Belfast Noir
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Atmospheric, all-new crime fiction set in this Northern Ireland city—from Lee Child, Arlene Hunt, Steve Cavanagh, Gerard Brennan, and more.
During the decades of the Troubles, Belfast was plagued with riots, bombings, and other violence, and armored vehicles patrolled the streets—a daily darkness that is reflected in the personality of the city. New York Times–bestselling author Lee Child calls it “the most noir place on earth.”
This collection of short stories in the “acclaimed noir series” provides not only a compelling read for fans of mystery and suspense and an opportunity to discover some new must-read authors, but a portrait of the moody, murderous history of Belfast (Publishers Weekly).
Featuring brand-new stories by Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, Garbhan Downey, Lee Child, Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway, Ian McDonald, Arlene Hunt, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Claire McGowan, Steve Cavanagh, Lucy Caldwell, Sam Millar, and Gerard Brennan
“The works are short, allowing readers to savor each snippet or devour the entire compelling book in a day, depending on just how deliciously gloomy they’re feeling.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“All the stories are compelling and well executed . . . Great writing for fans of noir and short stories, with some tales close to perfection.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“The choices made by editors McKinty and Neville celebrate lowlifes, convicts, hookers, private eyes, cops and reporters, and, above all, the gray city at the heart of each story.” —Kirkus Reviews
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Belfast, with its bleak, murderous history, at last gets an entry in Akashic's acclaimed noir series. The 14 all-new stories range from the time of the Troubles (1968 1999) to today. Staunchly local, the fiction largely hails from authors born or living in Belfast or other Irish locales. Ian McDonald, better known for science fiction, offers "The Reservoir," a brutal tale of a wedding that ends in violence. Bestseller Lee Child, an Englishman long resident in Manhattan whose father was born in Belfast, contributes the unsettling "Wet with Rain," in which some mysterious men from America trick a woman into selling her house. Not all the entries are profound or gloomy. Garbhan Downey's jaunty "Die Like a Rat" opens with a description of "Spotty John Norway's weirdly disfigured corpse." The selections none really great, none terribly bad faithfully reflect the Northern Ireland city's lack of ethnic diversity.
