Chained

by Sexy.

Sexy is one of the Latina writers who are destined to shake up the literary world. She’s living to tell the tale of Chained through her protagonist, Jaz, a drop-dead-gorgeous vixen.
She hopes to write her way out of the streets to free her soul. Her story is taut and riveting. Her writing captures prison life and the streets of Spanish like Piri Thomas did n the 1960s. And her lyrical prose sings with rhythm and sounds of El Barrio like a jazz composer.
Watch this rising star as she transforms the lives of her characters and reinvents Spanish Harlem with her Kafkaesque tale — Lucas Rivera is the author of the Lucky Street Chronicles.

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2007

About the author

Deborah Cardona, better known by her ghetto pseudonym, "Sexy," was born in New York City in 1965, and grew up in Spanish Harlem, where she was involved with gangs and drugs. She draws vivid novels from her past experiences.

A mother of three sons, Sexy had her first novel published by Iuniverse in 2002. Shortly thereafter Teri Woods and Relentless Aaron both sought out her work for publishing. Today Sexy offers others in her once similar position the opportunity to be published by Deja Vu Publications.

In 2011, Cardona opened a book store in the hearth of Spanish Harlem called Déjà Vu Book Lounge

Reviews

[African Americans on the Move Book Club · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misplaced and replaced love and friendship under lies the lives of two beautiful ladies from El Barrio. The dialogue in this story helps paint a surreal picture of urban drug slinging, from the perspective to two determined women. Trouble and Jaz entered the drug game for one reason – to get out. Though this book was a fast and easy read, I felt Sexy sacrificed full character development and relationship building among the many characters. The inner thoughts of the characters were often revealed, but it never seemed to fully connect to the resulting relationships. For example, Jaz was irate when she saw Mark at the hospital. However, her disgust for Mark was never fully explained. As another example, Julio seemed to have an affectionate relationship with The Geechies, yet they stole from him. Julio’s reaction to the robbery was never discussed. Also, I was confused, several times, about the amount of time that had elapsed between scenes. In less than 300 pages, Sexy covered a span of roughly 25 years. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I found myself anticipating Trouble’s next move, but I was often pleasantly surprised by the actions of Jaz and Lizard. Sexy sparked enough interest in the characters, for me that I look forward to reading the sequel.

Natasha R. Hines
AAMBC Reviewer

[Tish Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, the writer made me feel like I was right there seeing everything that took place. It was also a page turner I read it in one day.. GREAT READ