Award-winning actor, rapper, and producer Ice-T unveils a compelling memoir of his early life robbing jewelry stores until he found fame and fortune-while a handful of bad choices sent his former crime partner down an incredibly different path.
Ice-T rose to fame in the late 1980s, earning acclaim for his music before going on to enthrall television audiences as Odafin "Fin" Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But it could have gone much differently.
In this "poignant and powerful" (Library Journal, starred review) memoir, Ice-T and Spike, his former crime partner-collaborating with New York Times bestselling author Douglas Century-relate the shocking stories of their shared pasts, and how just a handful of decisions led to their incredibly different lives. Both grew up in violent, gang-controlled Los Angeles neighborhoods and worked together to orchestrate a series of jewelry heists.
But while Ice-T was discovered rapping in a club and got his first record deal, Spike was caught for a jewelry robbery and did three years in prison. As his music career began to take off, Ice made the decision to abandon the criminal life; Spike continued to plan increasingly ingenious and risky jewel heists. And in 1992, after one of Spike's robberies ended tragically, he was sentenced to thirty-five years to life. While he sat behind bars, he watched his former partner rise to fame in music, movies, and television.
"Propulsive" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), timely, and thoughtful, two men with two very different lives reveal how their paths might have very well been reversed if they made different choices. All it took was a split decision.
Featuring an exclusive conversation with Ice-T, Spike, and Douglas Century! Ice-T is an award-winning rapper, actor, songwriter and producer. He released a string of groundbreaking rap albums in the 1980s and then formed the Grammy Award–winning metal band Body Count with high school friend and guitarist Ernie C. He has appeared in numerous films, including New Jack City, Ricochet, and Trespass. In his role as Detective Tutuola on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ice holds the distinction of being the longest running male actor on any primetime drama in history. Through his music and lecture tours, Ice-T has become an influential spokesman for America's youth. Follow him on Twitter @FinalLevel.
Spike, born in Los Angeles in 1962, first met Ice-T in the early 1980s and was an original member of Ice's Rhyme Syndicate. He currently resides in LA and devotes much of his time to leading outreach programs aimed at at-risk youth.
Douglas Century is the author and coauthor of numerous bestselling books including Hunting El Chapo, Under and Alone, Brotherhood of Warriors, Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter, The Last Boss of Brighton, and Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire. His World War II nonfiction narrative, No Surrender, coauthored with Chris Edmonds, was the recipient of a 2020 Christopher Award. A veteran investigative journalist, Century has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), and The Guardian.
