*I was sent this book, Pimp in the Pulpit, for free so I could read it and create this review. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here.*
In Pimp In The Pulpit, Thomas 
Leslie McRae introduces us to a very dysfunctional family. The story jumps into a large family with many, many issues, without introducing much of anything.
It’s clear to me that Thomas Leslie McRae has a great handle on complicated relationships. His ability to recreate scenes that we’ve all dealt with in real life is quite good, but overall the story was lacking cohesiveness. There is a lot going on all the time, but the writing did not hold my attention. I’m not sure why exactly – I think the layout was partly to blame. The conversations were lacking in quotation marks in spots and there were some verb tense shifts (which drive me crazy) so I think another run through an editor would help these books a lot.
The characters have odd names and I found it very difficult to get everyone straightened out. The relationships between the characters are very complex and convoluted, but not well explained. The story lacked a single protagonist and so felt disconnected. It also took me a while to figure out what “Pimp in the Pulpit” was referring to. Turns out it’s a character, but not really a main one so I’m still a little confused on that.
These 2 books barely have 80 pages between them. I feel the story could have been fleshed out more with a bit of backstory on the family. However, Pimp in the Pulpit does get it’s message across as 2 short stories.
When I agreed to read these books I was forewarned that they were very dysfunctional and had some language in them – and they sure didn’t disappoint. If you like reading about complex, confusing families who don’t get along well than this pair of books would be for you.
~Jess
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