Author hailed by Publishers Weekly as “a talented new voice in African-American
fiction” debuts a page-turning thriller
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING DANGEROUS
By David Dante Troutt
"David Dante Troutt has written a fine, textured novel with three characters--Sidarra, Griff, and Yakoob--who hold us spellbound from start to finish."
-- James Patterson, #1 Best-Selling Author
"An intelligent thriller, sharp as a razor, and even more engaging because Troutt’s characters are so realistic that the events feel all too plausible. But it’s more than a page-turner: Troutt has created a waking nightmare sewn within the seams of the everyday lives and struggles in Harlem."
-- Tananarive Due, American Book Award-winning author of Joplin's Ghost
“Racial inequality inspires a complex revenge plot in this sprawling first novel…earns good marks for its nifty premise, crisp dialogue and well-handled plot.”
-- Kirkus Reviews
Based in New York City of the go-go 90s, when dot-com millionaires excite the masses with easy stock market wealth and an emerging real estate boom brings gentrification to Harlem, The Importance of Being Dangerous reflects its protagonist’s desperate desire for financial and emotional control of her life. Sidarra is an almost-40 single mom, grieving the death of her parents and struggling in a dead-end job at the New York Board of “Miseducation.” Soon after attending her first investment club meeting, she finds herself in the middle of a morality tale that is part racial fantasy, part romantic thriller.
The novel’s trio of characters—Sidarra, the defense lawyer Griff and the computer tech Yakoob—are mild-mannered black professionals new to investing. When they discover the difficulty of stock market success, they confront a moral choice: What if you could cheat and get away with it? How much would you be justified in taking and from whom? When is enough enough?
Over an invented billiards game called “Whiteboy” the three become the Cicero Dean Investment Club, engaged in a conspiracy to commit identity theft against people who have profited from the humiliation of black people. This includes the prison-schools-industrial complex, a modern day “triangle trade” that implicates Sidarra’s boss, the New York City Schools Chancellor. Unfortunately for him, the Club accidentally admits Raul, a round-the-way sociopath, eager to prove himself to Sidarra. She, however, has eyes for Griff, the political mastermind, who struggles at home to redeem his worth. Yakoob, battling infertility and a comedy career that won’t take off, learns he has dangerous skills no one suspected a guy from the projects possessed. Revenge is always sweet until it goes too far.
The Importance of Being Dangerous is a satirical look at the blind spots of (black) middle-class struggle, the frustrating effects of urban class warfare and the challenge of personal redemption amid all the wrong temptations.