Staten Island Noir
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“In a thrilling tilt-a-whirl of crime and drama . . . Smith has carefully chosen writers concerned with the true nature of the small suburban borough.” —Electric Literature
Staten Island may be New York City’s forgotten borough, but it ranks high up on the list of places known for organized crime. If that wasn’t enough to boost its noir reputation, there are its haunted mansion, hate crimes, and Cropsey urban legend. Dark deeds will always find a home on this side of the Verrazano bridge, and they give Staten Island a character all its own.
Staten Island Noir includes editor Patricia Smith’s Robert L. Fish Memorial Award–winning short story, “When They Are Done with Us,” which was also selected for inclusion in The Best American Mystery Stories 2013. You’ll find more tales by Bill Loehfelm, S.J. Rozan, Ted Anthony, Todd Craig, Ashley Dawson, Bruce DeSilva, Louisa Ermelino, Binnie Kirshenbaum, Michael Largo, Mike Penncavage, Linda Nieves-Powell, Shay Youngblood, and Eddie Joyce.
“It’s not enough for noir to be dark. It’s got to be bad-ass. Its words, its decaying and horrible beauty have got to hit you like a spiked heel dragged from your guts to your gullet. It’s got to twist the hot knife of passion in that soft space right below your belly while pumping bullets into your heart. It’s got to make you bleed . . . Staten Island Noir features some dusky and drop-dead gorgeous gems (emphasis on the dead) that do just that.” —Grub Street Daily
“[An] exceptionally strong anthology.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Staten Island, the last of New York City's five boroughs to enter Akashic's noir series, serves as the setting for this exceptionally strong anthology. One of the best of the 14 selections is Smith's "When They Are Done with Us," a chilling story of a mother's abuse by her wild man-child of a son. Several tales use Staten Island's landfill effectively, including Ashley Dawson's "Fresh Kills," in which a pair of 17-year-olds investigate some suspicious dumping, and Ted Anthony's "A User's Guide to Keeping Your Kills Fresh," in which the brother of an inept contract killer has to bail him out after the killer encounters a multitude of problems getting rid of his victims. Bruce DeSilva's frightening "Abating a Nuisance" depicts 1858 Staten Island, then home to quarantined people exposed to yellow fever, typhus, or cholera, until residents take matters into their own hands. In Michael Penncavage's unsettling "Mistakes," a sober partygoer finds himself trapped by an enraged bruiser in a Staten Island ferry men's room. Other standouts are PW reviews director Louisa Ermelino's "Sister-in-Law" and Shay Youngblood's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground."
