ER program; I come back to this collection sporadically--obviously, given the 8 year delay--maybe hoping that the poor quality of writing will improve with time. The story lines have potential in terms of interest and intrigue, but I stop being engaged when poor writing gets in the way and I am distracted with wondering how such writing gets published...game over. ( )

This is another in the series of ' .. Noir' short story collections that started, I believe, with Brooklyn Noir, and I won it as an ER some time ago, so this is a very belated review indeed.

The editor, David Hale Smith, divides his stories into three sections, Cowboys, Rangers, and Mavericks. The stories in the first section grabbed me right away, especially the first one, "The Hole-Man", by Matt Bondurant, about a man who feels threatened and estranged in a new home in a new and anonymous subdivision. Also stuck in my mind is Daniel J. Hale's "In The Air", about two brothers. In the second section, Rangers, Merritt Tierce's "The Private Room", about a woman waiting tables in a private room, and doing other things, is quite vivid, as is "Full Moon" by Lauren David, about a heist gone wrong and its aftermath. The third section was, for me, the weakest of the three, but Kathleen Kent's story of a messed up stakeout and Civil-War re-enactors "Coincidences Can Kill You" is fun. I also enjoyed Harry Hunsicker's "The Stickup Girl" for its muscular language and desperate swagger, but didn't quite like the ending.

All in all, a collection that kept me reading. ( )

This was my first venture into the Noir collection from Akashic Books, and I liked it well enough that I'll probably try a few more. That said, I probably won't read the next one straight through. Most of the stories here revolved entirely around drugs and sex, with crime and atmosphere a far few steps behind all of the exotic dancers and rich players. There was little of the atmosphere that I'd expected, and at least one story that wasn't nearly at the level of the others and probably should have been left out completely. But, that said, there were three or four authors I wrote down to search out more work from, and stories as well from two writers who I already search out, neither of whom disappointed here.

All together, it was a quick read with fast-paced stories, though I'm hoping for more from the other Noir works on the Akashic list. ( )

This is a good collection of short stories. They're all captivating and intense, so putting down the book is hard. Despite not being from Dallas, I still enjoyed the setting. ( )

This is the latest in the series of Noir fiction from Akashic books. It is somewhat less successful than some of the other titles in the series, probably because the stories are more eclectic and less "noir-y" than usual. Perhaps that is because the editor is a literary agent and not an author himself. (And he doesn't like Larry McMurtry!) The best traditional noir story is "Like kissing your sister" by James Hime. But hands down, the top story is "Coincidences can kill you" by Kathleen Kent. Where else could you find a tale set in Texas that includes a lesbian state trooper from Brooklyn, a group of Civil War re-enactors, and a shootout with drug running bandits from South of the Border? ( )