When I reviewed Harlem Shuffle, I wrote, "Even more Pepper would have made for a better story." Well, there's more Pepper here, and I was right. Overall, this is a much better book than Harlem Shuffle. Actually, it's more like three books, since the three parts take place from 1971 - 1976 and are only related by some of the characters in them. It's nice to see what has become of Ray Carney and his family. Carney has stopped his criminal activities as the book starts, but that doesn't last for long as he becomes involved with corrupt detective Munson, who is in deep trouble now that the Knapp Commission is seriously investigating corruption in the NYPD. Munson has a desperate plan, and Carney is caught right in the middle of it. The disintegrating detective's dialogue is great, as is the dialogue throughout the book. The second story is a bit lighter--a filmmaker is using Carney's store as part of the set for a blaxploitation picture, which gives Whitehead room to comment on lots of things (such as Blacula). But there's a dark side here as well. Finally, the last third of the book sees Carney take an interest in finding out who has torched a building where a child was hurt. This leads down a dark path he couldn't have imagined and to a series of climaxes that are very well done. Whitehead can just plain right, and this book is probably the most fun of his books I have read. Or actually, listened to in this case. As he did for Harlem Shuffle, Dion Graham gives a superb performance. Highly highly recommended. ( )

"Crooked stays crooked and bent hates straight. The rest is survival."
This was an enjoyable sequel to Harlem Shuffle which in truth should be read in order to enjoy the full picture of Ray Carney, the furniture salesman and part time fence, living in Harlem in the 60's and 70's.
"Churn. Carney’s word for the circulation of goods in his illicit sphere, the dance of TVs and diadems and toasters from one owner to the next, floating in and out of people’s lives on breezes and gusts of cash and criminal industry".
This book has three time frames from 71 to the bicentennial of 76. The three vignettes revolve around missions: 1st- Carney trying to get Jackson Five tickets for his daughter May; 2nd- his criminal buddy Pepper trying to find the missing actress, Lucretia Cole,( "She had an hourglass figure, not in its shape but in the melancholy reminder that time is running short and there are things on this Earth you’ll never experience"),who was playing the lead in a " blaxploitation" movie filmed in Harlem; and 3rd- investigating the arson of a building where Carney's tenant, a young boy, was injured. Throughout these adventures Carney remains the family man whose crooked side has its own code. "What else was an ongoing criminal enterprise complicated by periodic violence for, but to make your wife happy?" Pepper remains one of the best criminal enforcers ever depicted in literature: "There was no hiding Pepper’s personality, which was December when the days got shorter and shorter: cold and relentless. Inevitable. He didn’t like Christmas trees, or babies, or owing anybody anything. Any smile that broke out on his face was a mutiny swiftly put down. He was not there to present you with an oversized check from the sweepstakes company or a dinner invitation from Raquel Welch. Pepper was an emissary from the ugly side of things, to remind you how close it was."
In addition Harlem itself is a crooked character riddled with corruption, graft, arson, blackmail- you get the picture.
"It was a glorious June morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the ambulances were screaming, and the daylight falling on last night’s crime scenes made the blood twinkle like dew in a green heaven."
Just highlighting the following lines made me appreciate how great a writer Colson Whitehead is. Can't wait for the third part of this trilogy to land. Highly recommend pretty much all his works.

Lines:
A reliable subset of his clientele consisted of old men splurging on simple things they had long denied themselves.

Slick was an asset in the sales game. He was only twenty-one but had lived many lives, even if Carney suspected he had emerged full grown from a vat of Harlem Cool five minutes before he first laid eyes on him.

Business, orderly business, unfolded inside the walls of Carney’s Furniture, but out on the street it was Harlem rules: rowdy, unpredictable, more trifling than a loser uncle.

When they first met, Munson had been stout and solidly built, one of those cops you think twice about starting with. The detective had softened over the years as he availed himself of the myriad perks of his job, the steaks on the house and the free rounds. Lumpy, like an army bag full of soiled laundry that had sprouted legs. Now he’d shed some of that bulk and looked harrowed, slimmed down in a way that you’d mistake for an exercise regimen if you didn’t know it was from running from something that was gaining on him.

Webb’s natural tint was a fish-belly white that turned completely scarlet when he got angry, like a lizard on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

They called him Corky because his older brother tried to drown him in the creek when he was five, but he “kept floating up.” His longevity in hazardous trades reaffirmed the nickname.

He couldn’t remember the name of the band, but A Bunch of Squirrels in a Burlap Sack Being Beaten by Hammers would not have been false advertising.

A finisher put a building out of its misery, he said. The owner’s at the end of his rope—taxes up to here, junkies taking over—so he sells the building to the finisher, who strips out the wiring, the plumbing, anything worth a buck, and then torches the joint for the jacked-up insurance policy.

Pepper was an emissary from the ugly side of things, to remind you how close it was.

The wind overnight had swept out the humidity and the clouds made the city seem like it was wrapped in a bum’s dingy overcoat.

A man should have a safe big enough to hold his secrets. Bigger, even, so you have room to grow. ( )

A little more piecemeal and not as great as the first one, but enjoyed the attention to historical detail. ( )

What an amazing follow up to Harlem Shuffle.
Hopefully there will be a third outing for Ray Carney and Pepper. Fantastic Book and set in the Early Seventies. This is a top class performance from a fantastic writer at the top of his game. ( )

Actually three separate stories set in 1971, 1973, and 1976 in Harlem centering around furniture store owner and fence for stolen items, Ray Carney. Ray has been living the straight life for several years, but now his teen age daughter wants tickets to Michael Jackson. In order to get them for her he reconnects with corrupt cop, Munson. From their the plot tangles into more thief and eventually murder. Ray survives.

The second story focuses more on Ray's old friend, Pepper, who works "security" for a film crew filming a Blaxpotation movie. The main star disappears and Pepper sets out to find her. Once again, it leads to murder. But Ray survives.

The third story involves a Black candidate for City Hall whom Ray's wife, Elizabeth, is support. Oakes was a childhood friend of Elizabeth's - but like what seems to be every policeman, government official, business owner, etc. he is corrupt. This story involves arson and Ray's furniture store as well as his "exclusive club" is burned. It too ends on a positive note as Ray is rebuilding and planning how the furniture will be arranged.

Ray is likeable, gullible, but always on the shady side. The cultural history of New York is interesing; it was a time of high crime, run down buildings, etc. The thing that I don't like is the many uses of slang and references that I simply don't yet - don't have the same vernacular as Ray. Still read in almost one day. ( )