I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. This was an interesting read and I appreciated the dual memoir format!

Imagine a world where there is divide amongst the races: the rich white people living on one side of the river, and the poor black people on the other. Imagine how, due to poverty, the predominantly black community has a reputation for drugs and gangs, and one of the highest murder rates in the country. In this town the police, mostly white, aren't interested in whether or not you actually did it, only if you fit the description and happen to be in the wrong place. A town where innocent until proven guilty becomes guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. Where just because you're black you get falsely accused of crimes you didn't commit. Sounds like something from civil war era right? Wrong, this is a true story of a man who was arrested, convicted, and sent to jail with the maximum sentence despite having no evidence except for the colour of his skin, the word of a known dealer, and a dirty white cop in 2006. Jameel happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person when he was arrested by Andrew that day in February. He went to the store to buy milk for his little boy he was about to meet for the first time. Coming out of the store he was confronted by Andrew who was going on the word of an informant a drug dealer was there. Unbeknownst to Andrew, Jameel was innocent and Will, the man who brought him to the store was the dealer. Will had called the informant using Jameel's phone, and when the police showed up claimed the drugs were his as well. With the phone call and drugs in hand, Andrew felt he had an open and shut case. Even when he found out he was supposed to be going after a dealer who went by the street name Ox and he instead got his cousin Jameel, who went by Zookie, he just changed the police report to say he misunderstood the street name his informant gave him. This wasn't something new for Andrew, who supplemented his reports with false information all the time. He saw it as his duty, because getting one more dealer off the streets was in everybody's best interest. Can't find the drugs? No problem, he kept a hidden stash for just such an occasion he took from busts too small to bother reporting, or so he told himself. He also used these drugs to get extra money when he felt he was running short. Not enough information to get a warrant? Just make up something. Find lots of cash or electronics in a dealers house? Nobody will notice if not all of it's reported. He slept easy at night knowing he was getting dealers off the streets no matter what it took. One day his past caught up to him though, and resulted in him serving time and several of his convictions getting overturned, including Jameel's, who at this point has been in prison for 3 years. He had several visions of himself beating Andrew to death while in there, and only coming back to God helped him release it. It all came back one day when out with his 6 year old son, whom he'd finally met the day before, and saw Andrew for the first time in person. He discovered Andrew had also found God in prison, and felt God telling him to let it go and give it back to God. Flash forward a couple of more years, when the men meet again and begin their journey of forgiveness.
I enjoyed this book, it was well written and thorough. It did jump around slightly, but that was only because the two men were each telling their side of the story and had different back stories that led up to the moment, but it was clearly marked when they switched points of view. I was a bit hesitant at first to get this book as I was part of a book launch team so there was only the blurb to go on. I'm normally not a fan of non-fiction books, because I find they can be a bit slow paced at times. The blurb made me decide to go through with it though, and I'm glad I did. It's hard to believe something like this could still happen in todays world, but unfortunately it does. I grew up in a town of about 20,000 people, and almost everyone is white or native. In my grad class of 300, I can think maybe a handful of students who weren't, and only one black person. Maybe because there wasn't such a divide as poor blacks in one town and white rich in the next I had blinders on to the rest of the world. Or maybe I'm just so accustomed to racism I don't notice it my day to day life. Either way, we can only pray that one day we'll live in a world where a story like this could never happen.

Wow! What a story of forgiveness and love. These two men and what we went through were so empowered by the love of God (Jesus) that they went on to empower us as we read their story. I highly recommend this book for all ages. Everyone needs to not only see how forgiveness can change your life, but how it is instrumental in the future of others. Thank you Jameel and Andrew for allowing us to hear and see what happened to you and how you have turned this around. This will help thousands not only in prison but outside prison too. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was unable to download and review this book. Sending my sincere apologies.

This really sounded like such an odd story, especially in today's world with the current tensions, that I thought I just had to give it a look and see if it was all it seemed to be. Once I got into it, I really got involved in it thoroughly. I ended up reading it cover to cover and was very moved and inspired by this dual memoir written by two men from my home state of Michigan. Both Jameel and Andrew's stories came together so well and give such hope for the future that it is possible for us all to find ways to get along better if we make the effort that they did. I'm so glad I read it. I was given a free advance review copy by NetGalley and the publisher.