Set in 1960s Harlem, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys spins a sizzling tale of shakedowns, petty criminals and failed heists.

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked...”

To his customers on 125th street, Ray Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced furniture. Not many people know he descends from a line of uptown crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it.

When his cousin Freddie falls in with a crew who pull off one of Harlem’s most audacious heists, Ray finds himself in way above his head. Can he succeed in living a good life in a bad world?

Today: after being blackballed by the prestigious Dumas Club, Ray begins to plot revenge on the man who double-crossed him...

Read by Rhashan Stone
Writer: Colson Whitehead is the acclaimed US author of eight novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett Show less