You won’t want to miss the dazzling conclusion to Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy.

On this episode of Fully Booked, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Colson Whitehead joins us to discuss his new novel, Cool Machine (Doubleday, July 21), the eagerly anticipated final installment in his celebrated Harlem Trilogy.

Cool Machine finds Harlem furniture salesman and part-time criminal Ray Carney and company navigating the 1980, a “time of starkly mixed blessings fora New York City galvanized by reckless real estate development,plagued with widespread homelessness, and immersed in crime and corruption of gaudy proportions,” Kirkus writes in a starred review, calling Whitehead “a master novelist in full command of his powers as a storyteller, prose stylist, and social observer.”

Whitehead is the author of 12 works of fiction and nonfiction. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, for The Nickel Boys(2019),which also won the Kirkus Prize, and The Underground Railroad(2016), which also won the National Book Award. A recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, he lives in New York City.

Here’s a bit more from our review of Cool Machine: “As with its two predecessors, Harlem Shuffle(2021) and Crook Manifesto(2023), this installment carves its historic period into three self-contained but interwoven stories set in three different years.…[Its riveting capstone caper is] as improbable as packing three page-turning thrillers into one book that’s sustained throughout by rich, engaging characterizations and lucid, provocative reflections on a community, a city, and a people that it presents as both exasperating and captivating with equal intensity.”

In a delightful conversation, Whitehead shares his abiding love for heist novels. He tells me why Harlem Shuffle wasn’t announced as the start of a trilogy and what made him want to continue Carney’s story through the ’80s. We talk about Carney’s associate, Pepper, as a low-affect foil for the protagonist. Then we discuss family ties, metrics of success, the criminal underworld, mafia memoirs, and why he decided to dedicate the book to “New York Fuckin City.” We explore unique New York language, cultural references from the ’80s, the story behind the title, and much more.

At the end of our interview, Whitehead recommends a recent prize-winning true crime book. Follow @kirkus_reviews on Instagram, DM us the title of that book, along with your email and location, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive a $100 Visa gift card, courtesy of Kirkus. The giveaway is open to legal residents of the U.S. who have reached 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

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Fully Booked is produced by Jessica Lockhart and Megan Labrise.