Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Amazon Barnes & Noble.com Dc Bookdiva Publications DC Bookdiva Publications Amazon.com Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: DC Bokdiva Publication ISBN-10:  0615236553 Pages: 222 Copyright: April 2009 ISBN-13: 9870615236551 A fast moving story with many surprises. San Dora is a prison where there's money to be made. Joining forces childhood friends and CO's Mia and Jazz are on the come up and playing by their own rules. A simple bus ride introduce Mia to the game, only to find out that Jazz has been making moves secretly up the way. Escalade and Do-Boy hold down the streets, while in prison Akbar, Malik, and Born Freedom represent the Gods to the fullest. Renegade female guards take no shorts and are gangsta ! Even the Warden has issues. The sex is salacious, and their swagger canonical. Take a journey into the lives of these characters, every page is unique, it s full of great laughs, and nothing is ever what it seems.       Excerpt Up the Way: A Behind Bars Street Tale The next day came quick, while yesterday was still fresh in their minds. Jazz adopted an entire new persona once she entered the gates of hell at work. She went by the name of Ms. J., figuring an initial was safer than a first and last name. Mia had to remember that from this point on, everything is real. She was assigned to view videos her entire shift. They ranged from previous riots to emergency medical situations. To her, that would be easy money for a day's work. However, she did kinda want to mingle with the men. A portable monitor was set up inside the bubble (workstation), since the entire facility was on lockdown. The plexiglas station allowed her to see the entire tier and Jazz as she made her rounds. The tiers and cellblocks were for more serious criminal offenses, such as violent crimes usually carrying a substantial amount of time. The dorms were a month-long orientation process as far as classification and mental health was concerned. Ms. J. considered second shift to be her favorite because that's when the men worked out, showered, and flexed. "Hey, Ms. J.!" Smitty yelled out. A simple smile and wave always made his day. Smitty was a 'cane dealer finishing up a five year sentence. He would always flex his muscles to remind others that he was the king of their concrete jungle. Jazz made a mental note to definitely holla at him in a few. Tone was another favorite, except he didn't know whether he wanted to be a drug dealer or a pimp. He was amusing, but deadly. He was known for beating a couple of murder beefs. "Got damn, Ms. J.!" he said, licking his lips and grabbing his nut sack. He knows damn well he could fuck me whenever—prison or not! Jazz thought. Tone was a pretty, yellow, "cock diesel" motherfucker. "Tone, you got a minute?" Jazz lustfully called. "All I got is time, my hood McNugget. What's good?" Pouring on all of her charm, she purred, "Being that you're a baller, I want to know the in's and out's of the crack game." She gave the reason that she was working on a project with her girls' group and needed street smarts instead of fake-ass theories from textbooks. Tone felt flattered that she came to him out of all the niggas there and was sort of honored to be part of such great assistance. However, to keep his rep hood, he preferred to write down the game and pass it off to her before she went home. Jazz loved his swagger and could barely control her smile. Before she could leave, Tone hinted, "You know I gotta throw in a line for me and you." "Play on, playa!" she grinned, slingin' her ass as she walked away. Tone just grabbed his dick again and shook his head in adoration, imagining how he was gonna beat that pussy up. When Jazz reached the bubble, she asked, "Mia, what's a hood McNugget?" To her surprise, Mia had the answer because she heard it from her brother Fred. "A hood McNugget is tender brown meat requiring a human sauce, whereas McDevil's brag about tender white meat. Get it? I'm glad you're back, though, because I gotta piss like a racehorse. Where's the quickest spot?" Mia asked, while starting to do her "gotta piss bad" dance. "Go down to Tier C to the end cell. It's empty and no one can see in there." Mia wasn't shy, and off she went, not having time to look into cells or anything. Everyone was a big blur to her, yet a few men noticed a new "smell-good" in the air. It didn't take much to get a dick hard "up the way" she'd soon learn. Upon entering the cell, she could see that it was spotless and definitely had a feminine touch to it. Jazz must use this cell quite often, she thought. The bed was neatly made and the mattress was plush as hell for jail. Mia was startled by a woman's voice next door calling her and asking, "How you doin'?" Being that after taking such a good piss put her in a playful mood, Mia said, "Wendy Williams, is that you?" Getting her uniform back in order, she went to see who called her. She was shocked to see a light-skinned sexy bitch with titties and a fat ass, who had on tight biker shorts. Trying not to look so surprised, Mia spoke. "Hello." Brian knew he fooled her and ran with it. "Hi. My name is Brianna. You must be new," she said. "Yeah, my first day. Are there any more women here besides you? Because I didn't realize this was co-ed." "For now, I'm the only queen on this tier," Brianna boasted. "Oh, the women are spread throughout the facility?" Mia asked dumbfoundedly. Brian could not resist. "Oh, yeah, it's about ten of us. Do you have any eyeliner or lipstick you could spare? Chile, this Kool-Aid on my lips ain't cuttin' it. Lucky we're on lockdown, 'cause a sista cannot be seen wolfin', okay?" Mia said, "On my lunch break I'll swing back through and touch you with something. By the way, I'm Ms. M. I'll holla," she said, heading back towards the bubble. "Jazz!" she started in. "Why didn't you tell me this is a co-ed facility? I was taking a piss and heard a female voice speaking. I thought it was you, but I didn't hear any footsteps. Brianna is too fine to be behind somebody's bars." Mia went on, "I know they must keep her separated because niggas probably would take dat ass, word!" Laughing hysterically, Jazz had to confess, but not until she had a little fun. "Chile, Brianna is a whole mess. Bitch stay in the mirror. I heard she suck a mean one, too, and will tell the business if you piss her off. I know she hit you up for makeup. Hoe probably got more shit in her cell than we got at home. Shit, niggas be fighting over that boy-pussy. Mia, you didn't know she was a queen?" Mia, still in the dark, admitted that Brianna told her that she was a queen, and about ten more members of her crew were throughout the facility. Then it dawned on Jazz. Mia must have thought "Latin Queen" not "queen" queen, as in balls and all. Still laughing, she let Mia in on the joke. "Girl, Brianna is a nigga!" she confessed. "Oh! I thought she was Latina," said Mia. "No, Mia, you're not hearing me. I said Brianna is a nigga, like in balls and all. She meant queen like in 'Fairy Queen', not 'Dairy Queen', although that bitch wishes some milk came out of those sike-a-dillies. He cool, though – trust."

Up The Way (on Amazon)
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait on reading...., August 30, 2011
By
kitty johnson
This review is from: Up The Way ( DC Bookdiva Publications Presents) (Paperback)
Very powerful Malik can get it though but my character i like the most was Jazz.She was no joke Big momma gotta love her. that downlow crap is every where.Above all i truly enjoyed the book it most def got straight to the point in the story great job BEN MUCH RESPECT...

Up The Way (on Amazon)
4.0 out of 5 stars Up the Way: WHO RUN THE WORLD: GIRLS, July 18, 2011
By
Martha Y. Tinch "MARTY T"
This review is from: Up The Way ( DC Bookdiva Publications Presents) (Paperback)
This book was very entertaining and would have you laughing out loud. I know was bust out laughing a few times on the subway. What I really like about the book is to see the girls to charge. The girls were able to take control and hold things down. Working that 9-5 and still getting them coins on the side. The end got a little far fetched with the Governor going hood like he was running a social club instead of a state. I must say I really did enjoy the book and look forward to more books by BEN and DC DIVA Publications.

Up The Way (on Amazon)
4.0 out of 5 stars Corruption, January 3, 2010
By
SiStar Tea "ARC Book Club Inc."
This review is from: Up The Way ( DC Bookdiva Publications Presents) (Paperback)
I was not feeling this story for the first couple of chapters. I put it down for a while and came back later. This novel did make a come back. I was glad I kept up with it although I am still a little confused on a few issues. There are many characters and while all were relevant to the story it made it puzzling to keep up with all of them.

Most of the story takes place in San Dora, a prison that is as most of us imagine cliquish. If you are not down, you're an outsider. With drugs, sex, corruption running wild in the prison system. We follow the everyday dealings of the drug ring. Mia and Jazz are correction officers and they run the show behind the prison walls with the "Gods" holding them down - Akbar, Malik and Born Freedom. Mia's brother Escalade and his right hand man DB( Do-Boy) are holding everything down in the streets. When all the characters are brought in and the story starts to flow and I am getting picture clearly the twist comes in and the drama begins. This is where I am lost because I now realize the characters I thought I knew - I didn't know them at all. I was left to go back and double check things and still be left feeling as if I did not know some of them, while others I knew and understood.

There were questions lingering about some of the main characters sexuality. A lot of the story seems very unrealistic. All in all a decent read. I think this author has potential to become a great story teller if he tightens up his storylines and is more consistent in relaying the turn of events.

SiStar Tea
ARC Book Club Inc.
3.5 stars