Crook Manifesto ‘Fast, fun, ribald’ Sunday Times

<p><b>A <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER: a powerful and hugely-entertaining novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy glory.</b><br><br><b>'Glorious' <i>New York Times Book Review</i></b><br><br><b>'The compelling energy of a crime thriller and the sharp wit of social satire' <i>Guardian</i></b><br><b><br>'Whitehead's crime series is one of the most enjoyable streaks in recent fiction' <i>Telegraph</i></b><br><b><br>'This novel has it all' <i>Mail on Sunday</i></b><br><b><br>1971, New York City.</b> 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. <br><br><b>1973</b>. 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. <br><br><b>1976.</b> 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. <br><br><b>'Fast, fun, ribald... with a touch of Quentin Tarantino' <i>Sunday Times</i></b><br><br><b>'A delight' <i>Financial Times</i></b><br><b><br>'Hugely enticing' <i>Independent</i></b></p>