Crave All Lose All
by Erick S. Gray

Reviewed by: Joey Pinkney
May 2008

Eric S. Gray has penned an unapologetic urban fiction classic, Booty Call, and continues to flex his skills with Crave All Lose All. Although born and raised in the mean streets of Jamaica, Queens, Vincent "Vince" Grey has everything he needs to live a decent, normal life. He has a father to guide and teach him. He has a mother to love and nurture him. He even has a chance to move out and go to college.

Instead of making it to the first day of work at his new job, Vince decides to ride with his best friends Tyriq and Spoon to meet up with some white girls in the suburbs. Sex, smoke, drinks and a subsequent run to the store for blunts leads to Spoon and Vince getting stopped by the cops with drugs, a loaded gun and a half-naked white girl in the backseat. Spoon takes the blame and does three years in prison.

Shortly afterwards, his father dies, his mother loses the house and moves in with her sister and Vince finds himself struggling to live check to check. Fast forward a couple of years, he loses his job at American Airlines shortly after the attacks of 9/11. The mother of Vince's son, Chandra, expects Vince to come up with money for his son while she dates hustlers who bling her out with diamonds and gold.

Vincent finds himself with his back against the wall: no job, living with his mother and no dignity. Tyriq gives Vince a glimpse of what the drug game can provide—wads of money. Spoon is his lieutenant. But Tyriq has grown into a sadistic, ruthless drug lord hell bent on maintaining his status quo and sees Vince as a means to an end. Vince is blinded by the lure of fast money. He agrees to join the organization on two conditions: he will not kill anybody and he hops out when he stacks enough money to provide for himself and his child. Tyriq gives Vince four or five rules to survive by, which can be summed up by one simple rule: eat or be eaten. Vince does not see the destruction that the game will soon bring not only to the communities they ship the product to but the morals instilled in him by his parents.

In a few short months, Vince goes from an unemployed loser to an independently wealthy gangster with certified street credibility. That independence comes at a severe price. With blood on his hands and more than enough money to get out of the game, Vince finds his back up against another wall. The abundance of money usually magnifies a man's weaknesses. From strippers to drug runners and even to Tyriq's main squeeze, Vince's lust for fast women seems to overshadow anything else that the game provided him.

Although Vince is brought into the folds of an organization that poisons black communities for fast money, he quickly outgrows being a middleman for Tyriq. Once Vince becomes a certified connect for a Colombian cartel, the rival Jamaican crew that supplies Tyriq pressures him to erase Vince from the picture and regain control. Death certificates are issued left and right. Old friends quickly become bitter enemies living by the basic rule of the streets: eat or be eaten.

What did you like best about this book?
This is one of the hottest book covers I've seen in a while. It fits perfectly with the motif within the book. Each major section of the book is separated by a two-page layout of a picture from the same photo shoot. That made this novel very unique in its design. Usually you only get a front cover, maybe a back cover and a bunch of words in the middle.

I also enjoyed the plot twists of Crave All Lose All. The book is filled with sex, drugs and violence, yet it is unpredictable to the end. There are certain things I didn't cover in this review that were totally unexpected and readers will definitely enjoy experiencing on their own.

Vince was a character that had many layers. Equal parts love and lust, his relationship with women was a roller coaster at best. This includes how he interacted with every woman from his mother to a stripper he got close to. Although there was steamy sex, there was also the presence of heartache and pain that made Vince a believable character.

What did you dislike about this book?
This was a solid effort with no glaring deficiencies. I would say that I disliked the fact that it ended, but there is a snippet of Book II provided at the conclusion of Crave All Lose All that lets you know that there is much more drama where this one ends.

How can the author improve this book?
Eric S. Gray has shown his mastery of words with this book. You could tell he put a lot of time and effort into making this as solid as it could possibly be.

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Crave Books :

Posted 420 days ago

Joey you don't have to explain yourself to anyone!

Joey Pinkney :

Posted 431 days ago

@Why? There is a lot of stuff that I didn't cover. I didn't want my review to read like, "Man loses job and goes broke. Needs money. Friends hustle. Friend's put him on. He gets good. Money, clothes, sex...people die. The End."

latina in the game :

Posted 449 days ago

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. ERICK REALLY OUT DID HIMSELF..

Why? :

Posted 533 days ago

As the case with all his reviews, you gave away the entire story. Some readers do actually like to read a book to see what happens! You can give an overview without giving away key details.

Joey Pinkney :

Posted 638 days ago

Sorry about the misprint. I meant to edit that before it went to press. Thank you so very much for the correction. This book was a quick read for me also. Time really does fly when you're having fun.
Be sure to check out JoeyPinkney.com when you get a chance.

Nameless one :

Posted 638 days ago

Yes, this book was off the hook, I read it in one day...Mr. Gray is the truth, and he's doin' his thang. I read the review, and I must say to the reviewer that this is Mr. Gray 7th book in print, plus two anthologies not his third, i'm a fan from Booty Call to Crave All...and I feel that he has always proven himself from novel to novel, and is one of the most underrated authors in this genre now. The first book I read from him was Nasty Girls, followed by Money Power Respect, excellent reads....but keep doin' your thang Mr. Gray, cause the Good Lord has blessed you with a talent and a wonderful gift with words and story telling...Crave All, Lose was one of your most phenominal reads, and you definitely, definitely did your thang...please, keep it coming....

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