This review was originally posted on my blog: http://jewelknits.blogspot.com/2010/06/alibi-by-teri-woods-review-and-giveaway.h...

From the publisher's website:

Two men think they've found the perfect opportunity--a chance to rob the stash house of Simon Shuller, one of Philadelphia's biggest drug lords. But their plans are spoiled when one of Shuller's men catches them as they break into the stash house. Temperatures flare as the men capture Shuller's worker, Poncho, and force him to show them the goods. What they didn't expect was for Poncho's partner to be armed and very dangerous. An altercation breaks out and when the smoke clears, Nard, Poncho's accomplice, is the only one left standing.

My take: And thus begins a journey into the bottomless pit that is nitty gritty urban street life.

I found this book to be a well-timed study of how one person can easily get caught up in something bigger than themselves, especially when life hasn't been good to them and they don't know any better.

Nard is an 18-year-old drug runner for Simon Shuller, and Poncho is his partner. Sticks is part of Shuller's team, and was supposed to be the lookout on the day that two young street thugs decide that they can make a quick buck by robbing the two drug runners as they sit in the stash house. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out very well for them, and now Nard needs an alibi.

Enter Daisy Fothergill, a 22-year-old stripper who is one of Stick's "girlfriends". Stick offers her money to provide Nard with an alibi for the day in question and she willingly accepts, even though she's not a very good liar. She thinks, "I'll just tell this to the investigator, and that will be that."

Bodies start piling up and Daisy realizes that she is in a world of deep trouble. When she comes across an unexpected windfall, she uses it to leave both Philadelphia and city life. The FBI, the police, and Shuller are all after her. The question now is, "Who will find her first?"

The story ends up being a page-turner, and really pulls you into the thoughts of people whose lives are nothing like the "norm". You quickly understand, however, that the events depicted are the "norm" for many of the people living them, and, while you may not condone the actions that the characters take, you get some sort of understanding of why they take them. I will state that for me, this was with the exception of Sticks, who has no moral compass whatsoever.

This book would make an excellent book club selection, as there are so many points of discussion that you will probably need more than one book club meeting to get through them all. The first few pages will have you shaking your head, but push past them, and the story is well worth reading.

Sensitive reader: This book is not for you, based on the strong language and sexual content.

Quotes (also not for the sensitive reader):

"Mommy, no. Don't hurt my mommy." The young fellow charged the dark figure after seeing his mother gunned down and ran into him, almost knocking him down.

Even though abortions were frowned upon, Dr. Vistane felt he was actually saving poor, black souls. Dr. Vistane believed that blacks were the lower class, not just financially, but all of the way around the board, and to help rid the world of another black bastard baby was something that needed to be done.

Daisy would starve on the street before she would sell her body away. No, not her, not no more. She'd never be sacrificed that way ever again, a naked, lost soul on display for men to lust after, pay, have their way with, then walk away from, still a man. ( )

Seamy tale of a criminal using a stripper as a fake alibi and the mess everyone was in when the cops came. I felt the book should have stayed with one character more. Story starts with Nard, the killer/bad guy who robbed an even bigger bad guy, so readers may not care much to follow him, then Daisy, a stripper in a desperate situation -- who keeps meeting even worse fates -- comes in with a false alibi, and readers are put into her world. Yet she's not easy to like either, with how she forgave people who abuse her and how easily she fell into prostitution. Or maybe I'm just too used to "soft" books with easy problems and this was a more realistic look at how the world is to many people. ( )