Las Vegas Noir »

Jarret Keene is author/editor of three books, including the poetry collection Monster Fashion, the alt-travel tome The Underground Guide to Las Vegas and the unauthorized rock bio The Killers: Destiny is Calling Me. He lives in Las Vegas. Todd James Pierce is the author of three books, including the novel A Woman of Stone and the short story collection Newsworld, which won the 2006 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. He is an assistant professor of English at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, California.

In this chilling portrait of America's Sin City, lady luck is just as likely to dispense cold hard cash as a cold-hearted killing.

Publishers Weekly

Just because mystery fans will be unfamiliar with many of the 16 contributors to Akashic's latest entry in its acclaimed noir series (Brooklyn Noir, etc.) doesn't mean the quality isn't up to volumes boasting bigger names. The late John O'Brien, best known for his novel-turned-film, Leaving Las Vegas, offers a typically warped and nihilistic vision of the city with "The Tik," about a thrill-killing duo, narrated by the male half, whose indifference to his prey is chilling.A Columnist Tod Goldberg's "Mitzvah" makes good use of the Las Vegas myth that people come to the city to bury their past identities and reinvent themselves. His antihero, mobster Sal Cuperine, has for years posed as Rabbi David Cohen, managing to handle the demands of the pulpit until the strain of his charade becomes too much to bear. While some readers might regret that no tale other than Janet Berliner's "The Road to Rachel" explores Las Vegas's past, this anthology does a fine job of illuminating the dark underbelly of Sin City. (May)

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Contents Introduction PART I: SIN CITY....................19
JOHN O'BRIEN Scotch 80s The Tik....................31
DAVID CORBETT Fremont Pretty Little Parasite....................59
TOD GOLDBERG Summerlin Mitzvah....................81
SCOTT PHILLIPS Naked City Babs....................95
VU TRAN Chinatown This or Any Desert PART II: NEON GRIT....................123
PABLO MEDINA West Las Vegas Benny Rojas and the Rough Riders....................137
CHRISTINE MCKELLAR Green Valley Bits and Pieces....................158
PRESTON L. ALLEN Nellis Crip....................175
LORI KOZLOWSKI North Las Vegas Three Times a Night, Every Other Night....................187
JAQ GREENSPON Sunset Park Disappear....................205
JOSÉ SKINNER East Las Vegas All About Balls PART III: TALES FROM THE OUTSKIRTS....................229
NORA PIERCE Test Site Atomic City....................242
CELESTE STARR Pahrump Dirty Blood....................250
BLISS ESPOSITO Centennial Hills Guns Don't Kill People....................275
FELICIA CAMPBELL Mount Charleston Murder Is Academic....................295
JANET BERLINER Area 51 The Road to Rachel....................312
About the Contributors