Columbus Noir

By Akashic Books

Columbus Noir features brand-new stories by: Lee Martin, Robin Yocum, Kristen Lepionka, Craig McDonald, Chris Bournea, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Tom Barlow, Mercedes King, Daniel Best, Laura Bickle, Yolonda Tonette Sanders, Julia Keller, Khalid Moalim, and Nancy Zafris.

Contributor Julia Keller is a Mary Higgins Clark Award winner for her fiction and a Pulitzer Prize winner for her journalism; contributor Craig McDonald has been nominated for both Edgar & Anthony awards; contributor Lee Martin was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

The editor, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, is a member of Midwest Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and the local—and very active—chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Welsh-Huggins is also a frequent guest on All Sides With Ann Fisher, a popular Columbus news, arts, and entertainment radio show.

In addition to the editor’s media connections, several of the contributors also have connections to both national and local media.

The editor has connections to both local Barnes & Nobles, as well as the Book Loft.

The capital of Ohio, Columbus is the 15th largest city in the US, and the largest city in the state.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781617757761

Reviews for Columbus Noir

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For the most part this was a really good anthology. The stories were interesting and fun to read. It wasn’t until the end of the book that I felt the stories going down hill. All That Burns the Mind was boring at the beginning but redeemed itself at the end. Then both Long Ears and Foreign Study were just terrible and confusing. Both were hard to follow and not much action. Overall the anthology gets 4 stars from me. I could just do without the final 3 stories. I received a free copy from the publisher and LibraryThing in exchange for my honest opinion.

[diana.hauser · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

COLUMBUS NOIR, edited by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, is one of Akashic Books latest title in its very popular, very prolific, very gritty Noir series. With over 100 titles, this anthology series has titles from countries, cities, and regions representing most of the world. From Buenos Aires to Oakland, California, to Trinidad, to Dublin, to Nairobi and back again, readers experience the absolute best of Noir writing.Noir is the main character in all of the titles - a genre of crime fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism and moral ambiguity. Noir is dark, raw and brooding. It is sad, cruel, selfish and greedy. Noir features cynical characters and bleak, sleazy settings.COLUMBUS NOIR is an anthology of short stories featuring different areas/neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio.Every Noir anthology (that I have read) is set up in the same way. I like this familiarity, this opening up of the book and instantly feeling at home; comfortable.Access points include an Introduction by the editor(s); a map with story locations highlighted by body (dead) outlines; a Table of Contents including 3 Parts and 14 stories; and an About the Contributors section which highlights the very talented authors.The Introduction sets the tone for any Noir series title. The Intro in COLUMBUS NOIR by editor, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, is entitled “A capital place for killing”.Andrew Welsh-Huggins is pleased to present “a collection of shadowy tales from the city’s best storytellers set in neighborhoods across the metropolis. Sexual passion drives many of the stories, appropriate for a genre marked by protagonists striving for things out of their reach. Racism makes an appearance or two, as do those twin pillars of noir, greed and pride. Still, a deep appreciation of Columbus runs through the book as forcefully as the swath cut by the Olentangy after a couple of days of hard rain.”Authors include Tom Barlow, Daniel Best, Laura Bickle, Chris Bournea, Julia Keller, Mercedes King, Kristen Lepionka, Lee Martin, Craig McDonald, Khalid Moalim, Yolanda Tonette Sanders, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Robin Yocum and Nancy Zafris.My favorite story was “Going Places” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, from the Ohio Statehouse. “Going Places’ was absolutely diabolical. The quote “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” has been on constant repeat in my brain since I read the story. (My deep, dark confession is that I am a bit of a fan of Beth Pendleton.)“The Satin Fox” by Robin Yocum also stood out for me. “Gun People” was also diabolical. “Curb Appeal” was very fiendish and very sad.Every single story epitomized the Noir genre and I enjoyed the dark nuances, the twists and turns of every single one. Thank you to Akashic Books for the ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of COLUMBUS NOIR.

[riversidereader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I have read in the new "noir" genre and found that I enjoyed it quite a bit. A good selection of stories just long enough and not too violently or sexually graphic. Would be a good book to take on a plane.

[bayleaf_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Columbus Noir is a decent starter book for those interested in the noir series. The stories are easy to read and fairly predictable, but enjoyable. I did have a couple of favorites in the collection, "The Dead and The Quiet" by Laura Bickle and Yolanda Tonette Sanders' "The Valley." And I found "Foreign Study" by Nancy Zafris to be an excellent way to conclude the collection, as it's a good social commentary for our times.

[smcgurr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read quite a few of Akashic Books Noir series of books, and like most anthologies, there are always some good stories and some not as good. Much of my enjoyment in this series has been learning a little about the cities focused on in the anthology.Columbus Noir is the first on I've read about a city that I have lived in. There were only a couple of stories that didn't quite work for me, which out of 14, isn't a bad winning percentage. What got me though is knowing the city pretty well didn't add to the stories, but detracted in someway. The references to specific streets, locations, restaurants, etc. now seemed forced like when a band plays in your hometown and shouts "Hello, Cleveland!" It almost seems like pandering.I'm interested to know if others have a similar experience reading fiction about their hometowns like this. That said, the stories and plots and characterizations in this book were good. Nice job by all the authors. I love this series overall.

[glendalea_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 starsThis latest offering from the Akashic Noir Series was the perfect example of "love it or hate it." The stories I liked, I really really liked! They were what I expected from this series. But the ones I disliked, well.....I gauge these stories on how much they create an atmosphere of the profiled city. If the stories seem generic and I can place in any city anywhere, then I tend to give a lower rating. Sell me your city! Mentioning street names doesn't do much for me. Make me live in that neighborhood! That being said, this is a pretty solid collection and I look forward to the next offering from Akashic books.

[pomo58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Columbus Noir, edited by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, is yet another strong addition to the Akashic Noir series. I have yet to read a volume I didn't thoroughly enjoy. Yes, collections will be uneven simply because there are multiple writers and each reader will find a couple more to her liking than the others, but there are no weak stories here. I spent a lot of time in Columbus when I was in grad school at Ohio University, even though the campus was about an hour or so east(ish), so that familiarity helped to make this book even more enjoyable. That said, if you enjoy noir fiction you'll enjoy this whether you've ever been to Columbus or not. The stories might take place in specific neighborhoods but the underlying heart of each story is human first and foremost, regional second.I would recommend this, as well as all of the noir series, for readers who like darker stories. Lovers of short fiction in general will also enjoy the overall strength of this volume.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

[bradkautz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a first-rate collection of short stories in the noir genre, set in Columbus, Ohio. I found all but one of these stories to be both true to their genre and surprising in the turns of their plots. It has been my pleasure to read several volumes of Ahashic's Noir collection, and this is one of the very best.