Customer Reviews

Thrilling crime fiction. Black comedy. Social commentary. - By: , 20 Nov 2000
Easy, enjoyable read. Himes recreates the culture & language of the streetsin every line. Sharp dialouge & black humour are mixed with desription that brings alive the social conditions of Harlem. It really gives the impression of people packed into grimey tennaments. It is also steeped music, especially blues & spirituals.

As well as being first class crime fiction it also contains the concerns & issues facing the black population of the time. Many of the characters have migrated from the rural south only to find themselvesin trouble once again.

Religion also figures largely whether Christianity (A Rage In Harlem)or Islam (The Real Kool Killers), & Himes' cynicism on the subject was enjoyable to an atheist like myself.

Similar to Iceberg Slim, but slightly better & a decade earlier. And with three novelsin one volume, you can't go wrong.