Prague Noir
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
This “varied and polished” anthology of original noir fiction introduces a new wave of Czech authors to English-speaking audiences (Publishers Weekly).
It can be difficult to imagine noir fiction emerging in a city like Prague, where the profession of private detective didn’t even exist prior to 1990. Before the Velvet Revolution, the only serious criminal organization was the secret police. Yet, with its complex and often tragic history, the home of Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera offers a uniquely rich setting for stories of menace, danger, and secrecy; tales of individuals driven to break the law in the face of a desperate situation. In this “superior entry in Akashic’s noir series,” fourteen contemporary Czech authors introduce themselves—and their world—to an international audience (Publishers Weekly).
Prague Noir includes brand-new stories by Martin Goffa, Štěpán Kopřiva, Miloš Urban, Jiří W. Procházka, Chaim Cigan, Ondřej Neff, Petr Stančík, Kateřina Tučková, Markéta Pilátová, Michal Sýkora, Michaela Klevisová, Petra Soukupová, Irena Hejdová, and Petr Šabach.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The 14 crime stories set in Prague in this superior entry in Akashic's noir series offer armored car robbery, kidnapping, murder masked as suicide, and more not bad for a burg that, as the editor notes in his intro, didn't even have "the profession of private detective" until 1990. For long years under the control of a police state, the ancient city earlier witnessed Nazi occupation, and before that the legend of the golem haunting the ghetto. Chaim Cigan billed as "currently the chief rabbi of the Czech Republic" draws authoritatively on the city's mystic background in "The Magical Amulet"; Michal S kora's "Percy Thrillington" presents a by-the-book puzzle-style mystery with clues from the music catalogue of Paul McCartney. Petr Stanc k spins a lively and unusual tale in "The Cabinet of Seven Pierced Books," in which figures such as the "autarchic detective, one Egon Alter" can drop casually into the action delightfully reminiscent of Avram Davidson's fantastical adventures of Dr. Eszterhazy. In the varied and polished content of this volume, readers will find much to amuse.
