The editor, Chris Abani, is an award-winning novelist and poet (PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, the PEN Hemingway Book Prize, and a Guggenheim Award)Through his TED Talks, public speaking and essays Abani is known as an international voice on humanitarianism, art, ethics, and our shared political responsibilityHe is Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern UniversityHis previous works have been critically-acclaimed ( New York Times , Los Angeles Times , etc.)His novel Graceland was a Today Show Book Club PickHe is the coeditor of the African Poetry Book Fund's annual New-Generation African Poets Box Sets (published by Akashic)
QUESTION FOR CBSD (especially Bill Mockler): should we consider doing a 1,000-copy hardcover run?Editor Tom Franklin is one of the most prestigious authors associated with Mississippi. His work is equally appreciated in the literary and crime-fiction worlds.Mississippi Noir will be published simultaneously in paperback and eBook formats.Featuring brand-new stories by: Ace Atkins, Tom Franklin, William Boyle, Megan Abbott, Jack Pendarvis, Dominqua Dickey, Michael Kardos, Jaime Paige, Jimmy Cajoleas, Chris Offutt, Michael Farris Smith, Andrew Paul, Lee Durkee, Robert Busby, John M. Floyd, RaShell R. Smith-Spears, Joseph B. Atkins, and Mary Miller.Publicize to major dailies, weeklies, literary publications, alternative publications. Major radio and television push, with a strong local angle.Akashic's promotion will have a strong social media component
Gon Ben Ari's story «Clear Recent History» has been named a finalist for the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award for Best P.I. Short Story!"This consistently strong collection showcases a group of Israeli writers who are not well known in the U.S. Definitely one of the highlights in the long-running Akashic series."–Booklist, Starred review"May be the very best in a generally solid series....This collection escapes the limits of formula fiction and sets the bar high for subsequent Noir offerings. The genre is hot, Tel Aviv is exotic, and this volume is outstanding. What's not to like?"–Library Journal, Starred reviewOne of Jewish Journal's Noteworthy Books for the New Year"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 IsraelAkashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller 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.From the introduction by Etgar Keret:"In spite of its outwardly warm and polite exterior, Tel Aviv has quite a bit to hide. At any club, most of the people dancing around you to the sounds of a deep-house hit dedicated to peace and love have undergone extensive automatic-weapons training and a hand-grenade tutorial…The workers washing the dishes in the fluorescent-lit kitchen of that same club are Eritrean refugees who have crossed the Egyptian border illegally, along with a group of bedouins smuggling some high-quality hash, which the deejay will soon be smoking on his little podium, right by the busy dance floor filled with drunks, coked-up lawyers, and Ukrainian call girls whose pimp keeps their passports in a safe two streets away. Don't get me wrong–Tel Aviv is a lovely, safe city. Most of the time, for most of its inhabitants. But the stories in this collection describe what happens the rest of the time, to the rest of its inhabitants. From one last cup of coffee at a café targeted by a suicide bomber, through repeat visits from a Yiddish-speaking ghost, to an organized tour of mythological crime scenes that goes terribly wrong, the stories of Tel Aviv Noir reveal the concealed, scarred face of this city that we love so much."Featuring brand-new stories by: Etgar Keret, Gadi Taub, Lavie Tidhar, Deakla Keydar, Matan Hermoni, Julia Fermentto, Gon Ben Ari, Shimon Adaf, Alex Epstein, Antonio Ungar, Gai Ad, Assaf Gavron, Silje Bekeng, and Yoav Katz; translated by Yardenne Greenspan.
"Readers should be prepared to keep the lights on at night after finishing this unnerving collection."–Publishers Weekly"A gripping collection…Whether you are already a fan of the gloomy Finns or are new to the uniquely sinister aspect of Scandinavian literature, this book will provide steady entertainment."–Reviewing the Evidence"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 ItLaunched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.Featuring 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.From the introduction by James Thompson:"Finland, the myths and truths. Internationally, it has a reputation as perhaps the best place in the world to live. A great economy. A low crime rate. Good and nearly cost-free health care. The needy are provided for by the state and live in reasonable comfort. Finns: peaceful and quiet people, living in the perfect example of a social democracy functioning as it should. A tourist, or even a person who has lived here for a length of time, might well view Finland as such. There is some truth to this, but like every country, Finland has many truths…Finland is, like the theme so often explored in Star Trek, a parallel universe in which, on the surface, all seems normal, but under that shell lie vast differences…As this book demonstrates, Finland is a noir nation [and] this anthology is, I believe, the best representation of Finnish noir ever offered to the international community. Every word rings true. It holds Finland up in a way that not only exposes this wonderful and fascinating country to the world, but acts as a mirror that reflects its people and culture in a way every Finn will recognize, vocalizing those truths that are so seldom spoken here amongst ourselves."
Brand-new stories by: Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Eugenio Aguirre, Eduardo Antonia Parra, Bernardo Fernández Bef, Óscar de la Borbolla, Rolo Díez, Victor Luiz González, F.G. Haghenbeck, Juan Hernández Luna, Myriam Laurini, Eduardo Monteverde, and Julia Rodríguez.Paco Ignacio Taibo II was born in Gijón, Spain, and has lived in Mexico since 1958. He is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, which have been published in many languages around the world, including a mystery series starring Mexican Private Investigator Héctor Belascoarán Shayne. He is a professor of history at the Metropolitan University of Mexico City.
From crime stories in the classic hard-boiled style to the vividly experimental, from the determination of those risking everything to the desperation of those with nothing left to lose, Detroit Noir delivers unforgettable tales that capture the city’s dark vitality.Includes stories by: Joyce Carol Oates, Loren D. Estleman, Craig Holden, P.J. Parrish, Desiree Cooper, Nisi Shawl, M.L. Liebler, Craig Bernier, Joe Boland, Megan Abbott, Dorene O’Brien, Lolita Hernandez, Peter Markus, Roger K. Johnson, Michael Zadoorian, and E.J. Olsen.
Brand-new stories by: John Burdett, Peter Blauner, Charles Ardai, Henry Blodget, Twist Phelan, Larry Light, James Hime, Jason Starr, Lauren Sanders, Tim Broderick, Reed Farrel Coleman, Jim Fusilli, Mark Haskell Smith, and more. Peter Spiegelman is the Shamus Award-winning author of Black Maps (Knopf, 2003), Death’s Little Helpers (Knopf, 2005), and Red Cat (Knopf, 2007), which feature private detective and Wall Street refugee John March. Spiegelman is a twenty-year veteran of the financial services and software industries, and has worked with banks, brokerage houses, and central banks in major markets around the world. He lives in Connecticut.
From Hollywood starlets to downtown taxi dancers, and from Central Avenue speakeasies to clapboard Venice Beach shacks to Depression-era hobos riding the rails, this volume brings you the masters of the genre penning tales of love, lust, and loss in the City of Angels.Includes classic stories by: Raymond Chandler, Paul Cain, James Ellroy, Leigh Brackett, James M. Cain, Chester Himes, Ross MacDonald, Walter Mosley, Naomi Hirahara, Margaret Millar, Joseph Hansen, William Campbell Gault, Jervey Tervalon, Kate Braverman, and Yxta Maya Murray.Editor Denise Hamilton is the author of the Eve Diamond series and the editor of Los Angeles Noir. Her latest novel, Los Angeles Times bestseller The Last Embrace, has been compared to works by James Ellroy and Raymond Chandler. She lives in Los Angeles.
New Orleans is a great city for regionally-themed books. Akashic Books Noir Series is selling great; nearly every title has gone into multiple printings. Whole series to be promoted at major trade conferences and mystery conferences. Major media push: print, radio, television.
–All new stories (none have been published previously). -Akashic's strong reputation with mystery stores. -First-ever anthology of Brooklyn crime fiction.