Espresso Shots: Hong Kong Noir, edited by Jason Y. Ng and Susan Blumberg-Kason

Small-sized reviews, raves, and recommendations.

In fourteen unlucky tales, Hong Kong Noir, edited by Jason Y. Ng and Susan Blumberg-Kason, gives the reader “a brilliant collection of ghost stories, murder mysteries, domestic dramas, cops-and-robber tales, and historical thrillers that capture Hong Kong in all its dark glory.” Under the Union Jack, Hong Kong became the financial epicenter of Asia. Since the handover, the city-state has become an appendage of Communist China, existing under the “one country, two systems” philosophy. Pre-pandemic, the fit had become less than accommodating. While capitalism has flourished in the one-party state, Hong Kong remains unwilling to trade in democracy for political tyranny.

This installment of the popular series from Akashic Books follows the same formula – multiple sections, each story taking place at a specific location within the profiled city, genre subversion – it provides solid entertainment. Cities can be the most exciting when their sordid aspects become highlighted with literary expertise. “More of the same” in the context is meant as the highest praise. It is a successful model for how to create fiction anthologies. Despite the consistent good quality of writing involved, this doesn’t mean the stories are predictable genre exercises.

As with any anthology, there are some notable stories. “A View to Die For,” by Christina Liang would be a wonderful piece of erotica – a pregnant wife with an absentee husband has a torrid affair with a neighbor’s son – except that is ends badly. Very badly. Miles away from the sordid and sexy, “The Quintessence of Dust” by Marshall Moore is a morality tale about obligations to the family business. Set on Lamma Island, Reuben, the narrator returns home to family after a breakup with boyfriend Adrian: “I couldn’t tell where the jet lag ended and the hangover began. They fused into each other like the stairs in one of those Escher prints where they only way is down.” His mixed heritage makes him feel alienated, “It’s my appearance: on the dark side of white, I’ve been taken for Italian, Portuguese, even Polish. In England I tend to feel Chinese. And now that I’m here, I feel transparent.” This grayness becomes mirrored in the moral universe he finds himself in. Crime fiction can traffic in black-and-white morality. Good. Evil. A bad decision and the entire world becomes a hostile place. A switch is turned and justice claims its prize. In “Quintessence,” things are more slippery, ambiguous, opaque. Explaining the family business, “It’s a protection racket without the extortion. Insurance without the paperwork. Business owners on the island pay Charles and Gideon a certain amount of money each month to make suicides vanish.” When more details become clear, Reuben finds himself in a black abyss, morally speaking. But the transition isn’t from good to evil, white to black, but in a haunting spectrum of shades of gray.

As always, Akashic Books crafts a brilliant anthology. Highly recommended for those wanting to explore Hong Kong’s dark underbelly. ( )

I have really enjoyed Akashic’s Noir series written around the world by authors native to the featured country. It’s a great way to do some authentic armchair traveling and to become acquainted with writers that otherwise might not be available in the U.S.

There were some good stories in this collection. My favorites included the stories set in the time of the British handoff.

But, as a whole, this collection was not one of my favorites. Several stories were rather predictable, especially those involving ghosts. I realize that this may be cultural as authors retold traditional stories and used traditional themes.

Most troubling to me was that stories of suicide are not often printed in the US, as they can be seen to encourage those teetering on the brink of self-harm. There is one story with this theme that I wish had not been included in this collection.

I received a copy of this through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. ( )

Hong Kong Noir is only the second anthology in Akashic Books' noir series that I've had the opportunity to read, but it is my favorite so far. Edited by Jason Y. Ng and Susan Blumberg-Kason, the volume collects fourteen stories from fourteen contributors, each with their own connections to Hong Kong: Jason Y. Ng, Xu Xi, Marshall Moore, Brittani Sonnenberg, Tiffany Hawk, James Tam, Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang, Charles Philipp Martin, Christina Lian, Feng Chi-shun, Shannon Young, Shen Jian, Carmen Suen, and Ysabelle Cheung. I wasn’t previously familiar with any of the authors, but based on the stories included in Hong Kong Noir, I am certainly interested in pursuing some of the authors’ other work as well.

As a whole, I greatly enjoyed the Hong Kong Noir collection. While there is understandably some thematic similarities from story to story—the volume is arranged in a such a way that this is emphasized—the authors utilize an engaging variety of styles and to some extent even genres in the telling of their tales. I was particularly drawn towards the selections that were more speculative in nature or that dealt with death and the afterlife, but the rest still had appeal, too. I liked the twists and turns in the stories collected in Hong Kong Noir and the general sense of place conveyed by the volume. Overall, Hong Kong Noir was an excellent anthology; I look forward to reading more of the noir series. ( )

Another entry into the Akashic Noir series and shows that the minds behind the series are still sharp as ever. With Hong Kong Noir, the focus of many of the stories is on tradition, family and China's looming shadow. And ghost tales (but that really ties into the previously mentioned topics). The stories are dark, they're masterful, they're another feather in the cap of the Akashic Noir series. ( )

Hong Kong Noir continues Akashic Books globe-trotting series of noir anthologies, taking readers on a trip to the noir side of Hong Kong this time. Hong Kong has a unique history as a British colony until 1997 when their lease expired and Hong Kong became part of China. Going from a capitalist hot spot to a communist region, no matter the guarantees of autonomy was a systemic shock and that transition features in several stories. As an international commercial center, it’s no surprise that sex workers feature in several stories as well. There are also ghosts that haunt the city, the people who live there, and many of the stories.

There are fourteen stories in Hong Kong Noir, a choice that may seem aggressive given the widely held belief that fourteen is unlucky, so much so hotels and apartment buildings skip the fourteenth floor. Given that there are fourteen stories, I was somewhat disappointed by how many stories featured sex workers or ghosts. I am sure Hong Kong is more diverse. There were a couple of stories where I wondered if they were a continuation of a previous story. I don’t mind ambiguous endings, but there were too many of them as well.

This is a rare disappointment for me. I almost always love the Akashic Noir releases. It makes me wonder how the authors described what they were looking for when they recruited writers to write stories for this edition. “We’re looking for noir stories about Hong Kong, past and present, you know, stories about ghosts, haunted neighborhoods, sex workers, and organized crime, that sort of story from the grim and sordid side of life.” Somehow there is a sameness to the stories that is surprising given the diversity of authors. It seems that must come from how they were recruited to write for the anthology.

Still, it is only disappointing relative to the high quality of the Akashic Noir series. It is still a good mystery anthology. I expect to like every book I read because I was drawn to them for a reason. There are still several good stories that drew me in. A couple were excellent, including the unluckily named “Fourteen.” I also thought “One Marriage, Two People” that gives us the stream of consciousness thoughts of a husband and wife who are very different, though I thought the husband was surprisingly two-dimensional. “The Quintessence of Dust” is chilling, with beautiful writing, “I couldn’t tell where the jet lag ended and the hangover began. They fused into each other like the stairs in one of those Escher prints where the only way is down.”

If you like mysteries and short stories and are curious about the world, Akashic Noir is a delight and you will enjoy Hong Kong Noir.

I received an e-galley of Hong Kong Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Hong Kong Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir Series
Jason Y. Ng author site & Twitter
Susan Blumberg-Kason author site & Twitter

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/01/17/hong-kong-noir-by-jason-y... ( )