booksgurrsandpurrs 's review for:

South Central Noir by Desiree Zamorano, Gary Phillips, Steph Cha, Gar Anthony Haywood, Penny Mickelbury, Roberto Lovato, Naomi Hirahara, Jeri Westerson, Emory Holmes II, Jervey Tervalon, Eric Stone, Tananarive Due, Larry Fondation, Nikolas Charles

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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 Edited by Gary Phillips, this noir anthology makes use of regional literatures to great effect, the included authors are as diverse as the community the book represents. If South Central is your past or current stomping ground, reading each story provides a spark of nostalgia or lamentation. South Central is very much a character in the book and any reader not familiar with the area can experience South Central in a way that washes over them and hopefully will entice you to make a visit to places like Watts Towers. Before reading this collection I had a rigid understanding of the Noir genre, but was pleasantly surprised by its range through narrative and tone. Some of the longer stories lost my interest, but overall this collection is worth picking up.