Santa Fe Noir

By Akashic Books

Santa Fe joins Phoenix as a riveting Southwest US installment in the Akashic Noir Series.

"There is a real charm to the local specificity of Santa Fe Noir, and it's a pleasure to discover how different imaginations can channel the chiaroscuro energy of well-known places."
--Santa Fe Reporter

"Because each story is identified by the neighborhood or specific location in which it takes place, Santa Fe Noir is a veritable road map of the city and surrounding area. It stretches from El Dorado to the Southside, Casa Solana and Cerrillos Road to the Santa Fe National Forest. The protagonists of the stories are psychotherapists, vagrants, teenagers, and gig workers. They drink and smoke. They drop acid and have sex. And more than a few are guilty of murder (or at least of justifiable homicide)."
--Pasatiempo

"If you picture Santa Fe, New Mexico, only as a sunny, vibrant, colorful Southwest arts mecca, this anthology will shred that image with feral claws."
--Roundup Magazine

"Readers, if you like noir and you like Santa Fe, this is a must-read!"
--Eldorado Living Magazine

"[Gore's] assembly of writers are varied and bring to the book a wide spectrum of perspectives and styles. Santa Fe Noir could have easily gone wrong with a lesser editor veering down the well-trod road of commodified Native and Hispanic stories, but Gore finds us stories about people we know, or think we know, reflected in the shady, more complex moments in Santa Fe. For locals and visitors alike, Santa Fe Noir is a tour guide through the darker side of town."
--Weekly Alibi

"The book's diverse group of writers will provide readers with unexpected perspectives on this centuries-old city and its people."
--Publishers Weekly

"Readers will never look at hand-thrown pottery, heirloom tomatoes, or spectacular sunsets the same way again."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Pure entertainment by a collection of impressively skilled storytellers, Santa Fe Noir is especially and unreservedly recommended."
--Midwest Book Review

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city.

Brand-new stories by: Ana Castillo, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Byron F. Aspaas, Barbara Robidoux, Elizabeth Lee, Ana June, Israel Francisco Haros Lopez, Ariel Gore, Darryl Lorenzo Wellington, Candace Walsh, Hida Viloria, Cornelia Read, Miriam Sagan, James Reich, Kevin Atkinson, Katie Johnson, and Tomas Moniz.

From the introduction by Ariel Gore:

The stories in this collection reflect a fundamental truth about this city: history depends on who's telling it. Too often the story of Santa Fe has been told only by the conquerors and the tourism PR firms. In Santa Fe Noir, you will hear the voices of the others: locals and Native people, unemployed veterans and queer transplants, the homeless and the paroled-to-here. When I asked the contributors you'll read in these pages if they had a Santa Fe story to tell, they invariably shrugged and said something to the effect of, "Oh, I've got a story all right. But it might not fit the image of Santa Fe you're looking for."

I said, "Try me." They came back with the stories that never make the glossy tour brochures: the working class and the underground, the decolonized and the ever-haunted; the Santa Fe only we know...Conquered and reconquered, colonized and commodified, Santa Fe understands--from historical genocide to the murders of family members--the intimacy of violence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781617757778

Reviews for Santa Fe Noir

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another excellent collection of short noir stories. It includes one graphic story. The legend of La Llorona is a repeated theme. Remember trying to lock someone up who is an excellent lock picker is not a good idea.

[squeex_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don't always have the best of luck with anthologies, but it's the opposite with the Noir series from Akashic. I really like this series and I especially loved this book. A wide variety of styles: thriller, scary, odd, paranormal...don't read this if you want a happy ending...some are sort of vague endings, some are left to your imagination...some not satisfying but it was the aim of the writer I am pretty sure. You really cannot go wrong with this book. I can definitely recommend it.

[ellienyc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read a number (many!) of the Noir series of different cities and enjoyed them all. This one may be my favorite: perhaps because I’ve always dreamed of living in Santa Fe and loved my visits there. But I have never seen the side of Santa Fe portrayed in these dark stories. Not that I want to, except through the vehicle of fiction.In Santa Fe Noir (part of the Akashic series, edited by Ariel Gore), the stories are not the voices of the tourist or former urbanites come to live in the artistic haven that is the beautiful Santa Fe. Instead, as stated in the introduction, “you will hear the voices of the others: locals and Native people, unemployed veterans and queer transplants, the homeless and the paroled-to-here.” In my own naivete, I never thought there was another side to Santa Fe. This volume is a serious wake-up call while also being seriously entertaining (in a very dark fashion). While keeping the natural beauty of the setting, this Land of Enchantment holds other stories than the usual tourist versions.Edited by Ariel Gore (whose own contribution is also excellent) I don’t think there is a story in the entire collection I didn’t enjoy—a rare feat for an anthology in my experience. These are crime stories of the cold, hard kind in a harsh world with no room for the homeless, the poor, the indigenous—all the people that have been “othered” by the more comfortable, conforming, affluent world.It’s hard to choose favorites, but I particularly loved Elizabeth Lee’s “Waterfall,” set in a beautiful spa which promises new life but become an especially gory crime scene and Ana Castillo’s (an author whom I love) more supernatural one, “Divina: In Which Is Related a Goddess Made Flesh.” These are just two examples of the many styles offered in this volume.An outstanding entry in the Akashic series. My favorite so far. My thanks to Akashic Publishing, Ariel Gore, and LibraryThing for providing me with a copy for free.

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another installment of Akashic noir and a solid collection as always. Honestly, if you like noir, or if you haven't dipped your toe in, I think picking up any Akashic collection will be a good choice. Bonus points for the fact that there's dozens and dozens from locales all across the U.S. and beyond, so if you don't actually live in one of the places they're covering, there's a good chance you've visited a few and might recognize some of the neighborhoods or landmarks that pop up in the tales.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read a number of the Akashic Noir books, but this one stands out as my favorite at this point. On top of giving a powerful and varied view of Santa Fe, the collection features outstanding writing with a clear intention of honoring diversity. This diversity not only comes across in the cross-section of authors featured and their varied stories, but in the inclusion of LGBTQ characters and related storylines which together make this feel like the most progressive and diverse collection I've read in the series so far. Noir can sometimes feel dated (to my eye, anyway), but nothing in this collection feels dated, and the editor's attention to varied tones and atmospheres allows the noir feel to shine without the collection ever being repetitive or all of the same flavor.If you're thinking about trying the Akashic Noir books, this is the first one I'd point you to. I've found stories I've enjoyed in each one, but this whole collection is pretty fantastic, and nearly every author is one I've marked down to follow and find other works from.

[diana.hauser · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

SANTA FE NOIR edited by Ariel Gore is a new title in Akashic Books Noir series. This anthology series was launched in 2004 by Akashic Books with BROOKLYN NOIR, and continues with over 100 titles to its credit. Each title represents a city, region or country with each story set in a distinct neighborhood or location in said city, country, or region. Travel to Cape Cod, to Buffalo, to Nairobi, to Berlin, to Tel Aviv and back again. You are in for a very unsettling, bumpy ride.The series is Noir at its sleaziest. There is enough fatalism, cynicism, grittiness, moral ambiguity, cruelty, sadness and selfishness to sink a battleship.SANTA FE NOIR is set in the southwest, in the city of Santa Fe. Ariel Gore says in her introduction that authors came back to her with the “stories that never make the glossy tour brochures: the working class and the underground, the decolonized and the ever-haunted; the Santa fe only we know…Conquered and reconquered, colonized and commodified; Santa Fe understands - from historical genocide to the murders of family members - the intimacy of violence.”Authors include Byron F. Aspaas, Kevin Atkinson, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Ana Castillo, Ariel Gore, Katie Johnson, Ana June, Elizabeth Lee, Israel Fransisco Haros Lopez, Tomas Moniz, Cornelia Read, James Reich, Barbara Robidoux, Miriam Sagan, Hida Viloria, Candace Walsh, Darryl Lorenzo Wellington.Each Noir title is set up in a similar way. There is an Introduction by the editor(s); a map (Love the map); a Table of Contents listing the Parts of the Book, Stories, Locations and Authors; an About the Contributors area which showcases the authors.Reflections:There was a supernatural feel to some of the stories, especially “All Eyes” by Katie Johnson.I enjoyed “Buried Treasure” by Kevin Atkinson. I seem to have an affinity for archeology, artifacts and forest rangers.Noir compost? Who knew? A must read by Ariel Gore, “Nightshade”.“Waterfall” by Elizabeth Lee - very eerie.A graphic approach to a very sad story - “La Llorona” by Israel Fransisco Haros Lopez.It seems unusual (for me) to read a noir story, indeed any fictional story, about Richard Feynman and the July 16, 1945 nuclear test blast at Los Alamos. The story is “The cask of Los Alamos” by Cornelia Read. It is a parody of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short story, “The cask of Amontillado”. Very clever and eerie.All the stories were Noir at its finest. They were extremely cringe-worthy. I will most definitely hesitate to eat a heirloom tomato again.Thank you to Akashic Books for the ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of SANTA FE NOIR.

[mike1990-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Noir Series by Akashic Books isn't a typical anthology series. Each book transports you to a different city, whether it's in the US, or abroad. Each story within each entry takes places in a specific neighborhood of the city in the title. Just like with most anthologies, there are hits and there are misses. Santa Fe Noir has more hits than misses. If half the stories are good, I call it a successful anthology. Santa Fe Noir is definitely that.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Akashic books has this whole sprawling line of noir anthologies set in different regions. My introduction to it was with USA Noir, a sort of best-of collection, which I enjoyed. I went on to read the New Jersey one, that state being the one I grew up in, but I found myself much less impressed by that one. (Predictably, I suppose, in hindsight. I mean, stories do get picked out for "best of" compilations for a reason.) Still, I kept thinking that I'd really like to see them do one featuring my adopted home state of New Mexico, as there are surely all kinds of interestingly noir-ish possibilities lurking here in the desert. So when they came out with this one, I was pleased, even if I was sorry to see they'd limited it to Santa Fe, a city I don't have nearly as much personal familiarity with as some other parts of the state.Sadly, I have to say that overall I didn't like this even quite as much as the New Jersey one. The best of the stories are decent enough, but scarcely very memorable, with, perhaps, the sole exception of the final piece: the weird, disturbing, vaguely science-fictional "Me and Say Dog" by James Reich. Several of them struck me as examples of a writer's ambition out-stripping their writing ability a bit. Others, perhaps, were just not really to my taste. A lot of them feature a mystical streak, of one variety or another, which I suppose is appropriate for Santa Fe, but mostly doesn't do very much for me.I almost feel bad being that negative about it, though. It's an anthology that feels like it's really trying to be something special. I do appreciate the fact that the editor has clearly made a point to showcase stories from people, and about characters, from a wide variety of backgrounds, including a lot of emphasis on Native American experiences. She also wrote a really good introduction. But, I dunno, probably the introduction shouldn't be better than most of the actual stories.Rating: I'm going to give it a 3/5, mostly on the strength of the few best stories. That maybe feels a bit high for my mostly meh reaction, but then, I also feel like I'm not being very objective about it, overall.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great set of noir stories, this time about Santa Fe. I learn about local myths and legends every time I pick up one of these anthologies. The editors always find incredible talent in every location that contribute to the books. I've only read a fraction of the series, but all the ones I have read have been worth it.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set in and around Santa Fe, NM, Santa Fe Noir contains gritty short stories dealing with the seemingly seedier side of life. Given the Native American population and their ancient ties to the land, a number of stories reach into lore and mysticism of the past. I flew through the book, enjoying it immensely.

[lpg3d · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

[b:Santa Fe Noir|45838044|Santa Fe Noir|Ariel Gore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557944629l/45838044._SY75_.jpg|70646656] is another excellent entry in Akashic Books noir series of anthologies. Like any anthology, some stories are better than others. However, I've yet to find any of their noir series that I didn't enjoy. I especially enjoyed the stories taking place outside the actual city, and in the surrounding mountains. This is a great collection of hard boiled crime stories.

[Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.]