{"product_id":"crook-manifesto-9780349727660","title":"Crook Manifesto","description":"\u003cp\u003eA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: a powerful and hugely-entertaining novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy glory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Glorious' New York Times Book Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'The compelling energy of a crime thriller and the sharp wit of social satire' Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Whitehead's crime series is one of the most enjoyable streaks in recent fiction' Telegraph\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'This novel has it all' Mail on Sunday\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1971, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1973. 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1976. 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Fast, fun, ribald... with a touch of Quentin Tarantino' Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'A delight' Financial Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Hugely enticing' Independent\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Colson Whitehead","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49084849160443,"sku":"9780349727660","price":28.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0806\/8176\/3067\/files\/9780349727660.webp?v=1784500928","url":"https:\/\/aureliabooks.co.nz\/products\/crook-manifesto-9780349727660","provider":"Aurelia Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}