Animal

What happens to the children that the world throws away? They become animals.Tayshawn Torres is a child born in the slums and cursed by the sins of his parents. His mother is a notorious drug addict and whore who's more concerned with getting her next high than she is with Tayshawn's well-being. His stepfather hates him so much that he literally treats him like an animal, forcing him to sleep in a cage and scavenge for scraps of food wherever he can find them. Because of his squalid appearance, he is also an object of ridicule by all of the neighborhood kids, who have given him a nickname-Animal. The only person to ever show him even the slightest bit of kindness is his older brother Justice. And when Justice is taken from his life, Tayshawn finds himself alone in the streets. His guardian angel gone, he is now at the mercy of the world his brother tried to protect him from. Tayshawn quickly learns that if he is to survive the jungle, he will have to adapt. Love and companionship constantly elude Tayshawn, but death and heartache cling to him like a second skin. Gradually, the layers of the frightened child he had once been are stripped away until there is nothing left-nothing but Animal.

From the moment Animal's former lover Red Sonja showed up on his doorstep, he knew trouble wouldn't be far behind. It wasn't-because the last time he saw her, he was fleeing for his life from a strange island.

K'wan delivers his bloodiest story yet. "One bullet changed everything." Three years after narrowly escaping a one-way trip to the gas chamber, the fugitive known only as Animal finds himself drawn back to the scene of the crime: Harlem. Throughout his entire time in exile, the only thing that kept Animal going was the thought that he would one day be reunited with his soul mate, Gucci-but one bullet changed everything. When his enemies tried to murder Gucci, they crossed the line, so he vowed to cross them all. While Gucci teeters between life and death, Animal sets out on a bloody mission fueled by love and orchestrated by bullets. There will be no more innocents. Alliances are formed and secrets uncovered while Animal wages his personal war on the streets of Harlem, with the end result revealing one great truth: he is only a small piece in a much larger puzzle.

Secrets are revealed, sides are chosen, and bodies are dropped-it's on!After being thought dead, Animal resurfaces on the streets of New York to keep true to his promise and make it rain blood over Harlem. All those who had wronged him would feel his wrath, including Shai Clark, boss of the New York underworld. But touching a man like Shai Clark proves easier said than done. Using Animal's soul mate, Gu­cci, as bait, Shai sets a trap for the young killer.Once again Animal finds himself captured, but this time there will be no trial. He is sentenced to die at the hands of Shai's executioner, a man known only as Priest. The assassin is ordered to kill Animal, but instead of death he gives him the truth of his shadowed past and how their des­tinies are intertwined. The man ordered to take Animal from the world is also the man who brought him into it.Animal finds himself torn between his hatred for the father who had abandoned him and the man who had taken everything from him. An uneasy truce is formed between father and son to take down a common enemy and finally grant Animal his freedom from the blood debt he's carried for so many years, but when the ghosts of Animal's past catch up with him, he learns that nothing is what it seems, and everything is subject to corruption-even his love for Gucci.

After making a promise to leave the street life behind, a shocking revelation forces Animal back into the game to face his greatest opponent yet.When Animal's former lover, Red Sonja, shows up on his doorstep with a little girl, claiming Animal is the father, he and Gucci immediately fear it's a ploy for money. But Red Sonja has come to collect a debt of a different kind, one that can only be paid in blood. A powerful man is hunting Red Sonja and her daughter, and she calls on Animal to stop him … permanently.Animal is forced to break the promise he made to his wife upon his release from prison and once again picks up his guns. To keep his daughter and her mother safe, Animal sets out on a mission of murder, but this isn't just any man Red Sonja has sent him after; it's one of the most powerful drug dealers in the country: her father.

#1 Essence best selling author K'wan returns with the explosive fourth installment in the Animal saga. Animal, the gentle and kind-hearted family man, is still infamous for turning at any moment into a cold-blooded killer. Animal is the product of ruthless abuse and the unforgiving streets; he is the product of the world he (and everyone else) lives in. Is there anything that could push listeners to the breaking point of murder? Is it possible to be sure? After all, there's an Animal in everyone.