Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

“One thing I’ve learned in my job is that life is cheap, and when things start getting expensive, it gets cheaper still.”

To his customers and neighbors, Ray Carney is a upstanding salesman with reasonably priced furniture. He is making a life for his wife and they are expecting their second child together. While Elizabeth's parents might not approve of him or their house across from the subway tracks, it's still a proud life they've made together. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown crooks and hoods, and that his facade of normalcy has a few cracks in it. Cracks that are starting to growing bigger and bigger. Cash is tight, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray has no reason to question where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn't ask questions. Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plans to rob the Hotel Theresa and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a whole new set of clientele, one made of shady cops, vicious gangsters, and a whole lot of Harlem lowlifes. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid being killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his upstanding reputation as the go to source for all your quality home furniture needs?

I will always read anything Colson Whitehead writes. The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad are two must reads to me. This is the time if you haven't read those to now go read them now please! Back to this book though, I had extremely high hopes. The premise sounds right up my alley and like the start of a magnificent novel. I was not disappointed. Colson writes a novel that makes me feel like I'm right there in 1960's Harlem. Hearing the jazz. Seeing the classic stores. He knows how to write such descriptive passages that I forget I'm not actually there. The novel is broken up into 3 different sections and I wasn't sure what the purpose of that was. But once I started reading, it completely made sense. Each new section was a new stage in Ray's life. As time moved forward, so did Ray, his life, and the world. It was fitting and the reader could also see how time had treated Ray, his furniture business, and those around him.

Who doesn't love a good heist?! I do and I enjoyed every scene with and about Ray's cousin, Freddie. Freddie was the main one always dragging Ray into some type of scheme. Some of my favorite parts of the book were all the heist and schemes Ray found himself in. They were described so well, it was almost like being in the middle of Ocean's 11! The players, the score,and how it all went down! This book captures all of the changes of a neighborhood and its inhabitants over years. How over time, change is inevitable. I could also see Ray changing right along with his neighborhood.

Harlem Shuffle was one of my most anticipated reads of this year! I had such high expectations and I wasn't disappointed whatsoever. While I will say this book does start off slow, give it a chance. I pushed through the first twenty percent and it was smooth sailing from there for me. I enjoyed reading about Ray, Freddie, and the mess they constantly found themselves in. It was a 4 out of 5 star read for me. Go pick this book up and enjoy the story of Ray Carney.