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BOSTON NOIR
by Dennis Lehane, ed.
Akashic, November 2009
270 pages
$15.95
ISBN: 1933354917


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

The newest anthology from Akashic's great [City] Noir series is a winner, even for an old-fashioned genteel-classics-lover like me. Filled with tasty, often disturbing short stories by current authors, they all have their own particular attitude towards the city and its people, and the result is a nice sampler of various styles of prose, carefully grouped and arranged, along with a provocative (and nearly illuminating) introduction by Dennis Lehane, who also contributes a story. Although many of them are not, strictly speaking, "noir," all of the stories are interesting, if not exactly heartwarming, snapshots of a city I quite unabashedly love. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Part I – Fear and Loathing:

Exit Interview, Lynne Heitman – the glass ceiling has never been deadlier.

Animal Rescue, Dennis Lehane – a hard man, a puppy, a dame, a scam.

The Place Where He Belongs, Jim Fusilli – would not seem to be Boston.

Dark Waters, Patricia Powell – trust, adrenaline, memories - and danger.

Part II – Skeletons in the Closet:

Femme Sole, Dana Cameron – classic female wiles and male weaknesses.

The Dark Island, Brendan DuBois – never trust a dame, or a PI.

The Reward, Stewart O'Nan – a likeable - but pathetic - scam artist struggles to survive.

The Cross-Eyed Bear, John Dufresne – grimy and macabre tale of a (possibly) pedophile priest

Part III – Veils of Deceit:

The Oriental Hair Poets, Don Lee – bitter words, in a sad life of lies.

The Collar, Itabari Njeri – a confused man with too many women.

Turn Speed, Russ Aborn – truckin', scammin', losin', winnin.

Two of the stories in this anthology were nominated for Edgars: Lehane's Animal Rescue was a very good but not "special" tale of a loser trying on a scam, and Cameron's Femme Sole was a beautifully wrought, moving and quite sad historical that got bogged down a bit. While dark in tone they weren't classic examples of "noir," as each has a potentially happy ending for the protagonists. And they were, in my estimation, not as good as several others in the anthology that did not get nominated: Powell's tale of a woman alone (but not for long) was terrifyingly superb, and DuBois' perfect little gem of the quite predictable case of an ex-GI-now-PI in 1946 Boston Harbor remains true to the time, the place, and the genre - magnificent! The story that for me was closest to True Noir? The opening story - Lynne Heitman's chilling tale of doom in the workplace - a nihilistic treat!

Reviewed by Abbey Hamilton, January 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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