“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.

Australia’s largest city “provides fertile ground for dark doings, as these 14 tales demonstrate . . . [a] cavalcade of crime Down Under” (Kirkus Reviews).

Includes Kirsten Tranter’s Edgar Award-nominated “The Passenger”
Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Now, “Sydney Noir brings together 14 compelling short stories by established and emerging Australian authors, each offering a startling glimpse into the dark heart of Sydney and its sprawling suburbs” (Sydney Morning Herald, Australian edition review).

This anthology includes brand-new stories by Kirsten Tranter, Mandy Sayer, John Dale, Eleanor Limprecht, Mark Dapin, Leigh Redhead, Julie Koh, Peter Polites, Robert Drewe, Tom Gilling, Gabrielle Lord, Philip McLaren, P.M. Newton, and Peter Doyle.

Shortlisted for the Danger Award presented by BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival
Included in CrimeReads‘s Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2019

“Akashic delivers another impeccable anthology with Sydney Noir, a deep dive into the mean streets, artistic outlets, and sultry demimonde of Australia’s largest (and liveliest) city.”—CrimeReads

“The 14 uniformly strong selections feature familiar subgenre figures: gangsters, ethically compromised cops, and people bent on revenge for the loss of a loved one . . . Fans of dark crime fiction will want to seek out other works by these contributors, most of whom will be unfamiliar to American readers.”—Publishers Weekly

“Here is a tough but tender vision of multicultural working-class Australia, with all its wards and anxieties.”—Australian Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The writing is fantastic across the board. It’s evocative and engaging . . . If you have any interest in noir, crime novels, or just excellent writing, you can’t go wrong with this collection.”
― Tails from the Dog-Side

“Sydney is a good choice for Akashic’s first noir anthology set in Australia . . . The 14 uniformly strong selections feature familiar subgenre figures: gangsters, ethically compromised cops, and people bent on revenge for the loss of a loved one . . . Fans of dark crime fiction will want to seek out other works by these contributors, most of whom will be unfamiliar to American readers.

“
― Publishers Weekly

“This long-time fan of the series breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering that not only is Sydney Noir very good indeed, it is one of the best in Akashic’s canon for some time . . . As a snapshot of contemporary Australia, this collection delivers in ways that most middlebrow literary fiction cannot seem to get its head around, even though much literary fiction flirts with the noir genre without fully committing. Here is a touch but tender vision of multicultural working-class Australia, with all its warts and anxieties.”
― Australian Book Review

“The former British penal colony provides fertile ground for dark doings, as these 14 tales demonstrate . . . The stories [Dale’s] assembled offer ample variety in this cavalcade of crime Down Under.”
― Kirkus Reviews

“Overall I really enjoyed this collection . . . I’ve definitely got the taste for more Australian crime fiction this year.”
― Col’s Criminal Library

About the Author

JOHN DALE is the author of nine books. His best-selling true-crime biography, Huckstepp, was the winner of a Ned Kelly award, as was the first of his three crime novels, Dark Angel. His other books are a memoir, Wild Life, an investigation into the fatal shooting of his grandfather in 1940s Tasmania, a campus novel Leaving Suzie Pye, translated into Turkish, and a novella Plenty. He has edited three anthologies, Out West, Car Lovers and the recent Sydney Noir(2019). He is currently a Professor of Writing at UTS.