Cole Hart

Lately, I have had the pleasure of reading urban fiction. Normally, I would pass by this genre because it would be a little too real and gritty for my traditional reading and writing taste. I have since changed my mind. I started reading Augusta’s own, Cole Hart’s, Crazy Summer, and was hooked.

From the moment the story opened with 16- year old Summer in a hotel room with a married man, I furrowed my brow. When the gentleman’s wife showed up and Summer cut the woman’s face with a knife, I was intrigued. After Summer spent the weekend in the Richmond County jail, the story’s paced picked up and was a non-stop sprint to the end.

As I read the story, I was very familiar with the neighborhood or rather the setting for this story. Mid way through the book, I got in my car and rode around Barton Village looking over the neighborhood that Mr. Hart wrote about and could see traces of the rough neighborhood that he depicted in the 80’s drug craze. The prose that is used in the story draws you into the life of a young lady who uses her body as a bargaining tool with men who are poised to take advantage of a young girl.

What I like about this story is the heroine is no one’s victim and soon becomes a bit of a predator herself in a business that is based on bodies, baggies and bullets. Through a series of events that the author unfolds before your eyes, you see the evolution of a selfish young girl that grows into a woman who means business. Sweet sexy Summer turns into a hardcore thug that learns to play the game as well, if not better than her male counterparts. The characters are believable and relatable and Hart’s strong literary voice keeps you reading.

What I did not like about this book is that I was halfway through chapter five and had no idea what the story was about. Although the main character used sex to get what she wanted, there was an abundance of sex in the book that really added nothing to the plot. There were moments when the story lagged and I wanted it over yet I was drawn back like a B movie just to know how it ended. I appreciate Hart’s due diligence to detail, but some of the details seemed a bit like fluff that detracted from the story.

This book is recommended for lovers of urban literature and those bound by the game. It is a gritty read that leaves the reader wanting more. Crazy Summer also brings the reader to a full blown stop when mid-way through “that” sentence you realize that maybe the only people who are actually sane, are the ones many think are crazy. I give this read three pens and pencil, because I want to see more of what Cole Hart, Street Lit Author, has to say.
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