Belfast Noir Format: Paperback

Lee Child, Eoin McNamee, and others join previous entries London Noir and Dublin Noir in exploring the darkest corners of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“The works are short, allowing readers to savor each snippet or devour the entire compelling book in a day, depending on just how deliciously gloomy they’re feeling.” ―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

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

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.'”

Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in the North Belfast suburban town of Carrickfergus. His first crime novel, Dead I Well May Be, was short-listed for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. His novel about a Belfast-based detective in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, The Cold Cold Ground, won the 2013 Spinetingler Award. Its sequel, I Hear the Sirens in the Street, was short-listed for the Ned Kelly Award. He is the coeditor of Belfast Noir.

Stuart Neville’s debut novel, The Ghosts of Belfast, won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was picked as one of the top crime novels of 2009 by both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. His subsequent three novels have been short-listed for various awards, including the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. The French edition of The Ghosts of Belfast, Les Fantômes de Belfast, won Le Prix Mystére de la Critique du Meilleur Roman Étranger and Grand Prix du Roman Noir Étranger. He is the coeditor of Belfast Noir.