Once a King, Always a King

The Unmaking of a Latin King

By: Reymundo Sanchez

Narrated by: Rudy Sanda

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

This riveting sequel to My Bloody Life traces Reymundo Sanchez's struggle to create a "normal" life outside the Latin Kings, one of the nation's most notorious street gangs, and to move beyond his past.

Sanchez illustrates how the Latin King motto "once a king, always a king" rings true and details the difficulty and danger of leaving that life behind. Filled with heart-pounding scenes of his backslide into drugs, sex, and violence, Once a King, Always a King recounts how Sanchez wound up in prison and provides an engrossing firsthand account of how the Latin Kings are run from inside the prison system.

Harrowing testaments to Sanchez's determination to rebuild his life include his efforts to separate his family from gang life and his struggle to adapt to marriage and the corporate world. Despite temptations, nightmares, regressions into violence, and his own internal demons, Sanchez makes an uneasy peace with his new life.

This raw, powerful, and brutally honest memoir traces the transformation of an accomplished gang-banger into a responsible citizen.

©2003 Reymundo Sanchez (P)2017 Tantor

nice book

really good book recommend 100% but have to read my bloody life first . .

The reader needs to stop making fake accents

The content is excellent but the reader makes fake Hispanic accents that are actually insulting to a person of a Hispanic background. Not only that it does not even sound anything like what a puerto rican sounds like. The reader it should have just read the story as is without these fake accents and it would have been much more better. As for the content, the book is excellent.

The message hits hard

Dear author: for years I was scared to read this book but I believe I was avoiding it due to how relatable it is to me. I also wonder what my life would have been like if I keep on my path of recklessness. But I found my way and now I’m an officer in the US Army and have my masters degree. Reading your book now at this age made me feel that I’ve accomplished something and feel sad about my friend I left behind in back of the yards. Thank you -Alex

“Brother of a King”

I’m 42 years old and my brother just died a few months ago. We grew in humboldt Park from 1979 to 1990 when I finally left. I was the last to leave. At age of 7 I was taken to the church on LeMoyne and Homan and there I was told in the basement that I was born a Latin king there many of us same age , same hair , same look on our faces. I did not realize that I was being trained since that age. This is a great book and I would love to connect with Reymundo and maybe share a story or two. thank you

realest book I ever read

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Amazing

Such an amazing story, especially if you read the first part. You don't have to have been in a gang to like this book.

Wow

I wish I could find the words to express what I am taking away after listening to this book. I think a lot of people will discover reliability in one way or another in this book. There is a powerful message here (and one hell of a story), and the narration is on point. This book along with Rey’s last writing are two of the best books I’ve listened to on audible. I’m walking away as if I was there. Damn. In some aspects, many of us have been there. This is useful medicine for the author and the reader/listener. Amazing writing.

Another excellent Reymundo Sanchez memoir.

I was mesmerized by My Bloody Life, the first book by this author. And he did it again. Once a King rings true. My favorite part was the wrap up and ending. This is where the author demonstrated the top talent that he is.

Rudy Sanda, the narrator, was outstanding. This pairing of author and narrator is one of the best I've experienced.

Great book

I wish he could of written another book but other than that I thought it was a great book

Great Read

Story was very interesting. The narrator was not horrible, however, they should have had a narrator that could actually pronounce the names of the characters and Spanish words correctly.