Importance of Being Dangerous Book

In the 1990s, as the internet boomed and investments soared to unthinkable heights, many people were left with their feet planted firmly on the ground, looking enviously up at the more fortunate winners in life's game of roulette.

This is the era in which we meet Sidarra, Griff, and Yakoob--hardworking folks who can't seem to get a toehold while wealth explodes all around them. Sidarra is a single mom with a dead-end job at the Board of "Miseducation," Griff is a defense lawyer striving to make a difference, and Yakoob is a struggling comedian. Each has personal struggles, but when they join the Central Harlem Investment Club, a plan to restore a little justice to their lives takes shape.

It seems Yakoob has found a way to siphon off funds from wealthy individuals--the kind of people who are well insured and will barely notice the missing money. But in order to justify personal gain at the expense of others, the group decides to pick their victims based on people who have done harm to the black community in the past. A plan hatched in a dark pool hall could be a way to escape their drab lives and bring some equality back to the world.

But when the group brings in Yakoob's shady neighbor Raul, their scheme takes a sinister twist. Now, with murder in the mix, their plans may spiral into much more dangerous territory . . .