Ray Carney, who's a Harlem furniture store owner.....
......and a criminal fence, was introduced in the darkly comic book 'Harlem Shuffle', set in the 1960s.
In Harlem Shuffle, Ray is recruited to fence goods acquired from the heist of an upscale Harlem hotel; things go wrong; and crooked cops, gangsters, and other baddies are involved.
*****
Ray and his family, friends, and acquaintances are back in 'Crook Manifesto', set in the 1970s. As the book opens, Ray, his wife Elizabeth, and their two children, named John and May, have moved to a nicer neighborhood.
Ray has been going straight for the past four years, having given up his fencing sideline. Ray's store, Carney's Furniture, is doing very well, and Ray prides himself on selling quality goods to Harlem residents: "Carney outfitted newlyweds for their expedition and upgraded living rooms to suit improved circumstances, coached retirees through the array of modern recliners. It was a grave responsibility."
Try as he might, though, Ray can't stay on the right side of the law, and trouble ensues.
The book is divided into three parts: 1971, 1973, and 1976.
🕵 1971
Ray is a loving father, and when his teenage daughter May wants to see 'The Jackson Five' at Madison Square Garden, Ray vows to get tickets for the show.
Ray hits up various contacts with no luck, and finally resorts to asking a bent white cop named Munson - who patrols Harlem - for a favor.
Munson agrees to get The Jackson Five tickets for a return favor: Ray must fence pricey gems Munson acquired from the robbery of a jewelry store. Ray agrees to fence the stolen goods, not knowing that Munson has a much bigger agenda.
The Knapp Commission is investigating corruption in the New York City Police Department, and Munson - who's been shaking down Harlem businesses and taking bribes from Harlem criminals for years - is VERY fearful of being caught out. "Before the City Council granted Knapp and his crew subpoena power, nobody was sweating them. Another phony commission for public relations. Running stings on low-level patrolmen putting the bite on bar owners and tow-truck drivers, penny-ante bullshit. But in March they got that subpoena power. And people are getting served."
Munson is so worried about the Knapp Commission, he decides to make one last GIANT haul, after which he plans to skip town. Munson forces Ray to assist with this scheme, and - as Munson trolls around both legitimate businesses and the underbelly of Harlem - trouble follows.
All this is happening in an already fraught atmosphere in New York. A militant organization called the Black Liberation Army, angry about the oppression of African-American people, is targeting police officers, and several deaths have occurred.
🕵 1973
A black 'writer/producer/director' called Zippo is making a Blaxploitation film called Nefertiti T.N.T., about a female black secret agent. Zippo feels Blaxboitation movies are a no-brainer: "Give a black man a gun and let him mow down some white people - it's not art, but it puts butts in seats."
The movie is set in Harlem, and Ray Carney puts up some money for the film, and allows a few scenes to be shot in his furniture store. "Carney had known the director since he was a teenager, when the kid hung around with his cousin Freddie. He hustled small-time for a while - kiting paper, selling blue movies - and now he was a director, making one of those black movies.
After some expensive equipment is stolen from the movie set, Ray's friend Pepper - a tough, lifelong criminal who doesn't have a heist planned at the moment - agrees to be the security guard for the project. "Pepper needed some scratch for operating expenses, sure, but more than anything he was bored. It had been a long time since he had beat a man senseless. The film work might provide access to those in need of a beating."
When Nefertiti's star, an actress called Lucinda Cole, doesn't show up for work one day, Pepper is offered extra money to find her.
Pepper goes all around Harlem asking questions and agitating people, and this especially annoys Lucinda's ex-boyfriend, a Harlem gangster called Chink Montague, who thinks he 'discovered' the actress.
Once again, all this stirs up a mess of trouble.
🕵 1976
Buildings in poor neighborhoods of New York City, especially Harlem, are burning down in record numbers.
Most of this is related to insurance scams, with MANY hands on the take, including politicians, insurance adjustors, arsonists, and more. "Urban renewal: You have to clear the dead stuff before the fresh growth can prosper. Sure, shady landlords get their big payouts from the crooked insurance adjusters while the law looks the other way, and then the construction firms grease the palms of city officials for contracts, nice paychecks for everybody out of the misery, but people need places to live. Right?"
In this atmosphere, Ray Carney's wife Elizabeth is organizing fundraisers for her lifelong friend, politician Alexander Oakes, who's running for Manhattan borough president. Elizabeth thinks Oakes is an upstanding fellow who will help clean up corruption and curb fraud.
Ray Carver has used profits from his furniture store to purchase a couple of buildings, and he rents out apartments to low-income residents. When an arson fire in an abandoned edifice (not owned by Ray) injures an 11-year-old boy who's Ray's tenant, Ray is incensed. So Ray hires his criminal friend Pepper to track down the people responsible for the conflagration. Pepper's investigation stirs up plenty of trouble, and even implicates a certain politician (ahem ahem).
Pepper is one tough hombre for sure. Facing off against men meaning him harm, "Pepper rose, emerging from his hiding spot like a grizzly rearing up on hind legs. He charged and swung. The pedestal ashtray captured Reece right under his jaw."
There's plenty of action and skullduggery in the book, and a wide array of colorful characters, many of whom - though shady - are just trying to get by. Some characters, of course, are truly awful people.
Author Colson Whitehead, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, lives in New York City and presents a vivid picture of the ambiance and appearance of Harlem in the latter part of the 20th century. This is a very good book, highly recommended.
Rating: 4 stars
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