Once a King, Always a King: The Unmaking of a Latin King

Reymundo Sanchez

Oct 2004 · Chicago Review Press

About this ebook

This riveting sequel to My Bloody Life traces Reymundo Sanchez's struggle to create a “normal” life outside the Latin Kings, one of the nation's most notorious street gangs, and to move beyond his past. Sanchez illustrates how the Latin King motto “once a king, always a king” rings true and details the difficulty and danger of leaving that life behind. Filled with heart-pounding scenes of his backslide into drugs, sex, and violence, Once a King, Always a King recounts how Sanchez wound up behind bars and provides an engrossing firsthand account of how the Latin Kings are run from inside the prison system. Harrowing testaments to Sanchez's determination to rebuild his life include his efforts to separate his family from gang life and his struggle to adapt to marriage and the corporate world. Despite temptations, nightmares, regressions into violence, and his own internal demons, Sanchez makes an uneasy peace with his new life. This raw, powerful, and brutally honest memoir traces the transformation of an accomplished gangbanger into a responsible citizen.

Ratings and reviews

Amazing!!! It can happen. Before I met my husband, he was a hardcore gang banger of the Latin Kings & he was a leader & created a whole new chapter.. He's done 35 yrs in prison. 10 here, 8 there, but it equals to 35 yrs of his life.. I took him away. People, including himself ask how did I do it. Very easy. LOVE. Latin kings are often portrayed as bad people & they aren't. They are beautiful people & beautiful hearts. They are just misunderstood. I took my husband out & away from it all. I saw a man who was desperate for help.. I'm encouraging him to write a book.

After reading my bloody life I never got the chance to read Reymundo's 2nd book once a king always a king but after purchasing it i finished it in three days and was just as hook as when I first read my bloody life. I like the message he gives to these young bucks from the hoods of Chicago. I was born and raised in the hood as well. Much props to Rey.

I loved this book, as my previous life was sort of like this, when your about that life you feel a sense of family and security, u have more friends than you can count, something bad happens and at that point u realise who ur real friends are, everybody knows ur name, but u start to think, do they know you for any good reasons? This book should serve as a warning for all of those young1s out there contemplating being about this life, it's not worth ending up behind bars or even worse, 6ft below...

About the author

Reymundo Sanchez is the pseudonym of a former Latin King who no longer lives in Chicago. He is the author of My Bloody Life and has appeared on Fox News Chicago, Telemundo, and Univision.