Alabama Noir (Akashic Noir)

Alabama joins Mississippi as fertile Deep South soil for the Noir Series.

 

“Banish any boredom with a descent into Alabama Noir.” ―Southern Review of Books

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the book.

Brand-new stories by: Ace Atkins, Tom Franklin, Anita Miller Garner, Suzanne Hudson, Kirk Curnutt, Wendy Reed, Carolyn Haines, Anthony Grooms, Michelle Richmond, Winston Groom, Ravi Howard, Thom Gossom Jr., Brad Watson, Daniel Wallace, D. Winston Brown, and Marlin Barton.

From the introduction by Don Noble:

Some locales seem to come with their own soundtrack. Don Ho and his tiny bubbles provide the background music for Hawaii, Edith Piaf for Paris. The reggae of Bob Marley evokes Jamaica. The soundtrack for Alabama is without question provided by our troubled troubadour Hank Williams. The 2016 biography Hank by Mark Ribowsky paints a dark picture of the musician’s short, alcoholic, drug-filled life: a life of loneliness and pain. He goes so far as to call Hank’s life story “noir-ish” . . .

In Alabama Noir we encounter “troubles and foibles” galore, darkness in many forms. The stories range from the deadly grim to some that are actually mildly humorous. We see desperate behavior on the banks of the Tennessee River, in the neighborhoods of Birmingham, in the affluent suburbs of Mobile, in a cemetery in Montgomery, and even on the deceptively pleasant beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

Fans of noir should all find something to enjoy.

DON NOBLE is the editor of twelve volumes, three of which are collections of short fiction by Alabamians. He has received a regional Emmy Award for achievement in screenwriting and is the recipient of the state prizes for literary scholarship and service to the humanities, as well as the Governor’s Arts Award. Noble is host of the TV literary interview show Bookmark with Don Noble and reviews books weekly for public radio. He is the editor of Alabama Noir.