So, after finishing Gang Leader for a Day, I started another book, but then the husband brought home the newest Vince Flynn book from the library. I put the other book on pause and devoured this one. I started it on December 29 and finished it on January 4.
First - I loved this book
Second - Mitch Rapp books follow a recipe / they are formulaic
Third - I don't care
As I was thinking about what to write about this book, the first thing that came to mind was "the sky is falling." This book finds the formerly evil turned good(ish) guy Grisha at home in Costa Rica with danger afoot. Of course Mitch and his boys are there to save the day.
As they try to figure out why danger came after Grisha, we get glimpses into things going amok for the Russian president. We all know that these things will turn out to be related, and they are, of course. Over the course of the book, we find out just how bad the sky could fall. I can't give too much away here (I hate spoilers) but yet again the shit hits the fan and Mitch and team + Grisha are there to not let it hit the fan and splatter too much of a shitstorm.
There is always a political element to the Mitch Rapp books that seems frighteningly founded in reality. I think to myself, the author definitely researches things for the book, how real are some of the scenarios that are written about? Maybe I don't want to know.
This book was extremely entertaining, fast paced, somewhat predictable (from the formula/recipe standpoint), but I don't care. I loved it.
I needed a book and didn't have one, so The Husband picked one off the shelf for me - Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Apparently this one is one of his faves. I started it on 12/2/18 and finished on 12/25/18.
Another interesting read. This is the true story of Sudhir Venkatesh and his becoming a gang leader for a day in Chicago. Sudhir was a sociologist student who ends up befriending a gang leader in one of Chicago's notorious housing projects.
Sudhir spends a lot of time with the gang leader, JT, and comes to have unprecedented freedom and access to people in these housing projects due to JT's protection. Sudhir learns about the inner politics and workings of the projects and gangs and how they help (and hurt) the communities.
One day, Sudhir is given the reigns of the gang and becomes a gang leader for a day and realizes how it's quite difficult.
It was a pretty fascinating read shedding light onto a way of life that is completely foreign to me. If you are looking for first-hand insight into a completely different world, give this a read.
