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    Alabama Noir
    Unavailable
    Alabama Noir
    Unavailable
    Alabama Noir
    Ebook289 pages4 hours

    Alabama Noir

    By Don Noble, Ace Atkins, Tom Franklin and

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Alabama joins Mississippi as fertile Deep South soil for the Noir Series.

    “The Good Thief” by Ravi Howard has been selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021!

    "A beautifully engineered anthology of 16 crime and mystery stories that are heavy on setting, atmosphere, and human emotion."
    --Mystery Scene

    "Each story springs from a particular place, actual streets, honkytonks or stomping grounds any Alabamian may have walked."
    --Tuscaloosa News

    One of the Southern Review of Book's Best Southern Books of April 2020

    One of Alabama.com's 10 recent books with Alabama ties you'll want to read

    "Alabama Noir is known for its fertile deep-south perspective and encounters troubles and foibles galore as well as darkness in many forms."
    --Birmingham Times

    "Short fiction is alive and well in Alabama...There is not a single story unworthy of this collection infused with Alabama settings, and all readers will find tasty literary morsels to their liking."
    --Alabama Writers' Forum

    "If the darkness suits you, there's a new anthology to suit your shadowy heart...[Alabama Noir] holds 16 tales packed with sinister ambition, iniquity, revenge and the prices we pay for our schemes."
    --Lagniappe Weekly

    "Alabama Noir presents a group of stories diverse in their approach, their subject matter, their sub-genre, their influences, and their political perspective, and it can be fascinating to see how those varied influences intersect."
    --Another Chicago Magazine

    "Banish any boredom with a descent into Alabama Noir."
    --Southern Review of Books

    "The 16 tales in this entertaining Akashic noir anthology cover the entire state of Alabama...The flaws are few and far between, and as is so often the case for the series, each contributor consistently embraces the setting."
    --Publishers Weekly

    "Especially and unreservedly recommended."
    --Midwest Book Review

    Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the book.

    Brand-new stories by: Ace Atkins, Tom Franklin, Anita Miller Garner, Suzanne Hudson, Kirk Curnutt, Wendy Reed, Carolyn Haines, Anthony Grooms, Michelle Richmond, Winston Groom, Ravi Howard, Thom Gossom Jr., Brad Watson, Daniel Wallace, D. Winston Brown, and Marlin Barton.

    From the introduction by Don Noble:

    Some locales seem to come with their own soundtrack. Don Ho and his tiny bubbles provide the background music for Hawaii, Edith Piaf for Paris. The reggae of Bob Marley evokes Jamaica. The soundtrack for Alabama is without question provided by our troubled troubadour Hank Williams. The 2016 biography Hank by Mark Ribowsky paints a dark picture of the musician's short, alcoholic, drug-filled life: a life of loneliness and pain. He goes so far as to call Hank's life story "noir-ish"...

    In Alabama Noir we encounter "troubles and foibles" galore, darkness in many forms. The stories range from the deadly grim to some that are actually mildly humorous. We see desperate behavior on the banks of the Tennessee River, in the neighborhoods of Birmingham, in the affluent suburbs of Mobile, in a cemetery in Montgomery, and even on the deceptively pleasant beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

    Fans of noir should all find something to enjoy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAkashic Books
    Release dateApr 7, 2020
    ISBN9781617758119
    Unavailable
    Alabama Noir
    Author

    Ace Atkins

    Ace Atkins is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven books, including ten books in his Quinn Colson series. Handpicked by the Robert B. Parker Estate nearly a decade ago to continue the Spenser series, he's written nine novels about the iconic private eye. He lives and works in Oxford, Mississippi.

    Read more from Don Noble

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    Reviews for Alabama Noir

    4/5

    25 ratings9 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Alabama seemed to me to be a state that would lend itself perfectly to noir and it was proven by this short story assortment, edited by Don Noble. His introduction was particularly engaging and I thought, set the right tone for the stories that followed. Why then did I give the book a 3-star rating? It’s because while the offerings in Part I were adequate, they didn’t really grab me, especially as promised by the introduction. It’s Part II and Part III where the action picked up, notably in stories such as Ace Atkins’ “Sweet Baby,” Winston Groom’s “Murder at the Grand Hotel,” and Ravi Howard’s “The Good Thief.” That said, it was an enjoyable read and a good addition to Akashic’s already notable noir collection.
    • 4/5
      Collection of short noir stories set in Alabama. It did not get off to a good start. I didn't like the stories in Part I, fortunately the next 3 parts are better.
    • 4/5
      A number of years ago a series of books was started – collections of noir stories, each book containing all new stories by a variety of authors, each set in a distinct location. This is Alabama Noir.Noir is an acquired taste, but once you’ve acquired it you’ll really enjoy it. When I think of noir I think of books written by Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain and classic movies starring Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Alan Ladd, and James Cagney. Noir is quirky, edgy, dark, no heroes, everyone has an ulterior motive, no one can be trusted. They’re outcasts, with hopeless lives in desperate situations. There might be a little humor, but if there is it’s dark. And the endings often leave you scratching your head, asking yourself what just happened? And wanting to know what happened after the ending.Alabama has its own dark periods in history that are perfect for noir: KKK beatings and burnings, violence against demonstrators, crimes against the helpless. Alabama Noir deals with race, prejudice, injustice, superstitions, curses, magic, conspiracies, greed, revenge, death, violence, and despair - a lot of despair. But these are riveting stories that you won’t be able to put down. Things are seldom nicely and neatly wrapped up, but these are very satisfying reads. Thanks to LibraryThing and Akashic Books for providing an advance copy of Alabama Noir for my honest reviews. I enjoyed it and recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Alabama Noir, an entry is Akashic Books "City Noir" series. I'm not sure how many of these there are, but I always request them on here. I absolutely love anthologies and these are really good.There are a few dud stories, but most are good to great.This one even includes a new story by Winston Groom, the same man who wrote the 1986 book, and subsequent excellent film "Forrest Gump." I look forward to the next editions of the Noir Series. It is my absolute favorite anthology series.
    • 4/5
      This was a good read! It was one of those rare groups of short stories where the really well written stories stand out because they were all well written. It would be the week link that would stand out in this group-and no one stood out.These were some tough stories. Every bit as gritty as classic noir but using the locale beautifully. An alligator was even worked into it.I'd recommend this to any noir lover out there.
    • 5/5
      This was a great collection of stories in the noir tradition. They weren't all "5''s" but most of them were. Winston Groom's wasn't the best of the bunch but the turns of plot reminded me of the ways in which Forrest Gump, the book, was better than the movie. I really enjoyed this collection and found it to be the best of Akashic Noir's books since Helsinki Noir.
    • 4/5
      ALABAMA NOIR edited by Don Noble is an addition to Akashic Books’ celebrated Noir series. Each title is an anthology of short stories exemplifying the Noir genre and featuring a city, state, country or region.Noir is a genre of crime fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism and moral ambiguity. It features bleak and sleazy settings, hard-boiled characters and enough bleakness, pessimism, fatalism and cruelty to sink a battleship.Each title utilizes a similar format - a location Map; a Table of Contents which lists the stories, their authors and locations; an Introduction by the editor(s); an About the Contributors section.The Introduction in every Noir title sets the tone for the stories that follow. The editor often describes the area and gives a bit of background or history. ALABAMA NOIR’s introduction is written by editor, John Noble, and he uses Dashiell Hammett’s novel, THE MALTESE FALCON, as his template for discussing many of the stories. “Revenge in myriad forms has always been a staple of noir” and is found in ALABAMA NOIR. “Violence not sparked by revenge is often sparked by love and/or lust in noir, often generated by the femme fatale. In THE MALTESE FALCON, that femme was Brigid O’Shaughnessy. In ALABAMA NOIR, there are several strong and deadly females.”Violence and greed is also covered, as is “extreme stress, fear, terror, and despair.”Authors include Anita Miller Garner, Suzanne Hudson, Kirk Curnutt, Wendy Reed, Carolyn Haines, Anthony Grooms, Michelle Richmond, Winston Groom, Ace Atkins, Ravi Howard, Tom Franklin, Thom Gossom Jr., Brad Watson, Daniel Wallace, D. Winston Brown, Marlin Barton.ALABAMA NOIR had some particularly cringe-worthy, gruesome stories to tell.I needed a shower after reading “Custom Meats” by Wendy Reid. It was particularly horrifying. I learned how to build a coffin in “Triptych” by Daniel Wallace. This one was a tiny bit lighter and I even smiled a time or two. (Which was a good thing - I needed a break!)I think that “What brings you back home” by Michelle Richmond should be required reading for every person, especially budding politicians.And I did really like reading the Introduction. It was a particularly good, clever one.All the stories were forays into the dark world of Noir.Thank you to Akashic Books for the ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of ALABAMA NOIR.
    • 5/5
      This is another excellent addition to Akashic Publishing's Noir Series. In face, of the books I've read, this is my favorite. Almost all of the stories are outstanding, and very well written.[Note: A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer.]
    • 3/5
      This was a hit or miss collection for me. There were several strong stories, but there were a few that fell just a bit flat (due more to my personal tastes and not the writer's creations). Overall, I would still recommend this collection as it does offer a wide variety of dark tales and does a great job of keeping the Akashic series going strong.