Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power [Paperback]

Gary Phillips (Editor), Black Artemis (Contributor), Ken Bruen (Contributor), Mike Davis (Contributor), Robert Greer (Contributor), Pete Hautman (Contributor), Darrell James (Contributor), Jake Lamar (Contributor), Michele Martinez (Contributor), Sujata Massey (Contributor), Twist Phelan (Contributor), John Shannon (Contributor), Ken Wishnia (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2008

They seek power at any price, and pay with the devil’s own coin!

From authors including National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, Deadly Ink 2007 winner Darrell James, and renowned social commentator turned short-story writer Mike Davis, Politics Noir is a chilling and subversive collection of new crime stories featuring greed, corruption, insatiable ambition... and murder in the very highest places.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

There is just something so delicious about witnessing the people we elect to be better than ourselves fall prey to their baser instincts, succumbing to sex, violence, and greed, that maybe we have even come to expect it. In Mike Davis’ “Negative Nixons,” a compromising photo of Tricky Dick and J. Edgar Hoover springs two tough musclemen into action. More contemporarily, in “Collateral Damage,” by Robert Greer, two front-running 2008 Democratic candidates (craftily named Hannah Rossmore Stenton and Broderick Losamma) engage in a deadly game of maneuvering leading up to the Denver convention. Jake Lamar’s “Madame Secretary’s Lover Man” paints Condoleezza Rice as a sultry viper drawing unsuspecting dupes into secret liaisons and certain doom. Additional contributions from authors such as Pete Hautman, Darrell James, and Michele Martinez, among others, help this collection tug on the same corner of human nature that makes political scandals so impossibly fascinating, turning the metaphorically cutthroat world of politics into the seedy, literally backstabbing stage we all suspect—and maybe even deep down hope—it just might be. Compulsively and guiltily pleasurable reading. --Ian Chipman

Review

"The author's grasp of Southern California politics is razor sharp." Booklist"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Verso (April 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844671615
• ISBN-13: 978-1844671618
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,373,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Darrell James is a noted short-story writer whose debut thriller, NAZARETH CHILD, introduces the determined, young Del Shannon, a female missing-persons investigator. NAZARETH CHILD is the first in a series published by Midnight Ink.

BODY COUNT: A KILLER COLLECTION is an anthology containing fifteen mystery short stories by Darrell James.

His work has also appeared in numerous mystery magazines to include: Hardboiled Magazine, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Armchair Aesthete, and others. Darrell's short stories have garnered numerous awards:
Finalist 2009 Derringer Awards
Finalist 2008 Eric Hoffer Awards
Winner 2007 Deadly Ink Competition
Finalist 2007 Reviewers Choice Awards
Winner 2004 Fire To Fly Competition
Finalist 2003 Fire To Fly Competition

You can find some of his stories in the following anthologies: Politics Noir, LAndmarked For Murder and Deadly Ink 2007.

Darrell James is a fiction writer who splits his time between Pasadena, CA and Tucson, AZ. He lives with his wife/manager, Diana, and their two spoiled cats. Darrell is a Board Member of the SoCal Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and is actively involved with Sisters In Crime/LA. Darrell regularly speaks on the topics of craft, storytelling as well as setting/achieving goals. For his appearance schedule, check out Booktour.com or his website: www.darrelljames.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Greed Graft Corruption Sex Power Ambition (What Else Is New?), December 14, 2008

By 

Michael L. Slavin "HardBopper" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power (Paperback)

Thirteen authors contribute to the above basic theme. Politics can be for the most part a shady game. And there are few clean purists who make it to top. Whether an appointed senate seat may be for sale to the highest bidder or if the sleaze may be contained to the local community level. Several of the stories I found interesting were: Negative Nixons by Mike Davis which details an imagined encounter between the former President and J. Edgar Hoover; Ambition by Michele Martinez about an indispensable political aide who always was thinking of the best spin; Madam Secretary's Lover Man by Jake Lamar which was the story of an artist who did a painting of Condoleezza Rice and was ultimately sexually rewarded by her and then disposed of;Collateral Damage by Robert Greer in which a female presidential candidate had an Obama like presidential candidate assassinated with a twist that endangered her own candidacy; The Mayor's Movie by Sujata Massey about a regressive Iman in Ahmedabad who enforced strict Islamic standards but was set up to fall by his interest in porn; Swift Boats For Jesus by Gary Phillips about small town power and election fixing; The Legend Of Bayboy And The Mexican Surfer by John Shannon tells about the lives and deaths of an unlikely duo--a young Mexican immigrant laborer and a young white boy from a wealthy family who had picked up HIV. Though this final story did not in my view conform to the basic political theme of the book. The editorial message was pretty straight from the political left. But still made for a good fairly quick read.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 13 stories that show the seamy underside of politics, April 25, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power (Paperback)

This thriller anthology, a collection of 13 stories digs down into everything that is deep, dark and dirty about politics, everything you ever suspected was at the secret heart of this second oldest profession. Stories by well-known authors like Twist Phelan, Black Artemis, Gary Phillips and Pete Hautman are here, and many of the writers have multiple published novels and are book award winners.

The stories themselves pull no punches, such as:

"Negatives Nixons," by Mike Davis, the tale of an alleged photograph showing you-know-who in a compromising position with the former FBI Director.

"Madam Secretary's Lover Man;" by Jake Lamar, a story giving Condi Rice a secret (and fatal) taste for lovers; along with other stories with more obvious fictional themes

"Pork," by Pete Hautman, about the battle of wills between a stubborn architect and a determined artist in designing a public building

"Ambition" by Michele Martinez, where a new political PR aide will do anything to get ahead--until she runs into an old master of the game

"The Mayor's Movie" by Sujarta Massey--about the disenfranchised women of an Muslim town, who strive to be rid of an oppressive imam.

Politics Noir has just about every kind of plotting, scheming, dirty trick known to the profession--and what surprised me was the use of well-known names in some of these stories. They lend an air of reality and immediacy. The anthology is published by Verso "an imprint of New Left Books," as it says inside the cover, so I guess you can see where they're coming from.

Anyway, for those who like to get to the seamy underside, and read about everything they've ever suspected was wrong with politics, this is the book for you.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly composed, bland, obvious tales, March 25, 2009

By 

Malik Aitpamen (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power (Paperback)

This was a major waste of cash.

The stories are poorly written, shallow, and far too short to allow for anything like a developed plot or interesting characters. Completely predictable in terms of politics to boot.

Don't bother.