Whitehead, Colson: Crook Manifesto

TWO-TIME WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE A powerful, entertaining novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy glory. 1971, New York City. Trash piles up on the streets, crime is at an all-time high, the city is going bankrupt. Ray Carney, furniture store owner and ex-fence, tries to keep his head down, his business up and his life straight. When he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May, he hits up Munson, an old police contact. But Munson has his own favours to ask of Carney and staying out of the game gets a lot more complicated - and deadly. 1973. As a thriving counterculture overthrows old ways, Pepper - seasoned crook, and Carney‘s partner in crime - is a constant. He takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot and finds himself in a world of Hollywood stars and celebrity drug dealers, along with the usual cast of hustlers, mobsters and hit men. 1976. Harlem is burning while the country gears up for the Bicentennial. When a fire seriously injures one of Carney‘s tenants, he enlists Pepper to look into who may be behind it, navigating a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent and the utterly corrupted. ‘Fast, fun, ribald... with a touch of Quentin Tarantino‘ Sunday Times ‘Whitehead‘s crime series is one of the most enjoyable streaks in recent fiction‘ Telegraph ‘This novel has it all‘ Mail on Sunday ‘A delight‘ Financial Times ‘Hugely enticing‘ Independent [audio available logo] thumbnail of HARLEM SHUFFLE cover