First published 2026
Ray Carney runs a successful furniture store in 1980s Harlem, but when banks refuse his wife Elizabeth a loan for her travel agency, he gambles everything on one last criminal job. The heist pulls him into the orbit of a legendary mastermind, testing the legitimate life he's built. His partner Pepper, aging and weary, takes a bodyguard assignment that drags him into the East Village art scene, where violence remains his most fluent language. Years later, Carney faces his deepest regret when Freddie's son needs rescue from the city's brutal forces. Coming out of retirement means destroying the security he's spent decades creating for his family. Carney must choose between the safety he's earned and the redemption he's always sought. Whitehead captures New York during Reagan's transformation, where gleaming towers rise above displaced people living in abandoned subway tunnels.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, african-american, crime, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption, second-chance
Setting: Harlem, New York
Period: 1980s
368 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday