Austin Noir
"Seems like everybody comes to Austin, sooner or later, and now the Akashic Books series of original noir anthologies has finally arrived, its freshly inked pages strewn with shadows and ill intent." --Austin Chronicle
From the editors' introduction:
"You've probably heard of Austin. You may have been here for South by Southwest. Your best friend may have recently relocated here from California. You might have thought about moving here yourself, then decided it wasn't worth it to live in Texas. You may have moved to Austin decades ago. You may even have been born and raised in Austin, and now you're on the outskirts of San Antonio or (God forbid) Waco because you can't afford to buy a house anywhere else. Or you may be living in a shiny new building downtown, watching the final stages of a sleepy town's transformation into modern metropolis. One thing you'll hear from almost any Austin resident: it was better when they got here . . .
"As the city expands, construction never stops, struggling futilely to keep up with new demand. The running joke is that the city bird is the crane. Rents and property values keep climbing. We fear becoming Dallas . . . The writers contributing to this collection represent a kaleidoscopic view of the city--not just in where they set the stories, but in their different social, economic, and cultural perspectives."
Featuring brand-new stories by: Gabino Iglesias, Ace Atkins, Amanda Moore, Jeff Abbott, Scott Montgomery, Richard Z. Santos, Alexandra Burt, Lee Thomas, Miriam Kuznets, Jacob Grovey, Chaitali Sen, Molly Odintz, Amy Gentry, and Andrew Hilbert.
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Hopeton Hay is a book talk show host and producer based in the Austin metro area who has been interviewing crime-fiction authors since 2009. Currently, he hosts and produces the Diverse Voices Book Review podcast which features a monthly crime-fiction episode.
Scott Montgomery became immersed in the crime-fiction scene while working at the Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles. In Austin, he has continued to work as a bookseller at BookPeople, specializing in the genre. His writing has appeared in Shotgun Honey and the anthologies Murder on Wheels, Lone Star Lawless, and The Eyes of Texas.
Molly Odintz is the senior editor of CrimeReads. Her essays and criticism have appeared in the Paper Brigade and the Austin Chronicle. After five years in New York, she recently moved back to her hometown of Austin with her cat, Fritz Lang, in tow.
With the common thread of Austin, Texas, Austin Noir is a new compendium of original short stories, each of which are showcased gems of noir fiction and unreservedly recommended for both personal reading lists and community/academic library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections.-- "Library Bookwatch"
An example of noir at its best is 'Stunts' by Ace Atkins . . . Jeff Abbott's 'The Good Neighbor' is another gem that features compelling characters, a unique and fascinating plot, and an ending that is right on the money.-- "New York Journal of Books"
Praise for the Akashic Noir Series:
"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"
Austin Noir, edited by Hopeton Hay, Scott Montgomery and Molly Odintz, is part of a vast, global series of site-specific collections that includes Houston Noir, Dallas Noir, and Lone Star Noir. The volume includes a handy map of the story locations.-- "Austin American-Statesman"
