Down These Mean Streets

NEW FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION STORIES WITH A HARDBOILED NOIR TWIST—FOCUSING ON THE MEAN STREETS OF THE CITY

“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” —Raymond Chandler

Humans have always been fascinated by darkness. Especially the darkness of a city at night, when the black sky is made ever more inky by the pools of illumination dropped under streetlights. We harken to the sound of streetcars in the distance. We are drawn to the garish flash of club signs and marquees. We love the danger of shadowed alleyways, of wealth and poverty living side by side.

We love the city. It’s a part of us.

Whether the mean streets be in an alternate past charmed with dark magic or the dirty alleyways of futuristic crowded space stations, the city—and its darkened streets—will always fascinate us. Here then, an anthology of all new stories of science fiction and fantasy with a hardboiled noir twist that acknowledge that the city is a living, breathing entity…and it isn’t always on our side.

Stories by: Laurell K. Hamilton, Larry Correia, Kacey Ezell, Mike Massa, Steve Diamond, Robert E. Hampson, Chris Kennedy, Marisa Wolf, Griffin Barber, Robert Buettner, Hinkley Correia, Casey Moores, Patrick M. Tracy, and Dan Willis.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).


Praise for No Game for Knights:

“The authors successfully create a fantasy pastiche of Chandleresque hardboiled fiction.” —Tangent Online

Praise for Noir Fatale:

“Marvelous is a good word to describe all of the stories in the book . . . Noir Fatale is a book that will charm both noir fans, and general science fiction and fantasy readers. Correia and Ezell have created a captivating mix of stories.” —The Galveston County Daily News

“[A] wonderfully diverse collection of stories from a broad range of authors and it delivers in spades . . . It is a diverse and exciting slice of Noir and Fatale and a great read.” —SFRevu

Praise for Larry Correia and the Monster Hunter International series:

“[E]verything I like in fantasy: intense action scenes, evil in horrifying array, good struggling against the darkness, and most of all people— gorgeously flawed human beings faced with horrible moral choices that force them to question and change and grow.” —Jim Butcher

“[A] no-holds-barred all-out page turner that is part science fiction, part horror, and an absolute blast to read.” —Bookreporter.com

“If you love monsters and action, you’ll love this book. If you love guns, you’ll love this book. If you love fantasy, and especially horror fantasy, you’ll love this book.” —Knotclan.com

“This lighthearted, testosterone-soaked sequel to 2009’s Monster Hunter International will delight fans of action horror with elaborate weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, disgusting monsters, and an endless stream of blood and body parts.” —Publishers Weekly on Monster Hunter Vendetta

Praise for the work of Kacey Ezell:

“Gritty, dark and damp. Much like the war itself.” —Michael Z. Williamson

“I loved Minds of Men.” —D.J. Butler

“A lot of good scifi writers write war, but sometimes forget that it is fought by actual people, and even in the midst of war, you don’t stop being people while you fight. If you want a good read that dares you to think about what it is like to go to war when you can’t hide behind the masks you learn to wear, check it out.” —John T. Mainer


Larry Correia is the creator of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times best-selling Monster Hunter International series, with first entry Monster Hunter International, as well as urban fantasy hard-boiled adventure saga The Grimnoir Chronicles, with first entry Hard Magic, and epic fantasy series The Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, with first entry Son of the Black Sword. He is an avid gun user and advocate who shot on a competitive level for many years. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a military contract accountant, and a small business accountant and manager. Correia lives in Utah with his wife and family.

Kacey Ezell is a medical emergency helicopter pilot, recently retired from the USAF, who also writes sci-fi/fantasy/alt history/horror fiction. Her first novel was a Dragon Award finalist in 2018, and her stories have been featured in Baen’s Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction compilation in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, her story “Family Over Blood” won the 2018 Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction Reader’s Choice Award. She writes for Baen and Chris Kennedy Publishing.