To his customers and neighbours, Ray Carney is a salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. Few people know that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it.

Surrounded by shady cops, vicious local thugs, and various other lowlifes - including his own cousin - Ray the striver tussles every day with Ray the crook. A family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.