Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed, a novel by Marc Blatte

The following Book Review has been sponsored by FSB Associates

Outside one of New York’s hottest night clubs, at 4a.m., a young man is found murdered –no robbery, no clues – only yellow socks and bling to tell the victims tale...

To be honest, I don’t read much fiction. I am more of a non-fiction guy. I read biographies and stories about history and other real life events. I was always curious about reading a fictional book but never got around to it. Well better late than never. “Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed” is about New Yorkers and how they are connected due to a crime. It started off like a roller coaster when it goes up slowly before the drop. Then once it got to the top of the track it was off and running. I kept reading the book and yelling, “Who did it? Who did it?”

You had a wanna be rap group trying to break into the business, one of New York’s most decorated cops, a record mogul, a vengeful bouncer from Eastern Europe, a club called Kiki and one of New York’s wealthiest families. Mr. Blatte is from New York and you can tell by the story. His writing makes the city pop and come alive. You can feel the streets that they walked and almost taste the food they ate. I usually end up watching movies that first started as books. The only book I read before it became a movie was “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. While reading “Humpty Dumpty”, I kept wondering what this would be like as a movie. Or maybe a television show at least.

The rap group called Proof Positive had an interesting story arc. Kids from the hood that wanted to live the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But as the saying goes, “You can take the cat out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the cat”. They reminded me of every cliché rap group that ever had a demo tape. You've seen them in the barbershop or on public access television. Did you know they let anyone on public access television these days? Anyway, the way their story was told gave the raw emotion behind the want for success.

My favorite character was Detective Salvatore Messina aka “Black Sallie Blue Eyes”. He was serious about his job but he did have a level of compassion for people. Sometimes fictional cops are written with such a depressed state of mind. They are pessimistic because they have seen things that many of us can’t fathom. Detective Salvatore Messina was cool under pressure. His cat and mouse game with suspects was funny to read. This was one of the times I wish I could watch this on screen.

Overall it was a good read. I think that it’s a captivating story that will keep a reader engaged. I also think it would be a good read for folks that like Hip Hop. I wouldn’t mind reading another book by Mr. Blatte involving Detective Messina and his crew. Maybe he can make a series out of it. Then he can give me a cut for coming up with the idea. We are in a recession; you can’t blame a brother for trying to hustle.