Bibliograph

Crook manifesto, a novel, Colson Whitehead

Type

Label

Crook manifesto, a novel, Colson Whitehead

Language

eng

Form of composition

not applicable

Format of music

not applicable

Literary text for sound recordings

fiction

Main title

Crook manifesto

Medium

compact disc

Oclc number

1382830392

Responsibility statement

Colson Whitehead

Series statement

Ray Carney, 2

Sub title

a novel

Summary

It's 1971. Trash piles up on the streets, crime is at an all-time high, the city is careening towards bankruptcy, and a shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army. Amidst this collective nervous breakdown furniture store owner and ex-fence, Ray Carney tries to keep his head down and his business thriving. His days moving stolen goods around the city are over. It's strictly the straight-and-narrow for him until he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May and he decides to hit up his old police contact Munson, fixer extraordinaire. But Munson has his favors to ask of Carney and staying out of the game gets a lot more complicated and deadly. 1973. The counter-culture has created a new generation, and the old ways are being overthrown, but there is one constant, Pepper, Carney's endearingly violent partner in crime. It's getting harder to put together a reliable crew for hijackings, heists, and assorted felonies, so Pepper takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot in Harlem. He finds himself in a freaky world of Hollywood stars, up-and-coming comedians, and celebrity drug dealers, in addition to the usual cast of hustlers, mobsters, and hitmen. These adversaries underestimate the seasoned crook to their regret. 1976. Harlem is burning, block by block, while the whole country is gearing up for Bicentennial celebrations. Carney is trying to come up with a July 4th ad he can live with. ("Two Hundred Years of Getting Away with It!"), while his wife Elizabeth is campaigning for her childhood friend, the former assistant D.A. and rising politician Alexander Oakes. When a fire severely injures one of Carney's tenants, he enlists Pepper to look into who may be behind it. Our crooked duo has to battle their way through a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent, and the utterly corrupted

Target audience

adult

Classification