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sccubed's review against another edition
4.0
This collection of Los Angeles Noir is just as good as the first edition. Each story is not only set in a different area in Los Angeles, but are also from different time periods. A very fun and insightful read into the landscape of Los Angeles in the last century.
circularcubes's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," the first quarter of the four sections in this collection, is absolutely excellent. There's some really top notch noir going on here, but the rest of the collection is a bit weaker in comparison, even if I appreciate editor Denise Hamilton's broad "classics" selection.
Naomi Hirahara really caught my attention with her Japanese-American femme fatale protagonist in "The Chirashi Covenant." I really enjoyed Hirahara's story in the previous Los Angeles Noir collection as well, and I've now added one of her longer novels to my to-read list based on the strength of her short stories. I also really enjoyed Joseph Hansen's "Surf," featuring gay insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter, and William Campbell Gault's rug-expert Armenian private eye in "The Kerman Kill." I was quietly blown away by Walter Mosley's Socrates Fortlow short, "Crimon Shadow." I much preferred the narrative voice of Fortlow over Easy Rawlins, another Mosley protagonist who failed to charm me much. And finally, I was really drawn into the tense violence and ruthlessness of Yxta Maya Murray's "Lucía." I generally really don't enjoy novel excerpts and prefer short stories that are meant to be real alone, but it stands well by itself as a short, and I loved the world crafted by Murray, and really enjoyed the Spanglish and the rhythm of the writing and dialogue.
I guess there are really some stand-outs in this collection, but the other stories I haven't mentioned failed to charm me much. I'd still recommend it to noir fans who've already gotten through the previous collection in the series.
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," the first quarter of the four sections in this collection, is absolutely excellent. There's some really top notch noir going on here, but the rest of the collection is a bit weaker in comparison, even if I appreciate editor Denise Hamilton's broad "classics" selection.
Naomi Hirahara really caught my attention with her Japanese-American femme fatale protagonist in "The Chirashi Covenant." I really enjoyed Hirahara's story in the previous Los Angeles Noir collection as well, and I've now added one of her longer novels to my to-read list based on the strength of her short stories. I also really enjoyed Joseph Hansen's "Surf," featuring gay insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter, and William Campbell Gault's rug-expert Armenian private eye in "The Kerman Kill." I was quietly blown away by Walter Mosley's Socrates Fortlow short, "Crimon Shadow." I much preferred the narrative voice of Fortlow over Easy Rawlins, another Mosley protagonist who failed to charm me much. And finally, I was really drawn into the tense violence and ruthlessness of Yxta Maya Murray's "Lucía." I generally really don't enjoy novel excerpts and prefer short stories that are meant to be real alone, but it stands well by itself as a short, and I loved the world crafted by Murray, and really enjoyed the Spanglish and the rhythm of the writing and dialogue.
I guess there are really some stand-outs in this collection, but the other stories I haven't mentioned failed to charm me much. I'd still recommend it to noir fans who've already gotten through the previous collection in the series.
alisa4books's review against another edition
Full of wonderful short stories! The end is a bit depressing....guess that is in keeping with the 'noir' theme.
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