Lone Star Noir
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Traverses Texas, finding evidence of the hard boiled, sultry, and disreputable throughout the state . . . Think of the book as a sort of criminal travelogue.” —Booklist
If everything is bigger in Texas, then that includes the boldness of the criminals who call the state home. From large urban centers to the Cajun Gulf coast, there is big money to be made running guns, drugs, and catering to the greedy and disillusioned. Each distinctive region can claim its own special brand of outlaw.
In Lone Star Noir, you’ll find stories by James Crumley, Joe R. Lansdale, Claudia Smith, Ito Romo, Luis Alberto Urrea, David Corbett, George Wier, Sarah Cortez, Jesse Sublett, Dean James, Tim Tingle, Milton T. Burton, Lisa Sandlin, Jessica Powers, and Bobby Byrd.
“This isn’t J.R. Ewing’s Lone Star State. This is the Texas of chicken shit bingo, Enron scamsters, and a feeling that what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico . . . So what defines Texas noir? Who knows, but you better pray that blood doesn’t stain your belt buckle.” —The Austin Chronicle
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Divided into three sections (Gulf Coast, Back Roads, and Big City), Akashic's Texas noir volume offers mostly unknown names among its 14 contributors. Highlights include Joe R. Lansdale's darkly hilarious "Six-Finger Jack," in which a greedy Texan tries to earn $100,000 for killing a crook with more than the usual number of digits; James Crumley's sardonically funny "Luck," in which obnoxious twins push a killer over the edge; and Dean James's "Bottomed Out," about one man's twisted fight to keep his job. Solid reads by lesser known talents include Sarah Cortez's poignant Houston story, "Montgomery Clift"; Jessica Power's gripping "Preacher's Kid"; and Bobby Byrd's bone-chilling El Paso ode, "The Dead Man's Wife," more horror than noir. Some will wonder why the editors missed genre writers known for their Texas settings such as Sandra Brown, Jon Land, Jan Grape, Scott Cupp, Bill Crider, Laurie Moore, Nic Pizzolatto, and Lewis Shiner.
