The point of view is third person. The narrator knows all details of the story as well as the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The point of view changes between characters so the reader often knows things that the characters do not.
The novel starts in New York City. Mr. Big operates out of Harlem, a district of Manhattan that is inhabited primarily by African Americans. The second section of the novel takes place in Florida. The author spends a lot of time describing the city of New York, especially Harlem, as well as St. Petersburg, Florida. As the novel was originally written for a British audience these places would be very unfamiliar to them.
The final section of the movie takes place in Jamaica. Jamaica is also described in detail, but not.....