Rome Noir »

Chiara Stangalino worked for many years for one of Italy's leading publishing houses. She is now a freelance festival organiser, responsible amongst other things for the Courmayeur Noir in Festival literary events and Festarch, the Sardinian architecture festival. She has also directed a documentary film about American crime writer Joe R. Lansdale. She lives in Turin, Italy. Maxim Jakubowski is a British editor and writer. Following a long career in book publishing, during which time he was responsible for several major crime imprints, he opened London's specialist mystery bookshop Murder One. He reviews crime-fiction for The Guardian, runs London's Crime Scene Festival, and is a regular at Italian crime events.

Rome provides a fertile setting for this groundbreaking collection of original stories, all translated from Italian.

Publishers Weekly

Founded upon a fratricide-or at least so goes the legend of Romulus and Remus-the Eternal City would seem fertile terrain for the newest site-inspired short story anthology in Akashic's popular noir series. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Despite the stray gem like Antonio Pascale's "For a Few More Gold Tokens," an ingeniously constructed, darkly comic account of a caper gone hilariously wrong, most of the 16 selections made by Stangalino, a festival organizer and film director, and British editor and writer Jakubowski display a disappointing dearth of variety or distinction. Even Jakubowski's own "Remember Me with Kindness," one of the volume's most stylishly written tales, would have shone brighter without the presence of another story hinging on the same plot twist. In anybody's book, that's a crime. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction 11

Pt. I Walls & Stones

Pasolini's Shadow Nicoletta Vallorani Vallorani, Nicoletta 19

Eternal Rome Antonio Scurati Scurati, Antonio 36

The Melting Pot Tommaso Pincio Pincio, Tommaso 54

Last Summer Together Cristiana Danila Formetia Formetia, Cristiana Danila 83

Pt. II In the Footsteps of Caesar

Don't Talk to the Passenger Diego De Silva De Silva, Diego 91

Roman Holidays Enrico Franceschini Franceschini, Enrico 105

Tiburtina Noir Blues Francesca Mazzucato Mazzucato, Francesca 124

Words, Thoughts Marcello Fois Fois, Marcello 143

Pt. III Pasta, Wine & Bullets

Christmas Eves Gianrico Carofiglio Carofiglio, Gianrico 159

Beret Carlo Lucarelli Lucarelli, Carlo 163

Remember Me with Kindness Maxim Jakubowski Jakubowski, Maxim 168

Eaten Alive Evelina Santangelo Santangelo, Evelina 183

Pt. IV La Dolce Vita

For a Few More Gold Tokens Antonio Pascale Pascale, Antonio 205

Silence Is Golden Boosta 226

Caput Mundi Giuseppe Genna Genna, Giuseppe 238

1988 Nicola Lagioia Lagioia, Nicola 254