Howard Street
by Nathan C. Heard

Howard Street reflects the pensive, concise, caring work of an experienced observant writer; the work confronts topics of: police brutality and corruption, segregation, street life, family, white liberalism, homosexuality, the black church, the power of community, addiction, prostitution, the duality of black males, peer pressure, pimping, and the destruction of innocence. There are no innocents that survive ‘Howard Street’ that is the most disturbing reality of the text. The reader hopes for one surviving lamb but all are devoured. The novel, Howard Street is not a tale of redemption, few are redeemed; it is a hardboiled reality based tale that lays bare the socio-economics of “steeters’” / hustlers’ life. It is a must for any student of literature.