Colson Whitehead 
Crook Manifesto 
Fast, fun, ribald Sunday Times

‘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