Review: Six Stars
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 2, 2012
Noir Nation issue #2 is a great read. It contains 19 cracking short stories from around the world, two essays on the cultural and spiritual significance of tattoos and an interview with Madison Smartt Bell (author of the acclaimed trilogy about Toussaint Louverture) all rounded off by extracts from the Old Bailey 1675-1693Each of the stories is a gem. My personal favorites are Hubert Osprey's Welcome to Brooklyn, Kid, which I would describe as Grand Theft Auto, Brooklyn style, Primitive Grace by Paul Calderon, about two desperados with something valuable to sell, The Waverley Knees by Ray Banks, about a down and out in Edinburgh, and The Precipice, a tale of murder by Edogawa Rampo, translated from the Japanese. If I had to choose one, my vote would have to go to Ray Banks. This story alone is worth the cost of the anthology.Highly recommended.