Lefty's Story
by Raymond Francis

Reviewed by: Cherri Millard

In Raymond Francis’ Lefty's Story you meet Lefty and Chris, two cousins—fresh out of High School—who are very close, so close in fact they might as well have been brothers.

In Lefty’s Story we have a coming-of-age tale that includes all that good stuff: graduation, parties, clothes, cars, women and beefs. Throughout the story various opportunities for Lefty and Chris to benefit financially keep falling right into their laps and they take advantage of each and every one of them. Lefty is as cocky and witty as they come; he's like Muhammad Ali and treats everyone else like Joe Frazier. Chris is the younger of the two and is more laid back and reserved.

A graduation party is planned and because of Lefty's popularity he practically convinces the entire graduating class to show up. He decides to charge everyone ten dollars attending. Which is to be split with Ashley—a smart, rich white girl who has always tried desperately to fit in. The turn out is great; most of those invited show up. Before the night would end, Lefty has a hefty stash is in his possession. As the party winds down a group of outsiders attempt to crash the joint. There's a standoff between Lefty and this group, Lefty is robbed of his cash. We later find out that the robbery was all a set up orchestrated by Lefty, so he wouldn't have to share the proceeds with Ashley; a shady act honor by our main character. From here on out Lefty and Chris are brought into a lifestyle neither has ever experienced before.

The story continues with the cousins crossing paths with Kyra who is the very attractive ex-girlfriend of a notorious hood figure named E-Nice. In a club Chris interacts with Kyra until Packs—the right hand to E-Nice—spots them together. Packs puts E-Nice onto his new discovery, which leads to a brawl outside of the club and a twisted turn of events are established from this point on.

Throughout Lefty's Story, you are introduced to Red who is the father of Lefty—also a well-known drug lord and gangster—and a host of other characters. More twists and subplots are expanded upon with a strong lesson about life.

Lefty’s Story was a decent debut from Raymond Francis.

What did you like best about this book?
I liked the lesson about life in this book. It had a valuable moral appeal.

What did you dislike about this book?
The book was very short; only 82 pages in length. Not enough to expand and fully develop the story and characters for a novel. Maybe this could work better as a short story. The book was filled with clichés, though some are necessary for the street tale, there were way too many. Some of the descriptions and introductions of the characters appeared rushed, jumbled, and unorganized. A lot of stuff within this book seemed to just pop up at you out of nowhere; the unrealistic encounters didn't help.

Several physical character traits and descriptions were left out as well.

How can the author improve this book?
Some more character development would have improved this book substantially. For example, Red who is Lefty's father could have made a bigger impact in the story if he was developed and given more of a role in the story. The character did play an active role, but it could have been pushed to the limits. It would have also increased the length of the overall book. How did this character become who he was? Why? When? I would have liked some more background information about this character as well as some extra back-story.

Also, the life lesson that was inserted in the book only appeared at the very end. If the author could have found a way to spread it throughout the entire read, it would have been great for the reader and the story.

Lastly, this book could use another edit to tighten the story.

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sam :

Posted 45 days ago

great debut by a up and coming author. this book contians all the necessaries that are essential to a good read. plot was deep, characters interesting, and illustrative wordplay. mos def a good read.

Esteban Serrano :

Posted 62 days ago

I loved the book. My only beef was it was too short. It left you wanting more. I see a fresh new Donald Goings in the making here. Never to my knowledge has there been a suburban story like this one. Alpha Dog was the only thing touching the topic of the small town hustler. But that was a movie and it was a different world then the one we know.

Cherri Millard :

Posted 63 days ago

It was a good start for Raymond Francis, I'm sure his next project will score big time.

Jarrett Jones :

Posted 63 days ago

The book is a good read and the author is a talented young writer
with star-making potentential. The kid is only gonna get better as
he continues to write and express himself. His brutal honesty and the recognition of the wrong turns he makes throughout his journey is what makes this book special.

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