Crook Manifesto

Dion Graham returns to narrate another trifecta of stories featuring Ray Carney and company, spanning five years. In 1971, seven years after the events of Harlem Shuffle, Carney, who retired from fencing goods, finds himself back in the business so that he can buy his daughter tickets to the Jackson 5 concert. Meanwhile, Pepper, now a security guard for a film shoot, begrudgingly searches for a missing starlet. Later, Carney and Pepper investigate a string of arsons that have dire consequences for them. Underlying the tales is commentary about how Harlem has gone from promising to seedy over the years. As with the previous audiobook, Graham gives life to each character by using a variety of intonations and inflections. Most notably, Pepper sounds exactly as he’s described: a gruff muscle man who has seen it all. The stories, while fine, however, have varying results. What Carney does to get the elusive concert tickets is the strongest of the three tales, as it harks back to the Whitehead’s previous novel and is the least predictable.