I have mixed feelings about this book overall and I should mention first that I received a free copy of this book from Readers First in exchange for an honest review. I was looking forward to it based on the blurb and thought it would be a fresh experience to read about his criminality and then conversion to Christ. I did enjoy it and read through it quite quickly and I was definitely interested in the unique insight it gave the reader into Emmett’s family life when criminal dealings were happening on an almost daily basis.
I was pleasantly surprised that the book does not try to force the religious conversion angle onto the reader and that the author was so honest about his upbringing and all the good and bad elements of that. With this being said it did seem to stop and start in places, almost as though some bits had been edited out afterwards, and the storytelling can be a bit basic. It felt like it needed to be given a lot more substance.
Another thing I had issues with was that he seemed to spend more time bigging up some of his criminal beginnings and there was less focus on the more positive elements. I would almost say that he was reliving the glory days and boasting about all his brushes with famous criminals, etc. It didn’t come across as very repentant in my opinion – especially when he just describes events such as his dad’s friend stabbing someone as “naughty”.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it but I think it was built up too much by the blurb and it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
I was pleasantly surprised that the book does not try to force the religious conversion angle onto the reader and that the author was so honest about his upbringing and all the good and bad elements of that. With this being said it did seem to stop and start in places, almost as though some bits had been edited out afterwards, and the storytelling can be a bit basic. It felt like it needed to be given a lot more substance.
Another thing I had issues with was that he seemed to spend more time bigging up some of his criminal beginnings and there was less focus on the more positive elements. I would almost say that he was reliving the glory days and boasting about all his brushes with famous criminals, etc. It didn’t come across as very repentant in my opinion – especially when he just describes events such as his dad’s friend stabbing someone as “naughty”.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it but I think it was built up too much by the blurb and it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.