Category: #Anthology

Following the success of Dennis Lehane’s best-selling Boston Noir, the Akashic Noir Series delves deeper into New England’s underbelly.

“Even Providence’s signature public art has a dark side in Providence Noir (Akashic), which includes a story called WaterFire’s Smell Tonight by Pablo Rodriguez. Each tale in this anthology edited by Ann Hood is set in a different part of the city. Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout’s story takes place at Trinity Repertory Company. Thomas Cobb, whose novel Crazy Heart was made into a movie with Jeff Bridges, tees up at Triggs Memorial Golf Course, and Dumb and Dumber co-writer and co-director Peter Farrelly, a graduate of Providence College, sets his story in the Elmhurst neighborhood, near his old college stomping grounds.” —Boston Globe
“Providence, of course, has a history of crime, the mob, corruption and other goodies. In this collection of 15 stories . . . we are given a darkly hued tour of the city in all its nooks and crannies by such excellent writers as Hood herself, John Searles, Bruce DeSilva, Peter Farrelly, Elizabeth Strout, Hester Kaplan and others, each with their own style, tone and sly approach that will keep you reading, waiting for the sudden murder, the end of troubled relationships, the discovery of bones. . . . [A] wonderful collection.” —Providence Journal

—Peter Farrelly’s story The Saturday Night Before Easter Sunday was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Short Story.

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Featuring brand-new stories by: John Searles, Elizabeth Strout, Taylor M. Polites, Hester Kaplan, Robert Leuci, Amity Gaige, Peter Farrelly, Pablo Rodriguez, Bruce DeSilva, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Luanne Rice, Dawn Raffel, Thomas Cobb, LaShonda Katrice Barnett, and Ann Hood.
Anyone who has spent time in Providence, Rhode Island, knows that lurking in the shadows are many sinister noir elements and characters. The city is ripe for this volume, and Akashic is proud to have recruited the amazing Ann Hood as editor. The impressive contributor list conveys the caliber of Providence Noir, which joins Cape Cod Noir, Boston Noir, and Boston Noir 2: The Classics in sketching a dark and alternative portrait of these New England locales.
From the introduction by Ann Hood:
“Providence was founded in 1636 by a rogue named Roger Williams. Williams escaped here when Massachusetts was ready to deport him back to England. In the almost four hundred years since, we’ve become infamous for all sorts of crimes and misdemeanors, including serving as home base for the Patriarca crime family for decades. My very own Uncle Eddie—I can hear Mama Rose screaming at me: ‘He wasn’t a blood relative! He was related through marriage!’—was gunned down in the Silver Lake section of town in 1964, just a year after he drove me in his white Cadillac convertible in a parade as the newly crowned Little Miss Natick. The writer Geoffrey Wolff told me that once he went to a barber in Princeton, New Jersey and the barber asked him where he was from. ‘Providence,’ Wolff told him. The barber put down his scissors, raised his hands in the air, and said, ‘Providence? Don’t shoot!’
“I’ve asked fourteen of my favorite writers to contribute short stories to Providence Noir. We have stories to make you shiver, stories to make you think, stories that will show you my beautiful, noirish city in a way it’s never been highlighted before.”

Editorial Reviews

Review

“It’s hard to imagine a better setting for a crime story than Providence . . . . there is no doubt it provides ample backdrop for stories without heroes or happy endings. Thanks to the partnership between Akashic Books, an independent Brooklyn-based publisher, and local writer Ann Hood, we now have Providence Noir―a collection of gritty, hard-boiled short stories that are set within different neighborhoods throughout the city.”
― Providence Monthly

“If you like short stories set in Providence, check out Providence Noir, edited by Ann Hood.”
― Providence Journal, Bill Reynolds’s column

“The stories are about as diverse and self-destructive cast of characters throughout Providence of varied classes, race, and educational backgrounds . . . . Peppered throughout the book and sometimes even the driving aspect of a story are complex contemporary hot button topics like gentrification and racial profiling with haunting echoes of some of the dark episodes in the past few years . . . . It’s a reminder that reality can feel as helplessly tangled as noir films and stories.

“
― New York Daily News

“Providence Noir is teeming with muscular, gritty, hard-boiled short stories alongside borderline modern-day gothic tales. Damaged characters, flawed plans of bloody retribution, double-crossing ambitions, and pure murder in mind make it a must-read. You won’t find better noir stories this year.

“
― New York Journal of Books

“John Searles’s The Pig combines a touching examination of pathos and mystery. Robert Leuci’s The Vengeance Taker is a powerful and ultimately creepy story of earned revenge. LaShonda Katrice Barnett’s Waltz Me Once Again is a compelling story of violence and tragedy. Thomas Cobb performs the remarkable feat of making a simple round of golf into a surprisingly suspenseful tale, $1,000 Nassau. And Peter Farrelly’s The Saturday Night Before Easter Sunday closes out the volume with a superb―and hilarious―inside look at the world of novelists, phonies, publishers, and schemers.”
― Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Ann Hood is the author of the best-selling novels The Obituary Writer, The Knitting Circle, and Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine. Her memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and chosen as one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly. Her essays and short stories have appeared regularly in the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Tin House, the Paris Review, Bon Appétit, National Geographic Traveler, and many other newspapers and magazines. Hood has won two Pushcart Prizes, the Paul Bowles Prize in Short Fiction, and her work has been selected for inclusion in three volumes of the Best American Writing anthology series. Hood was born in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and is the editor of Providence Noir.

“The 14 stories in this Akashic noir anthology provide a bizarre and gruesome window into this outwardly tranquil and snow-covered city of Helsinki.”—Publishers Weekly
 
In Akashic Books’s acclaimed series of original noir anthologies, each book comprises all new stories set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Now, the spotlight is on Finland and its southern capital of Helsinki, a city “synonymous with noir. There is a darkness in the Finnish soul, perhaps echoing the country’s long winter nights, that lends itself to tales of horror and degenerate behavior” (Reviewing the Evidence).
This anthology features brand-new stories by Leena Lehtolainen, Johanna Holmström, James Thompson, Antti Tuomainen, Jesse Itkonen, Joe L. Murr, Jukka Petäjä, Tapani Bagge, Pekka Hiltunen, Teemu Käskinen, Tuomas Lius, Riikka Ala-Harja, Karo Hämäläinen, and Jarkko Sipila.
“True fans of the macabre will enjoy some of the more disturbing tales, such as Jukka Petäjä’s ‘Snowy Sarcophagus,’ in which the bodies of two women are discovered preserved in life-size snowmen, and Antti Tuomainen’s ‘The Script,’ which is told from the point of view of a Finnish film and television producer who also happens to be a serial rapist . . . Readers should be prepared to keep the lights on at night after finishing this unnerving collection.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Every story is atmospheric . . . and every one has a neat sting at the end . . . The best and blackest in the noir series yet, and a treat for short story fans. Highly recommended.”—promotingcrime.blogspot.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a good collection of all kinds of stories.”
― Journey of a Bookseller

“Mystery and true crime readers will appreciate the styles from all over the world, and embrace the darkness that every culture shares―no matter how hard they try to hide it.
“
― Mom Read It

About the Author

James Thompson (1964–2014) lived in Finland for over fifteen years and was one of the most popular representatives of Nordic noir, with his work being published in a dozen countries. His novelSnow Angels, the first book in his acclaimed Kari Vaara series, was one ofBooklist’s Best Crime Novel Debuts of the Year and was nominated for Edgar, Anthony, andStrand Critics awards.Kirkus selectedLucifer’s Tears, the second book in the series, as one of the best books of 2011. G.P. Putnam’s Sons will releaseHelsinki Dead, the fifth installment in the series, in 2014. Jim was a reviewer for theNew York Journal of Books and held a master’s degree from the University of Helsinki. He was the editor ofHelsinki Noir.

Israeli crime fiction that “sets the bar high for subsequent Noir offerings. The genre is hot, Tel Aviv is exotic, and this volume is outstanding” (Library Journal, starred review).
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched with the summer ’04 award-winning bestseller Brooklyn Noir. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. For Tel Aviv Noir, Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron have masterfully assembled some of Israel’s top contemporary writers into a compulsively readable collection.
 
Along with Gon Ben Ari’s story “Clear Recent History”—winner of the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award for Best P.I. Short Story—this anthology includes brand-new stories by: Etgar Keret, Gadi Taub, Lavie Tidhar, Deakla Keydar, Matan Hermoni, Julia Fermentto, Shimon Adaf, Alex Epstein, Antonio Ungar, Gai Ad, Assaf Gavron, Silje Bekeng, and Yoav Katz; translated by Yardenne Greenspan.
 
Jewish Journal‘s Noteworthy Books for the New Year
 
“There’s a marvelous underlying tension to [the stories], a paranoid tinge, as if some vast monstrous conspiracy is lurking behind every misdeed and bad stroke of luck.” —San Francisco Book Review
“The collection reflects much of the daily reality of the city, but not the sort one is likely to read in tour guides . . . There’s a complexity and virtuosity to plot and prose that leaves the reader with a sense of satisfaction and appreciation, despite the typically devastating denouement of the tales . . . Superb.” —PopMatters
 
“Consistently strong . . . Definitely one of the highlights in the long-running Akashic series.” —Booklist, starred review

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Even in the Holy Land, people find ingenious ways to screw up their own lives, as the latest entry in Akashic’s Noir Series proves. . . . Editors Keret and Gavron stress not what makes Tel Aviv unique but what it has in common with other cities: its people’s endless, often fruitless struggle to cash in on a losing hand.”
― Kirkus Reviews

“There’s a marvelous underlying tension to [the stories], a paranoid tinge, as if some vast monstrous conspiracy is lurking behind every misdeed and bad stroke of luck.

“
― San Francisco Book Review

“The collection reflects much of the daily reality of the city, but not the sort one is likely to read in tour guides. . . . There’s a complexity and virtuosity to plot and prose that leaves the reader with a sense of satisfaction and appreciation, despite the typically devastating denouement of the tales. . . . Superb.”
― PopMatters

“Readers interested in exploring the dark side of Tel Aviv will be fascinated by these short pieces of noir literature.”
― Times of Israel

“For anyone interested in some of Israel’s best younger writers, as well as the seamy underside of its most populous city, Tel Aviv Noir will keep your adrenaline flowing at any hour.”
― Jewish Book Council

“All the heavy hitters, from Michael Connelly in Los Angeles to Joyce Carol Oates in suburban New Jersey . . . an important anthology.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
 
Features Dennis Lehane’s story “Animal Rescue,” the inspiration for the movie The Drop starring Tom Hardy.
 
Launched with the summer 2004 award-winning bestseller Brooklyn Noir, the groundbreaking Akashic Noir series now includes over sixty volumes and counting. The stories in USA Noir “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).
 
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.
 
One of Zoom Street Magazine’s Favorite Books of 2014
One of “100 Best Books for Readers Young and Old,” HispanicBusiness.com
 
“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

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The Akashic noir series was launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Since then, there have been 60 original anthologies, all centered on a specific city, region, or neighborhood in the U.S. and abroad. The 37 stories in this collection represent the best of the U.S.-based anthologies, and the list of contributors includes virtually anyone who’s made the best-seller list with a work of crime fiction in the last decade. Among them are Lee Child, George Pelecanos, Michael Connelly, Don Winslow, Dennis Lehane, and T. Jefferson Parker. Pelecanos offers “The Confidential Informant,” in which a decidedly average street kid tries to live up to an older brother and please his father. The results are not what he bargains for. In “After Thirty,” Don Winslow paints a portrait of Charlie, the poster boy for antiheroes. Charlie is a navy guy, but everyone will tell you he’s no good, what with the drinking and brawling. It’s time to get back to the ship, but Charlie decides to hit a woman, and it gets worse. In “The Book Signing” by Pete Hamill, Carmody, now a best-selling author, returns home to his Brooklyn neighborhood for a book signing. He wonders if the girl he left behind so many years ago will remember him. Memory is a funny thing or, in this case, not so funny. A must-have anthology, particularly for libraries with spotty holdings of the previous U.S. collections. –Wes Lukowsky

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 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

“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

“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

“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

An expanded edition—with brand-new stories added to the fourth printing of this best-selling Noir Series installment. Here, the unseemly underside of Minneapolis/St. Paul is revealed like never before.

“If you’ve never read an Akashic Noir book, Twin Cities Noir is a fine place to start.” —San Francisco Book Review/Sacramento Book Review

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

Brand-new stories by: John Jodzio, Tom Kaczynski, Peter Schilling Jr., David Housewright, Steve Thayer, Judith Guest, Mary Logue, Bruce Rubenstein, K.J. Erickson, William Kent Krueger, Ellen Hart, Brad Zellar, Mary Sharratt, Pete Hautman, Larry Millett, Quinton Skinner, Gary Bush, and Chris Everheart.

From the introduction by Julie Schaper & Steven Horwitz:

“St. Paul was originally called Pig’s Eye’s Landing and was named after Pig’s Eye Parrant—trapper, moonshiner, and proprietor of the most popular drinking establishment on the Mississippi. Traders, river rats, missionaries, soldiers, land speculators, fur trappers, and Indian agents congregated in his establishment and made their deals. When Minnesota became a territory in 1849, the town leaders, realizing that a place called Pig’s Eye might not inspire civic confidence, changed the name to St. Paul, after the largest church in the city . . . Across the river, Minneapolis has its own sordid story. By the turn of the twentieth century it was considered one of the most crooked cities in the nation. Mayor Albert Alonzo Ames, with the assistance of the chief of police, his brother Fred, ran a city so corrupt that according to Lincoln Steffans its ‘deliberateness, invention, and avarice has never been equaled.’ As recently as the mid-’90s, Minneapolis was called ‘Murderopolis’ due to a rash of killings that occurred over a long hot summer. Every city has its share of crime, but what makes the Twin Cities unique may be that we have more than our share of good writers to chronicle it. They are homegrown and they know the territory . . .”

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Local editors Schaper and Horwitz have assembled a noteworthy collection of noir-infused stories mixed with laughter . . . The Akashic noir short-story anthologies are avidly sought and make ideal samplers for regional mystery collecting.”
― Library Journal

“The best pieces in the collection turn the cliches of the genre on their head . . . and despite the unseemly subject matter, the stories are often surprisingly funny.”
― City Pages (Minneapolis)

“Crime fans who missed the first round will find this expanded version worthwhile.”
― Publishers Weekly

“A fun . . . read . . . particularly ripe for picking by locals who’ll delight in recognizing their stomping grounds in the stories, but with enough unexpected turns to make it worthwhile for those outside the Midwest, too.”
― KnightsArts

About the Author

Steven Horwitz has worked in publishing for twenty-five years. He lives with his wife and two dogs in St Paul, Minnesota.