably focus on his music. Spike got caught and went to prison, while Ice-T went on to fame and fortune. What makes their fascinating stories so effective is that neither one is told with any judgment or jealousy. They both own their decisions and recognize the consequences, good and bad. This well-crafted memoir is a bracing reminder of how a few choices can separate success from a troubled life. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
