Prague Noir, Paperback

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

Brand-new stories by: Chaim Cigan, Martin Goffa, Irena Hejdova, Michaela Klevisova, Stěpan Kopřiva, Ondrej Neff, Marketa Pilatova, Jiri ``Walker`` Prochazka, Petra Soukupova, Petr Stančik, Michal Sykora, Petr Sabach, Kateřina Tučkova, and Milos Urban.

While Prague might today be one of the world's top tourist destinations, and a cosmopolitan capital of European culture, it remains an open-air monument to a history of violence. Here, Prague's top writers explore the hidden corners of the ``City of a Hundred Spires,`` pulling back the curtain to reveal gloom and despair.

From the introduction by Pavel Mandys:

How to write noir in a city where, until 1990, the profession of private detective hadn't existed? Where the censors insisted on portraying police in the media and literature in a positive light? Where freelance organized crime hadn't existed, but where the largest criminal group was the secret police? Before you delve into the fourteen stories in this collection, a heads-up: most of the stories owe their allegiance more to Prague than the noir genre...but if the concept of ``noir`` is extended, and considered a characterization of literary works containing elements of crime, danger, threat--or where central characters find themselves in critical life situations--then you will find fourteen such stories in this collection.