One reason you may be interested in London Noir is because I have a piece entitled "Rigor Mortis" in here, but there's far more to the book than just that. Sylvie Simmons's contribution will instantly appeal to those who like my novels because it features a ventriloquist dummy that seems to come to life (a trope I used in "69 Things To Do With A Dead Princess") and feeders who get off sexually on fattening up women (a kink also addressed in my novel "Come Before Christ & Murder Love"). This Simmon's piece is probably my favourite among the many extremely strong contributions to the anthology, aside from my own of course! There's some punk riffs going off here, try Max Decharne and John Williams (both friends of mine but I'm not biased, I know a good story when I read it regardless of who wrote it). Desmond Barry and Ken Bruen have the drugs angle covered. Michael Ward, Jerry Sykes and editor Cathi Unsworth do the sex industry from various angles. Barry Adamson goes for priests, Dan Bennett sexual abuse.Mark Pilkington and Joe McNally provide the most obviously occult and psychogeographical contributitions. Patrick McCabe and Ken Hollings both do paranoid "terrorists" extremely well. And that covers pretty much all the book, and certainly everything worth mentioning except for the Martyn Wates story "Love". This last features a neo-Nazi homophobe who discovers he's gay (in this instance in the arms of a black drug dealer). Tales featuring this twist have been popular in the UK since at least the time neo-Nazi pin-up boy Nicky Crane came out as gay and renounced fascism. A song from the mid-eighties by The Apostles called "Fucking Queer" is the earliest use of this particular trope I can think of right now. But Wates adds a twist by taking inspiration from current British headlines. All the stories in this book, as well as all others in the Noir series published by Akashic Books, have different writers contribute new and original stories that deal with different parts of a city. And it isn't chance that leads Wates to set his tale in Dagenham, the neighbourhood abutting Barking.
Cathi Unsworthin "Lontoo Noir" (Like, 2015) sisältää seitsemäntoista novellia, jotka kaikki kuvaavat Lontoota ja ennen kaikkea sen varjoisempaa ja rosoisempaa puolta. Vaikka kirja on sijoitettu meidän putiikissamme dekkarihyllyyn, eivät kaikki kertomukset ole kuitenkaan rikostarinoita.Lopputulos jää suutariksi. Novellit olivat suurimmaksi osaksi melko mitäänsanomattomia, kliseisiä ja yllätyksettömiä, enkä paria poikkeusta lukuunottamatta jaksanut pahemmin innostua niistä. Pidin eniten Martyn Waitesin skininuoren traagisesta kohtalosta kertovasta "Rakkaudesta", Mark Pilkingtonin noituutta sivuavasta novellista "Hän ratsastaa valkoisella hevosella" ja John Williamsin "New Rosesta", jossa kuvataan ikääntymään päässeiden punkrokkareiden kohtaamista.Suosikkikaupunkini olisi ehdottomasti ansainnut paremman noir-kokoelman!
What do You think about London Noir (2006)?
These stories contain a side of London that the Olympics don't want you to see. This is the third book I've read in the series, and the joy is discovering the demographics of each neighborhood while still being entertained by the story. Being an American, I had to research many of the terms, because it's British slang. That slowed me down and became a distraction in some of the stories. A few of them actually ventured into sci-fi I'd say, which really isn't my genre. But I did enjoy it, as I'm enjoying the whole series.
—Kim
This is precisely the sort of thing that made me stop reading the quite well-written Elizabeth George mystery series featuring Inspector Lynley. It just gets to be too much after a while.
—Cynthia
