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 PrintableVersion Blood In, Blood OutBLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT According to the introduction: 'your life will not be the same after reading this book'. Well, there might be a touch of transatlantic hyperbole in that, but one thing is for certain, the true story of Art Blajos, ex-Mafia assassin now working in London's King Cross district among drug addicts and prostitutes, is as dramatic and astonishing as they come. Brought up in East Los Angeles, unwanted and unloved by his family, Blajos's formative years were a downward spiral leading from street fighting via drug dealing to life as a mafia hitman. He spent 17 years in jail (11 of which were in the infamous St. Quentin prison), including four years on Death Row. During his final spell in prison, the mafia required him to kill the man in the adjacent cell, but the intended victim gave Blajos a copy of the Bible, and so began his first tentative steps towards conversion and a changed life. Blajos now works as an evangelist for Victory Outreach. The graphic descriptions of prison violence make for uncomfortable reading although we are assured that the most gruesome details have been omitted. The style is pacy and colloquial and the book is liberally sprinkled with street slang reflecting the author's Hispano-American background. There is an important reminder here for Christians that God still changes people in the most remarkable ways, but I suspect the book's principal target is the unchurched older teenager or young adult who has decided to make a go of life on his own. If you know someone like this, give them a copy and pray hard that the words of the introduction come true. Chris McNee© Evangelicals Now - December 1996 |
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