Reading log 1: Gang Lands

by Ross Kemp

In the book Gang Lands, Luiz, a teenage boy from Rio, is put into a tricky situation. His sister has been arrested and is going to jail unless Luiz makes the decision to work for Trojan Industries. Trojan is a shady undercover agency who infiltrates gangs using  undercover agents. A new gang emerged in Rio called the Commando Negro. They are a group of ruthless people with access to a lot of guns and drugs. Trojan  gave Luiz the option to work for them and infiltrate the Commando Negro. He must gather information about them and find out who is backing them. If Luiz agrees to Trojans offer they will get his sister released from custody. Luiz takes up the offer and begins his mission. 

Over the course of the two weeks he was with the gang he was put in many tricky situations, but handled them very well. He ended up getting quite close with the other members of the gang and realised why they do what they do. In the end Luiz finds out who is backing the Commando Negro but was too late to warn them that there Favela (Santa Marta) was getting raided. Most of the members were killed in the raid and the gang was gone for good. 

I admire Luiz for his bravery in the situation. He single-handedly joined the most dangerous gang in Rio and spent two weeks with them as a driver. He came close to giving up but persevered and got the job done. Some of the situations he was in were life or death but he always managed to stay calm and get out clean. Most ordinary teenage boys would have been completely hopeless in similar situations. Before working for Trojan, Luiz lived in Santa Marta and was getting in trouble alot. He lost his parents at a young age and now lives with foster parents. So overall he has had quite a tough life. I think how he grew up helped him alot in the situations he was in while working with the gang. He learnt to fend for himself at a young age and has a lot of practical knowledge that most other teenages don’t have. I believe this is why he succeeded in his mission.

To me this book was a great read as there was always something happening which kept me interested and wanting to keep reading. Personally,  I can’t relate to anything Luiz went through but the book painted a very good picture and gave me a good understanding of what his life was like.