Customer Reviews

London Noir (Akashic Noir)

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This is the second book I have read in this series, and while I like the books, they get a bit over bearing after a while. "London Noir" paints a consistently bleak and desperate picture of one of my favorite cities, and there is simply no let up in the constant parade of hopeless characters. I found that the stories - for this is a collection of short stories, each anchored in a specific geographic location around London - to get increasingly less well written, definitely less interesting, and even a bit more bizarre, as the book went on.

There are some well known authors, such as Ken Bruen, but many are first time writers, or at least new to the genre. Like Cinema Noire, the stores all have a dark, crime ridden atmosphere, populated by characters on the periphery of society. Many are interesting, but because they are short stories, you really make no connections with any character. There is no single character that runs through the stories to give any sense of continuity (they are all written by different authors), and I think that also hurts the collection. While I recommend the book, maybe just because I'll read almost anything about London, come with the proper expectations. I'll keep reading through the series (I think there are 16 or 17 books now) as time and interest permits

Like dirt on the streets of London, these dirty characters are afixed to a dirty world. Pushers and addicts, crooked cops, the homeless and ,of course, punk rockers star in these short stories.

The lives portrayed touch the reality that is quite often glossed over and glamourized by artists who tend to elevate these dark ends of London in their works. One would rather read this book than live it out.

The scenes are bleak but eye opening as they teach about their dark and hopeless world. These stories illuminate the often attractive London , especially during punk's early days.

So if you survived those heady times you can have fun, reminisce and read these tales and be glad you survived!

My first introduction to this series was "Twin Cities Noir" a well-written,
and at times funny collection of short stories. My next selection was "Manhattan Noir" which also offers up sad, frightening and fascinating
tales. My third choice was "London Noir" as I recently visited the city
and was eagar to learn more about it's neighborhoods. In all honesty, I couldn't finish the book. After five stores, at least one which borders on the pornographic, I had my fill of dark, depressing characters and prose so poorly written I was ready to throw the book in the garbage. What kind of editor would publish this kind of trash? It was so disappointing I know it will be a long time before I pick up another
book in this series.