Belfast Noir (Akashic Noir)
Adrian McKinty, Stuart Neville
Language: English
Pages: 218
ISBN: 1617752916
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
--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
"[Belfast Noir] zooms in on Northern Ireland's capital city, whose history surely more than qualifies it as a breeding ground for noir."
--Booklist
"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
"Belfast, with its bleak, murderous history, at last gets an entry in Akashic's acclaimed noir series."
--Publishers Weekly
"Belfast Noir is one of the strongest entries in Akashic's admirable City Noir series....all [stories] are of exceptional quality. Anyone with a fondness for noir, an interest in the past, in contemporary Irish writing, or simply an appreciation of excellent prose should snap this one up."
--Reviewing the Evidence
"Singapore Noir, like Belfast Noir, once again proves that Akashic Books' noir series is better than any travel guide."
--MysteryPeople
"Belfast Noir equals the high standards set by its predecessors."
--Book Chase
"Impossibly hard to put down...Belfast shows its true colors (ie bloodstainds) in this gritty collection."
--Barbarian Librarian
"It's almost like visiting [Belfast]."
--Journey of a Bookseller
"A terrific collection."
--Escape Into Life
"I was blown away with what I read...This is a great anthology of modern-day noir."
--Mom Read It
Launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Reflecting a city still divided, Belfast Noir serves as a record of a city transitioning to normalcy, or perhaps as a warning that underneath the fragile peace darker forces still lurk.
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.
From the introduction by Adrian McKinty & Stuart Neville:
"Few European cities have had as disturbed and violent a history as Belfast over the last half-century. For much of that time the Troubles (1968–1998) dominated life in Ireland's second-biggest population centre, and during the darkest days of the conflict--in the 1970s and 1980s--riots, bombings, and indiscriminate shootings were tragically commonplace. The British army patrolled the streets in armoured vehicles and civilians were searched for guns and explosives before they were allowed entry into the shopping district of the city centre...Belfast is still a city divided...
You can see Belfast's bloodstains up close and personal. This is the city that gave the world its worst ever maritime disaster, and turned it into a tourist attraction; similarly, we are perversely proud of our thousands of murders, our wounds constantly on display. You want noir? How about a painting the size of a house, a portrait of a man known to have murdered at least a dozen human beings in cold blood? Or a similar house-sized gable painting of a zombie marching across a postapocalyptic wasteland with an AK-47 over the legend UVF: Prepared for Peace--Ready for War. As Lee Child has said, Belfast is still 'the most noir place on earth.'"
came first, sidewinding down the aisle, with one of the transport container’s straps hefted in his nicked and scarred left hand, and then came the munition itself, heavy, bobbing like a fat man in a hammock, and then came Carter, a strap in his right hand, shuffling sideways. They got lined up side by side at the open door, their backs to me, each with a forearm up on the bulkhead to steady himself, the munition swinging slackly and bumping the floor between them. I said, “On three,” and I
but because of simple ballistics. If the slug went through-and-through, I wanted it to carry on into thin air, not hit the airframe. I don’t think the bullet killed the guy. But the shock changed his day. He went all weak, and his forearm gave way, and he half fell and half got sucked out into the void. No sound. Just a blurred pinwheel as the currents caught him, and then a dot that got smaller, and then a tiny splash in the blue below, indistinguishable from a million white-crested waves. I
Good toxins, friendly poisons. The Botox battles the ultraviolet: her skin brown and crackled as parchment from the tanning salon. Still the Sunbed Queen of Lord Street. Still firm-skinned, firm-bodied. Still a toned bird. Pilates Monday, Body-pump Tuesday, Hot Yoga Wednesday, ’80s Retro-Aerobics Thursday, Beach Body Friday, nails and hair with Lee Saturday, Sunday sweat out the Saturday hangover in the sauna. Saturday night was always going-out night on the road. To be so deeply into yourself;
Ma I needed one as a legitimate business expense. He fiddled with it for a minute. “There’s my number. You find out anything you shouldn’t, you give me a wee phone.” “How will I know if it’s something I shouldn’t?” I said sulkily. “Just be prepared. Dib-dib-dib, son.” He patted my shoulder in a patronising way and left. How rude! I’d been out of school for five whole months. I thought about what he said. Did this mean the PSNI were mounting surveillance on Nasher’s pub, maybe checking out his
any day this week and sign the authority, you can make the withdrawal.” “The full amount?” “Well, we’d prefer you’d leave the account open . . .” “Naturally—will do.” “But there’s no problem with you taking out, say, three hundred and fifty thousand dollars—as long as you leave in the other ten.” “Good to hear.” “Oh, and bring your passport.” “I will indeed.” Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Plus the ten grand sterling wedding gift Sami had handed me in an envelope before I left