St. Louis Noir

“Joining Seattle, Memphis, Phoenix, and other noir outposts, St. Louis gets a turn to show its dark side in Phillips’ collection of 13 dark tales and a poetic interlude . . . [A] spirited, black-hearted collection.” —Kirkus Reviews

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: Calvin Wilson, LaVelle Wilkins-Chinn, John Lutz, Paul D. Marks, Colleen J. McElroy, Jason Makansi, S.L. Coney, Michael Castro, Laura Benedict, Jedidiah Ayres, Umar Lee, Chris Barsanti, L.J. Smith, and Scott Phillips.

From the introduction by Scott Phillips:

“The St. Louis region has had a rough time over the past few years. A number of our school districts are unaccredited. A large section of a North St. Louis County landfill is burning uncontrolled—yes, it’s on fire—and said fire is only yards away from a World War II–era radioactive waste dump. There’s the matter of the region’s de facto segregation, a persistent pox on the city and county decades after the explicit, institutional variety became illegal. A number of our suburban municipalities have lately been exposed in the act of strong-arming their poorest citizens, running what amount to debtors’ prisons. In recent years one of those cities, Ferguson, has become a national synonym for police misconduct and institutional racism . . .

Amid all this is a rich, multicultural history of art and literature both high and low, stemming from conflict and passions running hot . . . This collection strives for some of that same energy that the collision of high and low can produce . . . All these writers come at their work with different perspectives and styles but all with a connection to and a passion for our troubled city and its surroundings.”