Lone Star Noir (Akashic Noir)

“Traverses Texas, finding evidence of the hard boiled, sultry, and disreputable throughout the state . . . Think of the book as a sort of criminal travelogue.” —Booklist

If everything is bigger in Texas, then that includes the boldness of the criminals who call the state home. From large urban centers to the Cajun Gulf coast, there is big money to be made running guns, drugs, and catering to the greedy and disillusioned. Each distinctive region can claim its own special brand of outlaw.

In Lone Star Noir, you’ll find stories by James Crumley, Joe R. Lansdale, Claudia Smith, Ito Romo, Luis Alberto Urrea, David Corbett, George Wier, Sarah Cortez, Jesse Sublett, Dean James, Tim Tingle, Milton T. Burton, Lisa Sandlin, Jessica Powers, and Bobby Byrd.

“This isn’t J.R. Ewing’s Lone Star State. This is the Texas of chicken shit bingo, Enron scamsters, and a feeling that what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico . . . So what defines Texas noir? Who knows, but you better pray that blood doesn’t stain your belt buckle.” —The Austin Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Noir series has produced some 40 volumes since it was launched six years ago. The premise is simple: each book features crime stories with a hard edge set in a specific geographic area. This one traverses Texas, finding evidence of the hard boiled, sultry, and disreputable throughout the state, from the small towns through the Gulf Coast and the big cities. The contributors include some familiar writers—James Crumley and Joe R. Lansdale—but also some up-and-comers, including the extremely talented Milton T. Burton. Think of the book as a sort of criminal travelogue; like travelogues, the series is plagued by unevenness, but this is one of the better installments. –David Pitt

Review

About the Author

Bobby Byrd is the co-publisher of Cinco Puntos Press in El Paso, Texas. As a poet, Byrd is the recipient of an NEA Fellowship, the D.H. Lawrence Fellowship awarded by the University of New Mexico, and an International Residency Fellowship.

John Byrd, co-publisher of Cinco Puntos Press, is co-editor (with Bobby Byrd) of the anthology Puro Border: Dispatches, Snapshots & Graffiti from La Frontera. He is also a Spanish-to-English translator and a freelance essayist.