King of the Dancehall

April 15, 2018

Released from prison after completing a five-year term, 23-year-old Tarzan Brixton finds his Brooklyn neighborhood changed. His mother now has outrageous medical bills and Tameka, his supposedly ride-or-die chick, is playing house with another guy. In a jealous rage and desperate for cash, Tarzan pistol-whips and robs Tameka's boyfriend, then hops a plane to Kingston, Jamaica. In this island paradise he meets up with his cousin Toasta, a DJ for the Jungle, where the culture, rhythm, and soul of Dancehall (a genre of Jamaican popular music) explodes each night. Tarzan meets Maya, one of the club's hottest dancers, and is determined to have her, yet he needs cash fast and starts dealing huge amounts of marijuana. Dancehall soon becomes a dangerous place when the area's gangster boss Dada tries to stop Tarzan's rise to the top by any means necessary. VERDICT Cannon's novelization of his 2016 film of the same name is a rags-to-riches tale that features sexy dance moves swirling around a criminal lifestyle packed with deceit. Famous for his marriage to Mariah Carey and for hosting America's Got Talent, Cannon will have an audience for this title, which will also appeal to enthusiastic street lit fans.--Rollie Welch, Lehigh Acres, FL

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