Brief

The story follows the true story of Clarence "Preacher" Heatley, an utterly ruthless and savvy ex-con who sets out to dominate 1980s and 90s Harlem as an all-powerful kingpin alongside a slew of sadistic and opportunistic allies.

What We Liked

This work stands out for its wild violence and sexual elements. The author spares the audience from no grisly or graphic imagery, showcasing the streets of 1980s/90s Harlem in all their bloody glory. For better or worse, this work goes further than most others of its ilk and will be sure to raise eyebrows and call attention to itself.

Film: This would be a solid adaptation for film thanks to its graphic violence, action, and intrigue. People would be drawn to this movie for its no holds barred tone and its hard-to-look-away kind of qualities. There are shocks aplenty to be experience in this story.

TV: This would be a solid candidate for adaptation for TV thanks to its sprawling, even epic narrative. This work features robust characters and dynamics across many years, which bodes well for sustaining seasons of long-form television, almost certainly on a premium channel.

Key points: 1. The memorable, intimidating figure of Preacher.
2. The setting-- Specific, seedy, and visually interesting.
3. The impact-- The flashes of shocking, affecting violence.
4. The unsavory and terrifying supporting players, like Malik.
5. The jobs-- Diverse, original, and unexpected.

Synopsis

PREACHER (40s, dark-skinned, 6'5"""") calls a meeting in the prison yard. After 10 years, Preacher is being released, and he sells categories of his inside drug game to a group of followers. He's known for his ruthlessness and his proclivity for violence, and he vows to take over Harlem as soon as he's out. On the ground in Harlem, Preacher pays a visit to PHYLLIS, and they have wild sex. Soon, he links up with a troublemaker named HAROLD, and he kills a thief in front of EARL, who runs the block currently. With that, Preacher effectively takes command. He crews up with TERRY, serving as his right hand man, who helps him set up a security shop as a front. APPLE, BIG BEN, ANT, and HAROLD round out the rest of the enforcers. A former soldier, MALIK, joins the crew not long after. After one robbery job goes awry, Malik accuses Apple of skimming from the crew. After making his followers swear a pledge, Preacher outs Apple and orders a brutal beat down via the other men in the crew. He allows Apple to stay in the crew but vows never to tolerate insubordination again. Months go by, and Preacher's crew and influence grow steadily. When a high roller named ALPO disrespects a woman named AD, who is actually Preacher's daughter, Preacher pays him a visit and forces him to pay a steep cash penance. Not long after, some mobsters send an intimidating message attached to a dead bird to the security shop. Preacher sends him men to gun down the white mobsters in response. One day, the brother of a famous R&B singer named TRAVIS RATLEY turns on a local woman after being pulled over by a cop. With that, Preacher and co. hatch a plan to claim the woman as Preacher's daughter and to coerce the famous singer to pay a penalty when he's in town. Preacher meets a woman named KEISHA, and she accepts when he asks her to be his wife for the week. They in turn have wild, intense sex. Malik has developed into a reliable foot soldier to Preacher, going so far as to call him Dad and to vow to serve him however he could possibly need. Soon, Travis Ratley arrives in New York, and the crew promptly scoops him up. Malik inflicts some torture on the singer, exposing and touching the man's genitals and evidently becoming aroused by it. This unnerves some of the men. Preacher arrives and coerces the singer to pay $250K to appease him. Later, Apple brings in a hit job, and Preacher orders him to take Malik with him. Malik seems to savor the kill, using his bare hands to snap the target's neck before emptying his magazine into the corpse.

After extorting a woman, YVETTE, for sex to pay her husband's debt, Preacher sets sights on extorting a relative of Apple's named RICH PORTER for a large sum. He convinces Apple to lure his nephew in order to hold him as ransom. Apple delivers young DARNELL, 11, to the men, and they proceed to chop off one of the boy's fingers. The boy's mother panics and calls the police, while Rich gathers the funds. As a result, a media circus and police investigation ensues, while Preacher and co. hold the boy hostage. Later, much to Apple's dismay, Preacher orders the boy to be killed, and Malik promptly breaks his neck. The feds find a way to try Preacher, but he narrowly gets off without conviction. He decides to lay low in Virginia, where he invests in and starts a computer company. A year passes, and his influence in New York depletes.

Soon, Preacher decides to return to New York and to rebuild a crew and empire. Apple, Harold, and a man named GREEN EYES return, while former police officer JACK becomes a full-time member, too. They soon execute a robbery on KILLER, a local boss. They collect 1.5 million in cash and kill Killer and his wife. Preacher starts seeing Yvette again and even moves into her place. Soon, Preacher and co. plan to knock off a prominent jewelry store, and they begin doing research and reconnaissance. The time comes for Preacher to call Malik back up to New York from Virginia. Malik moves into Yvette's building with a girlfriend and daughter from Virginia. Before long, Preacher evades the law again-- Acquitted in another trial for a pair of homicides. Soon, Preacher starts touching and having sex with Malik, secretly, which he thinks will fill the void in Malik, who was molested by his father as a child. Malik becomes even more loyal to Preacher as a result, becoming a bonafide hitman for him.

Preacher finds out that some Arab men are selling drugs in his turf, so he makes plans to intervene. He spends more time with Yvette to the point that Malik gets jealous and starts getting mouthy with her. After a spat, Preacher orders Yvette to strip naked, and he has sex with her while Malik is forced to watch. Soon, Malik starts to lick Preacher's balls while Preacher has sex with Yvette. Yvette is unnerved by the sight, and Preacher acts like he is shocked too, saying he will confront Malik about it. Soon, Preacher's men head to the Arabs' vape shop, where they strike a deal with them over the drug sales. Malik goes so far as to kill off his girlfriend and toddler in a show of faith to Preacher, while Preacher rapes his own daughter. Preacher finds the crew is getting loose with their discipline-- Many are doing drugs and sleeping with each other's girlfriends. Preacher is pretty much sleeping with every single member's girlfriend. He soon makes an example out of a man named SMALL PAULS, sending a message to the community that he is in charge. Meanwhile, his computer business is going so well that he could up and retire at any moment. Yet instead, he persists on the dirty New York streets with his violence and empire.

Preacher sets sights on Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, telling his men that Bobby owes him money. They kidnap Bobby, and Malik hog-ties and tortures him until Whitney comes through with the money-- $200K to free her husband. Malik gets increasingly blood-hungry and disagreeable, and Preacher is finally forced to have him killed. Jack and men take Malik to the basement, shoot him in the head, and cut up the body into half-a-dozen pieces. Soon, Preacher grows wary of Jack, who has grown increasingly brash in the streets. He orders a hit on him, but his call is phone tapped by agents listening in. Before long, the state files charges against Preacher with high confidence of convicting him once and for all. Preacher, in turn, spills all to the prosecutors, giving information to indict more than a hundred people in his crew. He is dismayed, though, when the prosecutors cross him, refusing to help him get a lighter sentence for his intel. Preacher is devastated, ashamed for having ruined his entire reputation and forsaken his own rules. Soon, he pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty, accepting life in prison.

About The Author

David Collins helps to bring you into their world to understand that to make a living, when legal jobs and opportunities were few for African American youth, hard choices were made.