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USA Noir
Best of the Akashic Noir Series
Akashic Noir
Edited by Johnny Temple
Contributions by Megan Abbott, Lawrence Block, Tim Broderick, Joseph Bruchac, Jerome Charyn, Lee Child, Reed Farrel Coleman, Michael Connelly, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver, Barbara DeMarco-Barret, Elyssa East, Maggie Estep, Jonathan Safran Foer, J. Malcolm Garcia, James W. Hall, James W. Hall, Pete Hamill, Pete Hamill, Terrance Hayes, Karen Karbo, Bharti Kirchner, William Kent Krueger, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Laura Lippman, Tim McLoughlin, Joyce Carol Oates, John O’Brien, Bayo Ojikutu, T. Jefferson Parker, George Pelecanos, Pir Rothenberg, S.J. Rozan, Lisa Sandlin, Julie Smith, Asali Solomon, Domenic Stansberry, Susan Straight, Luis Alberto Urrea and Don Winslow
Published by: Akashic Books
Imprint: Akashic Books
548 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in
- Paperback
- 9781617751844
- Published: November 2013
$25.95
Other Retailers:
--New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
One of Zoom Street Magazine's Favorite Books of 2014
Indie Books Roundup #1 Pick, Barnes & Noble Book Blog
Included in Zoom Street Magazine's Summer Reading (Mysteries/Noir) Roundup
One of "100 Best Books for Readers Young and Old," HispanicBusiness.com
"Readers will be hard put to find a better collection of short stories in any genre."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A must read for mystery fans, not just devotees of Akashic's 'Noir' series, this anthology serves as both an introduction for newcomers and a greatest-hits package for regular readers of the series There isn’t a weak story in the collection...Strongly recommended for readers who enjoy mysteries published by Hard Case Crime, as well as for fans of police procedurals."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"The 37 stories in this collection represent the best of the U.S.-based anthologies, and the list of contributors include virtually anyone who’s made the best-seller list with a work of crime fiction in the last decade...a must-have anthology."
--Booklist (starred review)
"It's hard to imagine how the present anthology could be topped for sheer marquee appeal...Perhaps the single most impressive feature of the collection is its range of voices, from Joyce Carol Oates' faux innocent young family to Megan Abbott's impressionable high school kids to the chorus of peremptory voices S.J. Rozan plants in a haunted thief's head. Eat your heart out, Walt Whitman: These are the folks who hear America singing, and moaning and screaming."
--Kirkus Reviews
"A less enlightened Temple cover collection of crime and mystery stories could easily reduce itself to stereotypical cartoons about white detectives with a whiskey bottle and a gun in the drawer but Akashic's series takes itself very seriously in its mission to represent all aspects of a city’s dark side."
--Kirkus Reviews, Feature Story/Interview with Johnny Temple
"For those who prefer their crime closer to home, there is USA Noir, a veritable greatest hits of Akashic's long-running, acclaimed noir anthology series, rounding up solid gold blackness of the bleakest and darkest kind...Like Chuck Berry sang, 'Anything you want, we got right here in the USA.'"
--Mystery Scene Magazine
Launched with the summer 2004 award-winning bestseller Brooklyn Noir, the groundbreaking Akashic Noir series now includes over sixty volumes and counting. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the city of the book.
Featuring stories by: Dennis Lehane, Don Winslow, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Susan Straight, Jonathan Safran Foer, Laura Lippman, Pete Hamill, Joyce Carol Oates, Lee Child, T. Jefferson Parker, Lawrence Block, Terrance Hayes, Jerome Charyn, Jeffery Deaver, Maggie Estep, Bayo Ojikutu, Tim McLoughlin, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Reed Farrel Coleman, Megan Abbott, Elyssa East, James W. Hall, J. Malcolm Garcia, Julie Smith, Joseph Bruchac, Pir Rothenberg, Luis Alberto Urrea, Domenic Stansberry, John O'Brien, S.J. Rozan, Asali Solomon, William Kent Krueger, Tim Broderick, Bharti Kirchner, Karen Karbo, and Lisa Sandlin.
From the introduction by Johnny Temple:
"From the start, the heart and soul of Akashic Books has been dark, provocative, well-crafted tales from the disenfranchised. I learned early on that writings from outside the mainstream almost necessarily coincide with a mood and spirit of noir, and are composed by authors whose life circumstances often place them in environs exposed to crime...This volume serves up a top-shelf selection of stories from the series set in the United States. USA Noir only scratches the surface, however, and every single volume has gems on offer."
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: True Grit
Dennis Lehane, “Animal Rescue,” Dorchester, Boston Noir
George Pelecanos, “The Confidential Informant,” Park View, NW, DC Noir
Susan Straight, “The Golden Gopher,” Downtown, Los Angeles Noir
Pete Hamill, “The Book Signing,” Park Slope, Brooklyn Noir
Joyce Carol Oates, “Run Kiss Daddy,” Kittatinny Mountains, New Jersey Noir
Terrance Hayes, “Still Air,” East Liberty, Pittsburgh Noir
Jerome Charyn, “White Trash,” Claremont/Concourse, Bronx Noir
Part II: American Values
Maggie Estep, “Alice Fantastic,” Aqueduct Racetrack, Queens Noir
Bayo Ojikutu, “The Gospel of Moral Ends,” 77th & Jeffery, Chicago Noir
Tim McLoughlin, “When All This Was Bay Ridge,” Sunset Park, Brooklyn Noir
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, “Crazy for You,” Costa Mesa, Orange County Noir
Reed Farrel Coleman, “Mastermind,” Selden, Long Island Noir
Karen Karbo, “The Clown and Bard,” SE Twenty-Eighth Avenue, Portland Noir
Part III: Road Rage
Michael Connelly, “Mulholland Dive,” Mullholand Drive, Los Angeles Noir
Megan Abbott, “Our Eyes Couldn’t Stop Opening,” Alter Road, Detroit Noir
Lee Child, “Public Transportation,” Chandler, Phoenix Noir
Jonathan Safran Foer, “Too Near Real,” Princeton, New Jersey Noir
James W. Hall, “Ride Along,” Coconut Grove, Miami Noir
Elyssa East, “Second Chance,” Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod Noir
Part IV: Homeland Security
Don Winslow, “After Thirty,” Pacific Beach, San Diego Noir
J. Malcolm Garcia, “Missing Gene,” Troost Lake, Kansas City Noir
Julie Smith, “Loot,” Garden District, New Orleans Noir
Domenic Stansberry, “The Prison,” North Beach, San Francisco Noir
Joseph Bruchac, “Helper,” Adirondacks, Indian Country Noir
Laura Lippman, “Easy As A-B-C,” Locust Point, Baltimore Noir
Pir Rothenberg, “The Rose Red Vial,” Museum District, Richmond Noir
Part V: Under the Influence
Luis Alberto Urrea, “Amapola,” Paradise Valley, Phoenix Noir
John O’Brien, “The Tik,” Scotch 80s, Las Vegas Noir
S.J. Rozan, “Lighthouse,” St. George, Staten Island Noir
Asali Solomon, “Secret Pool,” West Philadelphia, Philadelphia Noir
William Kent Kruger, “Bums,” West Side, St. Paul, Twin Cities Noir
Part VI: Street Justice
T. Jefferson Parker, “Vic Primeval,” Kearny Mesa, San Diego Noir
Tim Broderick, “Feeding Frenzy,” 40 Wall Street, Wall Street Noir
Bharti Kirchner “Promised Tulips,” Wallingford, Seattle Noir
Lawrence Block, “If You Can’t Stand the Heat,” Clinton, Manhattan Noir
Lisa Sandlin, “Phelan’s First Case,” Beaumont, Lone Star Noir
Jeffery Deaver, “A Nice Place to Visit,” Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan Noir
Lee Child was fired and on the dole when he hatched a harebrained scheme to write a best-selling novel, thus saving his family from ruin. Killing Floor went on to win worldwide acclaim. His series hero, Jack Reacher, besides being fictional, is a kind-hearted soul who allows Child lots of spare time for reading, listening to music, and the Yankees. Visit www.leechild.com for information about the novels, short stories, and the movie Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise.
Jeffery Deaver, a former journalist, folk singer, and attorney, is an international number-one best-selling author. His novels have appeared on best-seller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the Times of London, Italy’s Corriere della Sera, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Los Angeles Times. His books are sold in 150 countries and have been translated into twenty-five languages. His most recent novels are XO, a Kathryn Dance thriller, for which he wrote an album of country-western songs; and Carte Blanche, the latest James Bond continuation novel.
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett is author of Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within. She has worked as an auto-parts runner, baker, crisis intervention counselor, and more. Her nonfiction has been published in Orange Coast, Westways, the Los Angeles Times, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, and Poets & Writers. She teaches “Jumpstart Your Writing” for Gotham Writers’ Workshop and hosts Writers on Writing on KUCI-FM. For more information, visit www.penonfire.com.
Elyssa East is the author of the Boston Globe best-selling book,
Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the award-winning and best-selling novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, as well as two works of nonfiction: Eating Animals and The New American Haggadah. His books have been published in over thirty languages, and he was included in Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists” issue as well as the New Yorker’s “20 under 40” list of the best young writers in the US.
J. Malcolm Garcia is the author of The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul and Riding through Katrina with the Red Baron’s Ghost. His articles have been featured in Best American Travel Writing and Best American Nonrequired Reading.
James W. Hall is the author of four books of poetry, a collection of short stories, a collection of essays, and seventeen novels. His most recent work is Hit Lit, a nonfiction examination of the dozen most successful best sellers of the twentieth century and the common features they share. He was a Fulbright professor of literature in Spain and a professor of literature and writing at Florida International University for thirty-five years. Hall has won both the Edgar and Shamus awards. He and his wife Evelyn and their three dogs divide their time between South Florida and the mountains of western North Carolina.
Pete Hamill is a veteran journalist and novelist. He is the author of seventeen books, including the best-selling A Drinking Life and a new story collection, The Christmas Kid. His nine novels include the New York Times best sellers Snow in August, Tabloid City, and Forever. He has covered wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon, and Northern Ireland, as well as the domestic disturbances in American cities in the 1960s. In addition to his many years as a columnist, he has served as editor in chief of the New York Post and the New York Daily News. He divides his time between New York City and Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Karen Karbo is the author of three novels, all of which have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Her memoir, The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, won an Oregon Book Award. Her short stories, essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, O, More, the New Republic, the New York Times, Salon, and other magazines. Karbo is well known for her best-selling Kick Ass Women Series, the most recent of which is How Georgia Became O’Keeffe, published in 2011.
Bharti Kirchner is the author of nine books—five critically acclaimed novels and four cookbooks. Her latest novel is Tulip Season: A Mitra Basu Mystery. Her essays have appeared in ten anthologies, and she has won numerous awards, including a VCCA (Virginia Center for Creative Arts) Fellowship and two Seattle Arts Commission literature grants.
Dennis Lehane is the author of the Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro mystery series (A Drink Before the War; Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone, Baby, Gone; Prayers for Rain; and Moonlight Mile), as well as Coronado (five stories and a play) and the novels Mystic River, Shutter Island, The Given Day, and Live By Night. Three of his novels have been made into award-winning films. He edited the best-selling anthology Boston Noir and coedited Boston Noir 2: The Classics for Akashic Books.
Laura Lippman has published eighteen novels, a novella, and a book of short stories, and she edited Baltimore Noir for Akashic Books. Her work has been nominated for virtually every award open to North American crime writers and has won most of them, including the Edgar, Anthony, Quill, Nero Wolfe, and Agatha awards. Lippman lives in Baltimore and New Orleans.
Tim McLoughlin is the editor of Brooklyn Noir and its companion volumes. His debut novel Heart of the Old Country is the basis for the motion picture The Narrows, starring Vincent D’Onofrio. His books have been published in seven languages, and his writing has appeared in New York Quarterly, the Huffington Post, and Best American Mystery Stories. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he still resides.
Joyce Carol Oates is the author of a number of works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She is the editor of New Jersey Noir, Prison Noir, and Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers; and a recipient of the National Book Award, PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Humanities Medal, and a World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
John O’Brien was born in 1960 and grew up in the Cleveland area. He and his wife of thirteen years, Lisa, married in 1979 and eventually settled in Los Angeles. O’Brien published his first critically acclaimed novel, Leaving Las Vegas, in 1990. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April 1994, just weeks after signing over the film rights for Leaving Las Vegas. His posthumous publications include The Assault on Tony’s, Stripper Lessons, and Better.
Bayo Ojikutu is the critically acclaimed author of the novels 47th Street Black and Free Burning. His work has won the Washington Prize for Fiction and the Great American Book Award. Ojikutu’s short work has appeared in various collections, magazines, and journals. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and he has been recognized by the African American Arts Alliance for his contribution to literary fiction. Ojikutu and his family reside in Chicago.
George Pelecanos is the author of nineteen novels set in and around Washington, DC. He served as a writer and producer on HBO’s The Wire, The Pacific, and, most recently, Treme. He edited both DC Noir and DC Noir 2: The Classics for Akashic Books.
Pir Rothenberg’s work has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, Dossier Journal, Harpur Palate, Juked, Makeout Creek, Overtime, Prick of the Spindle, Richmond Noir, River Styx, and Zahir. He is currently pursuing his PhD at Georgia State University.
Lisa Sandlin was born in the Gulf Coast oil town of Beaumont, Texas. She’s the author of The Famous Thing About Death, Message to the Nurse of Dreams, In the River Province, You Who Make the Sky Bend, a collaboration with New Mexican santera Catherine Ferguson, and a coeditor of Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace. Her work has won numerous awards, including a Pushcart Prize and a Best Book of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters. “Phelan’s First Case,” included in this volume, was a finalist for the 2011 Shamus Award.
Julie Smith is the author of more than twenty mystery novels, most set in New Orleans and starring one or the other of her detective heroes, a cop named Skip Langdon and a PI named Talba Wallis. She is also the editor of New Orleans Noir for Akashic Books. Her book New Orleans Mourning won the Edgar Award for best novel. She has recently published her course on writing novels, Writing Your Way, as an e-book. Her digital publishing startup is www.booksBnimble.com.
Asali Solomon is the author of Get Down: Stories. Her work has been featured in the anthologies Philadelphia Noir, Heavy Rotation: Twenty Writers on the Albums that Changed Their Lives, and Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award in 2006 and was selected as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” in 2007. She is at work on a novel.
Domenic Stansberry is known for his dark, innovative crime novels, including his award-winning North Beach mysteries, The Last Days of Il Duce and Chasing the Dragon. Stansberry is also the author of The Confession, a “modern noir shocker” that has been hailed as the vanguard of the neo-pulp renaissance. He has been nominated three times for the Edgar Allan Poe Award.
Susan Straight has published eight novels. Her latest, Between Heaven and Here, is the final book in the Rio Seco trilogy. Take One Candle Light a Room was named one of the best novels of 2010 by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Kirkus. “The Golden Gopher,” included in this volume, won the 2008 Edgar Award for best short story. She teaches creative writing at University of California–Riverside. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family, whose history is featured on susanstraight.com.
Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Edgar Award for the short story “Amapola” (included in this volume), is the best-selling author of fourteen books, including Queen of America, Into the Beautiful North, The Hummingbird’s Daughter, and The Devil’s Highway. Recipient of an American Book Award, a Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize, a Lannan Literary Award, and a member of the Latino Literary Hall of Fame, Urrea lives with his family in Naperville, Illinois, where he is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois–Chicago.
Don Winslow is the New York Times best-selling author of more than a dozen novels, including Savages, The Power of the Dog, The Kings of Cool, California Fire and Life, The Winter of Frankie Machine, and Satori. Savages was made into a critically acclaimed film for Universal Pictures by three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone. Winslow has received numerous awards for his writing, including the prestigious Raymond Chandler Award as one of the most significant figures in American literature
"In USA Noir we are treated to range of tales by accomplished writers, and reflecting the diversity of the nation. Each draws on the dark worlds, flawed characters, and jaded mood intrinsic to the genre we have come to call Noir. If you're a fan, you're in for a real treat. If you’re not a fan, try it--you just might change your mind."
--Reviewing the Evidence
"The stories in USA Noir keep the reader guessing and waiting for the unavoidable plot twist at the end without having to sit through chapters of character development or side stories. Like good noir, everything is quick and dirty, keeps the reader engaged and shows that there is a little sex, violence and sleaziness in all of us, regardless of location."
--Denver Post's Yourhub
"So, thanks a million to antho editor and Akashic Books head honcho Johnny Temple for doing such a crackerjack job of overloading my schedule with these dark and dirty pleasures."
--Austin Chronicle
"The sultry, mysterious tone plays out like Lynch writing an old pulp paperback. Much to love here."
--Metro Times Blog (Detroit)
"In a way, the noir series at Akashic has always been a best of so you can't really miss picking this one up."
--Brooklyn Based
"This is, without question, a must-have collection that serves equally well as an introduction to each of the authors as it does the Noir series itself. Regardless if you read the stories in the order presented, or go directly to those by some of your favorites, you'll find USA Noir on your nightstand or reading table for many nights."
--Bookgasm
"This book is full of little gems that can be picked up, read and enjoyed in less than 10 minutes, and as the mother of a young child, this collection is the perfect answer when all I have is a few minutes of uninterrupted reading time."
--NY Spender
"An excellent cross-section of today's noir writers."
--SKJAM! Reviews
"For Christmas, someone could give me USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series--a good way to offset all the goodwill and frivolity."
--The Observer (UK)
"Hold the eggnog: What you need is a draft of 'edgy fatalism and sexy recklessness,' of flashy crime, gallows humor, and 'desperate deals with a variety of devils,' served up every year since 2004 by the editors of Akashic Books' brilliant noir anthologies. From Brooklyn to Boston, from Phoenix to pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans, each volume in the series reveals a city's distinctive inner darkness."
--O, the Oprah Magazine
"Over the past few years, some of the best collections of short stories have been the Noir anthologies published by Akashic...To me, these collections are total gems, a quality read from some of today's best authors."
--Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel
"In USA Noir we are treated to range of tales by accomplished writers, and reflecting the diversity of the nation. Each draws on the dark worlds, flawed characters, and jaded mood intrinsic to the genre we have come to call Noir. If you're a fan, you're in for a real treat. If you’re not a fan, try it--you just might change your mind."
--Reviewing the Evidence
"The stories in USA Noir keep the reader guessing and waiting for the unavoidable plot twist at the end without having to sit through chapters of character development or side stories. Like good noir, everything is quick and dirty, keeps the reader engaged and shows that there is a little sex, violence and sleaziness in all of us, regardless of location."
--Denver Post's Yourhub
"So, thanks a million to antho editor and Akashic Books head honcho Johnny Temple for doing such a crackerjack job of overloading my schedule with these dark and dirty pleasures."
--Austin Chronicle
"The sultry, mysterious tone plays out like Lynch writing an old pulp paperback. Much to love here."
--Metro Times Blog (Detroit)
"In a way, the noir series at Akashic has always been a best of so you can't really miss picking this one up."
--Brooklyn Based
"This is, without question, a must-have collection that serves equally well as an introduction to each of the authors as it does the Noir series itself. Regardless if you read the stories in the order presented, or go directly to those by some of your favorites, you'll find USA Noir on your nightstand or reading table for many nights."
--Bookgasm
"This book is full of little gems that can be picked up, read and enjoyed in less than 10 minutes, and as the mother of a young child, this collection is the perfect answer when all I have is a few minutes of uninterrupted reading time."
--NY Spender
"An excellent cross-section of today's noir writers."
--SKJAM! Reviews
"For Christmas, someone could give me USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series--a good way to offset all the goodwill and frivolity."
--The Observer (UK)
"Hold the eggnog: What you need is a draft of 'edgy fatalism and sexy recklessness,' of flashy crime, gallows humor, and 'desperate deals with a variety of devils,' served up every year since 2004 by the editors of Akashic Books' brilliant noir anthologies. From Brooklyn to Boston, from Phoenix to pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans, each volume in the series reveals a city's distinctive inner darkness."
--O, the Oprah Magazine
"Over the past few years, some of the best collections of short stories have been the Noir anthologies published by Akashic...To me, these collections are total gems, a quality read from some of today's best authors."
--Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel