John Lucas has written an astounding novel of teen gangland warfare. Jaylon must prove himself to his gang, the Blake Street Boyz, and leader Shads has named his price: kill rival gang member, Ram. Covering the period of time between Jay getting this instruction and the point at which he must carry it out, Turf is a scary and poignant snapshot into the life of those at the bottom of the pile. This is a world with few choices. Jaylon commits some terrible crimes and is put in some terrible situations, and its impossible not to feel heartbroken for him, to not root for him. He so desperately wants to do the right thing, to break away from the place he finds himself in, but he just can’t figure out how. Turf is intense and dark and not a story to be taken lightly. There is drug use; there is extreme violence. And there is also a surreal sort of edge to it. As Jaylon wanders the streets trying to figure things out, he meets a series of odd people - homeless pothead Leo, an old Rasta, a weird plant woman, who say cryptic things. Are they just the normal street effluvium, or are they something more? Spirit guides? Ghosts? And quietly, Jaylon descends almost into mental breakdown, haunted as he becomes by actions and choices, by these people and their words, and by strange hallucinations that plague him at home. This is a book that is as gritty as it comes. As the grafitti on the front cover image says, Jaylon’s is a world where you kill or die, but Lucas writes it with aplomb; instead of gratuitous, it is thought-provoking, sad and poignant.

I enjoyed this more than i though i would, but there were improvements that could have been made. The ending felt very rushed to me and there was an odd thread running through the book that has a spernatural feel. I like the cover and i think the book would appeal to boys who were maybe more reluctant to read fiction. Okay.

I enjoyed this more than i though i would, but there were improvements that could have been made. The ending felt very rushed to me and there was an odd thread running through the book that has a spernatural feel. I like the cover and i think the book would appeal to boys who were maybe more reluctant to read fiction. Okay.