Crook Manifesto

From two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead comes the thrilling and entertaining sequel to HARLEM SHUFFLE. ´Glorious´ New York Times Book Review ´The compelling energy of a crime thriller and the sharp wit of social satire´ Guardian ´Whitehead´s crime series is one of the most enjoyable streaks in recent fiction´ Telegraph ´This novel has it all´ Mail on Sunday A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: a powerful and hugely-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, and a shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army. Furniture store owner and ex-fence Ray Carney is trying to keep his head down, his business up and his life straight. But then he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May and he decides to hit up an old police contact, who wants favours in return. For Ray, staying out of the game gets a lot more complicated - and deadly. 1973. The old ways are being overthrown by the thriving counterculture, but Pepper, Carney´s enduringly violent partner in crime, is a constant. In these difficult times, Pepper takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot in Harlem, finding himself in a world of Hollywood stars and celebrity drug dealers, in addition to the usual cast of hustlers, mobsters and hit men. These adversaries underestimate the seasoned crook - to their regret. 1976. Harlem is burning, while the country gears up for the Bicentennial. Carney is trying to come up with a celebratory July 4th advertisement he can actually live with, while his wife Elizabeth is campaigning for her childhood friend, rising politician Alexander Oakes. 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 corrupt. ´Fast, fun, ribald... with a touch of Quentin Tarantino´ Sunday Times ´A delight´ Financial Times ´Hugely enticing´ Independent