From the mind of Donald Goines, one of the most influential, bestselling Black authors to date, comes a edition reissue of his timeless, page-turning, bullet-riddled tale… The bad news: He was born on the streets. The good news: No one can keep him down. The bad bad news: It’s about to get real. Detroit, 1970s. Needles glitter the ground. Guns pop 24/7. Everyone’s working an angle, especially the cops. Out of this gritty urban nightmare, one man rises from the filth, ready to seize his destiny by any means necessary . . . With ice in his veins and a stable of women to keep his money rolls thick and plenty, Earl the Black Pearl has every intention of staying at the top of the brutal empire he created. But when someone starts picking off his crew, all hell is about to break loose—because Earl isn’t letting anyone threaten what he’s worked so hard to build. With the streets about to blow up into a violent free-for-all, Earl knows what he has to do—take the enemy down, or die trying . . .
Donald Goines Book order
Donald Goines was a prolific author of street literature, whose gritty and raw works captured the realities of life within America's inner cities. His novels, often set in Detroit, Los Angeles, or New York, offered incisive explorations of themes such as drugs, crime, and racial tension. Goines masterfully employed visceral language and a rapid pace to craft compelling narratives that mirrored his own experiences. Through his writing, often penned under the pseudonym Al C. Clark, he presented a vision of the inner city as a battleground where characters fought for power and survival.






- 2023
- 2023
From the "Godfather of Black pulp fiction" (Salon) and one of the most revolutionary writers of the 20th century, the classic tale of a woman living life in the ghetto without any rules... Almost since the day she was born, Sandra had to fend for herself on the streets of Detroit. Crime and pain were her closest companions. Then someone she had no business believing in waltzed into her life—a man willing to watch her back and show her how to make easy money. But when Chink gets caught, Sandra commits the ultimate act of love to keep her man out of jail. For a black girl lost, murder was always in the cards...
- 2021
Dopefiend
- 336 pages
- 12 hours of reading
The story follows Teddy and Terry, a young couple whose promising future is overshadowed by Teddy's heroin addiction. Initially admired for their talent and potential, their lives spiral into darkness as they both succumb to the drug's grip. The narrative, based on Goines' own experiences with addiction, offers a raw and unfiltered exploration of the devastating impact of substance abuse on love and ambition.
- 2021
White Man's Justice, Black Man's Grief
- 256 pages
- 9 hours of reading
The godfather of urban lit, Donald Goines knows life on the streets is a one-way ticket to life behind bars, where suffering is the one and only daily bread. For the first time in over a decade, his classic White Man's Justice, Black Man's Grief is now repackaged and reissued in trade with a whole new look to attract new readers, as well as long-time fans of the legend himself. Barely out of his twenties, Chester Hines knows the score. He's just another bug crawling through the streets of Detroit, waiting to be squashed under the heel of a system meant to keep a brother down. But with his old lady on his back, his only options are on the wrong side of the law. He didn't need a fortune-teller to tell him that sooner or later he'd end up in a system more brutal than the one that forced him there. Prison life is raw. But it's the only life Chester's got. Against all odds, he and his crew will forge a brotherhood in hell. Together they'll scratch and claw their way day by day, suffering unimaginable abuse, betrayal, and pure, uncut hopelessness--or die trying.
- 2021
Crime Partners
- 208 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Donald Goines, one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century, has influenced many of today's urban writers with his gritty, realistic look at the streets. For the first time in years, his classic Crime Partners is now repackaged and reissued in trade with a whole new look to attract new readers, as well as long-time fans of the legend himself. The godfather of urban lit, Donald Goines captures the raw, uncensored reality of life on the streets with a voice that has shaped hip hop culture. Prison buddies Billy Good and Jackie Walker made time pulling small jobs here and there. Not a bad living if you liked scraping by. The thing to worry about was the next fix. Nothing else mattered. When Billy and Jackie fell in with Kenyatta, a ghetto lord ready to take back the streets, they thought they'd hit the big time. Dealing with drug pushers and crooked cops in the name of justice sure felt good, but in a world where "kindness was the sweetest con of all," every bullet fired echoed with the sound of payback.
- 2014
Black Gangster
- 336 pages
- 12 hours of reading
Raw and true to the street, no one portrays the underground like the godfather of urban lit, Donald Goines. Trapped in jail for a petty crime, Prince hatches a scheme from his cell to make it big. Once Ruby, the only woman worthy of his brutal ambition, joins him on the outside, they take down Detroit one hustle at a time. Dealers, pimps, police and politicians—in the blink of an eye the hood is theirs. Now, the only thing certain is the cold hard truth of the streets—because with enemies waiting behind every corner, there’s only one way to stay on top of the world . . . “He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly recreated the street jungle and its predators.” —New Jersey Voice “Machiavelli was my tutor, Donald Goines my father figure.” —Tupac Shakur
- 2013
For the first time in more than a decade, Kenyatta’s Last Hist is now back in print, along with the previous titles in the series, with a whole new look to attract new readers as well as long-time fans of the legendary godfather of urban lit. The OG godfather of urban lit lays it all on the line with the epic, action-packed conclusion to Kenyatta’s quest to reclaim his streets . . . For Kenyatta, the bullet-proof street legend himself, the take-no-prisoners war is far from over. With new recruits bolstering his hardened army, he’s ready to take down the drug pushers and their relentless, spreading infestation. This time the battle is moving out of the streets and heading west, where he faces off with his arch enemy in a brutal showdown in Vegas, high atop a glittering hotel. One bullet, one hit, one survivor—winner takes all . . .
- 2013
The undisputed originator of urban lit, Donald Goines ups the ante with one of his most enduring characters, as he continues the gripping, gritty story of crime in the black ghetto that he began in Crime Partners. Now reissued for the first time in a decade with a fresh new look! Kenyatta has it good. The gang lord’s got the ladies, the clubs, the guns, and an army of deadly brothers at the ready when he says the word. The only problem is the shady dealers who are running the drugs in Detroit. It’s time to get them out, even if means making a deal with the men in blue. Once the plan is in place, nobody’s safe, everybody’s a target, and the streets are about to flood with blood.
- 2007
Swamp Man
- 224 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Set against the backdrop of the Mississippi swamps, George Jackson transforms from a gentle soul into a vengeful force after a tragic event involving his sister. The narrative follows his haunting quest for retribution against the four hill boys who harmed her, as he becomes a shadowy figure in the dark woods. The story delves into themes of grief, vengeance, and the loss of innocence, capturing George's descent into darkness as he confronts the perpetrators of his sister's trauma.
- 2007
Cry Revenge
- 240 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Set against a backdrop of tension and violence, the story follows young Curtis Carson, whose gambling prowess leads to deadly consequences when his actions provoke the Chicano community. After a tragic barroom shootout linked to drug dealings leaves his brother severely injured, Curtis vows revenge, igniting a brutal conflict between black and Chicano gangs. Themes of loyalty, vengeance, and the harsh realities of street life unfold as Curtis navigates a world where every decision could cost him everything.