Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Rent Collectors:
Better pay up.
Quick synopsis:
The story of gang violence in L.A. and a botched murder.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
Pray you never have to find out what it is to “keister” something.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
When the lake at MacArthur Park was drained, an artist assembled a sculpture of everything he found at the bottom including brass knuckles, false teeth, rusty bullets, and over 100 guns.
My Take on The Rent Collectors:
This book is great for true crime nerds but the exact opposite for California tourism. The Rent Collectors by Jesse Katz follows the journey of Giovanni Macedo as a member of the Columbia Lil Cycos. It’s not a spoiler to mention some of the low lights of Giovanni’s gang career since they are in the summary. He botches a murder and ends up killing a newborn only to have his own murder at the hands of his fellow gang members get botched as well. It’s enough to make you wonder why they are so bad at crime.
Katz does a great job explaining gang life while juggling an insane number of characters. He mostly sticks to the facts of the story and criminal cases but will dip now and again into social justice commentary. The commentary sections are few and far between. They are so short that I am not even sure Katz was trying to change the reader’s mind but merely just trying to plant a seed. In any case, if you are interested in true crime and specifically gang crime, then this is an excellent read.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Astra Publishing House.)
Verdict:
A great read. Buy it here!
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