Akashic Noir Series

I first saw these beautiful noir series books in my local bookstore. I. however, didn’t give much thought to them at first until recently, when a member of my book club suggested that we should pick a couple books for our upcoming discussion. The international editions appeal to me because they almost always feature local authors whom I have never heard of. For my upcoming trip to Asia, I picked a few that will see me through the longhaul flights. Istanbul Noir presents stories from a city at once ancient and modern, Asian and European, postcard-perfect and simmering with rage. Paris Noir contains all original stories from Paris’s finest authors, all translated from French. In Singapore Noir, the city that is very neat in my impression is exposed in all of its noir glory with scintillating stories from the very best of the city’s authors. I wonder if Bangkok Noir will be out any time soon?

A little bit about noir as a genre. I have been confused between noir and detective fiction. Noir fiction is a literary genre closely related to hard-boiled genre with a distinction that the protagonist is not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator. Other common characteristics include the self-destructive qualities of the protagonist. I love the grit, grime and sultry sweat of a good piece of noir fiction.