Although descending from a criminal family, Ray makes his living working as an upstanding furniture salesman on 125th Street.

The heist goes wrong and a cast of criminal figures enter Ray's life, forcing him into a personal struggle between aspects of his fractured self.

[8][9] In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it "as audacious, ingenious, and spellbinding as any of his previous period pieces" and praised the novel's "Dickensian array of colorful, idiosyncratic characters" and Whitehead's "densely layered, intricately woven rendering of New York City in the Kennedy era.

"[10] Publishers Weekly, in its starred review, praised its "superlative story" and Whitehead's depiction of an early 1960s Harlem "which lands as detailed and vivid as Joyce's Dublin.

"[11] Writing for The New York Times, Janet Maslin commented, "Though it's a slightly slow starter, Harlem Shuffle has dialogue that crackles, a final third that nearly explodes, hangouts that invite even if they're Chock Full o' Nuts and characters you won't forget even if they don't stick around for more than a few pages.