Description
The noir series published by Akashic Books must be running out of cities and regions to cover, judging by how many they have published. I am sure we will see one for Lodi soon, as they are now coming out with a Sacramento version in a mostly enjoyable and uneven selection of stories.
Noir stories, for those that do not know, are hard nose, hard edge crime stories; often featuring people down on their luck, the wrong side of the tracks, and a plot that edges on the fanciful. While these noir series books are generally fairly good, the quality of the overall volume can vary widely within the book, as some stories are engaging and others leave the reader wondering “how did this story even get chosen”.
People familiar with the Sacramento area will recognize many of the neighborhoods mentioned, though most take place in the downtown area, with some stories taking place back during the post-World War II period and the rest taking place in modern times. Similar to other books in the series, each story is fairly short, which makes for easy reading.
