A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes

(pb; 1957: first novel in the eight-book Harlem Detectives series. Alternate title: For Love of Imabelle.)

From the back cover

“For love of fine, wily Imabelle, hapless Jackson surrenders his life savings to a con man who knows the secret of turning ten-dollar bills into hundreds─and then he steals from his boss, only to lose the stolen money at craps tables. Luckily for him, he can turn to his savvy twin brother, Goldy, who earns a living─disguised as a Sister of Mercy─by selling tickets to Heaven in Harlem. With Goldy on his side, Jackson is ready for payback.”

Review

 Rage is an excellent, rough, violently funny and always-on-the-prowl police procedural that “takes back” the black crime narrative from white writers, the way Himes described his intentions. All the characters in Rage are fools and marks, con artists, killers, whores (male and female) or otherwise not-innocent─to be charitable is to be taken advantage of is one of the themes of Rage, one that makes for a memorably nervous-energy and vividly described read. Worth reading, this.

 Followed by The Real Cool Killers.

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 The resulting film was released stateside on May 3, 1991. Bill Duke directed the film, from a screenplay by Bobby Crawford and John Toles-Bey, who also co-starred.

 Forest Whitaker played Jackson. Gregory Hines played Goldy. Robin Givens played Imabelle. Zakes Mokae played Big Kathy. Danny Glover played Easy Money.

 Badja Djola played Slim. John Toles-Bey played Jodie. Helen Martin played Mrs. Cansfield. Wendell Pierce played Louis. T.K. Carter played Smitty. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins played himself. George Wallace played “Grave Digger.”