The Crack Era

The Rise, Fall and Redemption of Kevin Chiles

By: Kevin Chiles, Richard Ray Esq.

Narrated by: Richard Ray Esq.

Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Crack Era: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Kevin Chiles chronicles one of the most treacherous periods in New York City’s history. As told by a man The New York Times once described as, “the biggest drug lord in Harlem since Nicky Barnes”, the book lays bare the harrowing exploits of the narcotics trade Uptown during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s - a world where the lust for freebase cocaine set off a veritable gold rush that turned ghetto boys into young millionaires almost overnight.

“Baseheads” wreaked havoc on the Black community. What’s worse, upper Manhattan became the epicenter of murder and mayhem as drug-related killings pushed the city’s annual death toll well into the thousands. A teenager at the time, Kevin earned a rep as a boss among bosses, and along with a handful of hustlers from his ‘hood, he would directly influence the very music and fashion that ushered in the golden age of hip hop.

The crack epidemic parlayed money, power, and respect for Kev, but it also took his freedom as well as the lives of close friends and family. Now, this candid memoir exposes liars, dispels urban myths, and sheds light on an otherwise dark epoch that has bittersweet implications for many today. Having seen and survived it all, one of America’s most iconic street figures recounts a bygone era of fast cash and high stakes hustling in Harlem.

©2019 Kevin Chiles (P)2020 Kevin Chiles

CUT...REDO

The narrator's lack of enthusiasm and EXTREMELY unprofessional style of narration reflects badly on the publisher.

Great Book

The great narration, word play and stoeyline gets you hooked on what the end might be. Great Book!!!

Great story! Great Physical Read

Disgusting narration, there's times when the narrator yawns, jumbles words, reads slides, blatant unedited parts (numerous). The budget on the audiobook is less than $100.

An absolutely amazing body of TRUTH!!

This book provided an honest, open, and clear view into a part of one man’s life of this world. Perfect win for the culture! Thank you Kevin!

Don't waste your money on this book

The narration on this book is terrible.  The narrator slurs his words, talks so fast I had to slow the speed down to even makes sense of what he was trying to say and talks in street slang which is confusing unless you are a drug dealer knowledgeable with the vernacular. The author spends most of the book detailing his life peddling cocaine, living a flashy life and flaunting his lifestyle then whines about white privilege and racism when he meets white inmates sentenced for financial crimes with sentences less than his. He seems to feel that once he amassed extreme wealth by his criminal behavior and diversified into legitimate business that he should get a pass for how he got there and should receive a get out of jail card because he was such a nice guy. The author deserves much more jail time than the 8 years he got and his resentment that he lost houses, money and cars due to forfeiture of assets to the government  rings hollow. Save your money and don't waste time on this book. If you want to titilate yourself with this kind of nonsense look at HBO or the like and watch it. Better yet, don't waste your time on this kind of criminal behavior.

Narrator

next time let the person who's story it is read it.... gives it a whole different feeling.....

Great listen

I’m a Harlem kid so the story was very familiar. It felt good to hear it first hand.

Real Street Shit

I've always been a big fan of Kevin Chiles and street history. Mobsters, foreign legends, american legends, everything. Kevin Chiles is a legend that moves in a rare mindstate tho. I be happy to know it's dudes like him and ears the christ and etc are still around to tell they're story to show my generation 95 babies and up that the game is over and it ain't what it was back then was different. Great Book hope you got more otw.

Stumbles

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but I liked the fact that the narrator seem to stumble over words like he was reading it from notebook paper. I'm not sure if the physical copy is written that way but if not then its definitely a 5 star move

Excellent Story!!!

I absolutely loved the book & Kevin Chiles story, from a real one who was truly Honorable & Stand Up. The narration I have to say was not as good as the other couple Audible Books I've heard, tho I've only heard 3 so my opinion may not be accurate. Still I couldn't stop listening to Kevin Chiles story, I usually listen for the hour or so I walk my dogs but ended up listening in my car, while going to bed etc because the story was so good.