Poison Reality

Poison Reality is Lord Muhammad Shaheed Aadam’s sequel to his novel Speed Pimpin’, which told the tale of Prince Pepe le Mack, a consummate ladies man who used the power of attraction to work his way into the minds, and beds, of a veritable harem of beautiful women. In Poison Reality, the descendants of the Speed Pimpin’ characters, in the year 2030, take center-stage in a book loosely related to its predecessor, and very much intertwined with the current political climate in low-income areas of Los Angeles, as well as America’s relationship with the Middle East. Kind of. It’s all very confusing—and not very engrossing.

What charm Speed Pimpin’ had, Poison Reality loses, becoming politically focused (although with present-day problems, in spite of the fact that the book takes place in the future) and interspersing the political jargon with not only the sex that permeated Speed Pimpin’, but also some anti-Semitism and homophobia that were certainly lacking from its predecessor. While being politically correct has, in our society, become somewhat dangerous, Aadam’s lines about Jews controlling the financial sphere and demons surrounding a house of homosexual men during an orgy are bigoted, ignorant, and wholly unnecessary. Added to the convoluted family lines extending from Speed Pimpin’ to Poison Reality, the impending American monarchy in the book, the sex, the Muslim mafia, and the unconvincing dialogue, the homophobia, and racism take the book from something best read by someone who enjoyed Speed Pimpin’ to a story that doesn’t need to be read, period. Ambition is good, but sometimes people overstep their capabilities, and Aadam has done just that with this book. For a series that began with an enjoyable, if inconsistent, book, Poison Reality is enough to destroy any affinity Speed Pimpin’ created. Sadly.