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samhouston's review against another edition
4.0
Buenos Aires Noir is a recent addition to the always interesting Akashic Books noir series. Each of the books collects a group of fourteen or fifteen short stories that have something in common, be it city, region, or another type of setting (think prison, etc.) The books are all introduced by someone familiar with the setting being featured and with the authors whose work is being presented. Admittedly, some of these collections are better than others, but of the dozen or so of them I've read now, I can't recall even one of them that did not entertain me and keep me turning pages.
This one contains 14 short stories which are, as always, divided into four aptly-titled sections. This time around, the sections are titled "How to Get Away with It," "Crimes? Or Misdemeanors?," "Perfect Crimes," and "Revenge." As it turns out, all most all of my favorite stories appear in the book's first two sections.
I am particularly fond of "Fury of the Worm a story about a Buenos Aires street-kid who grew up into a vicious crime boss who calls himself "Worm." Be warned that this Alejandro Parisi story requires a strong stomach at moments, especially when a sexual predator is being dealt with by Worm in a move to score points with another city crime family. I also greatly enjoyed "A Face in the Crowd," an intensely suspenseful story by Pablo De Santis about the dangers of publishing photos taken on the streets. Let's just say that you never know who's image you might capture - nor how they are going to feel about that invasion of their privacy.
If you haven't read any of these Akashic books yet, you're in luck because there are dozens of them on the market now - and they are uniformly good. Personally, I'm already looking forward "Houston Noir," a title that is listed as "Forthcoming" in the Buenos Aires collection.
This one contains 14 short stories which are, as always, divided into four aptly-titled sections. This time around, the sections are titled "How to Get Away with It," "Crimes? Or Misdemeanors?," "Perfect Crimes," and "Revenge." As it turns out, all most all of my favorite stories appear in the book's first two sections.
I am particularly fond of "Fury of the Worm a story about a Buenos Aires street-kid who grew up into a vicious crime boss who calls himself "Worm." Be warned that this Alejandro Parisi story requires a strong stomach at moments, especially when a sexual predator is being dealt with by Worm in a move to score points with another city crime family. I also greatly enjoyed "A Face in the Crowd," an intensely suspenseful story by Pablo De Santis about the dangers of publishing photos taken on the streets. Let's just say that you never know who's image you might capture - nor how they are going to feel about that invasion of their privacy.
If you haven't read any of these Akashic books yet, you're in luck because there are dozens of them on the market now - and they are uniformly good. Personally, I'm already looking forward "Houston Noir," a title that is listed as "Forthcoming" in the Buenos Aires collection.
tonstantweader's review against another edition
4.0
Buenos Aires Noir is a new release in the peripatetic Akashic Noir Series that travels the globe, inviting us to spend several hours among the grim and gritty noir landscapes of the cities it visits. With local writers as editors, our “tour guides” are well-informed and have the hometown knowledge to select the best local talent. With fourteen stories, there is a wide variety of short stories for readers to enjoy.
Given Argentina’s violent and grim history with the Peronistas, the Junta, the Dirty War, it is no surprise that this is one of the grimmest anthologies in the series. This is the noir of noir. There is nothing cozy about it. Fury of the Worm by Alejandro Parisi was so disturbing and violent I had to put the book down for a few days.
The Golden Eleventh by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara is a breathless, headlong, poetic race of words that capture the desperate indecision of a man in the midst of committing an atrocity. It is perhaps my favorite story in the anthology even though we are in the mind of a white supremacist terrorist. I loved the slow dawning horror of Crochet by Inés Fernández Moreno. Some of the stories are small, private dramas while others touch on the pain of the Dirty War. Oddly, since I think Mallo did such a great job selecting stories for the anthology, I thought his Eternal Love was the weakest of the collection, more a long joke with a final punchline.
I enjoyed Buenos Aires Noir. That is no surprise, it is one of my favorite publishing series and it seldom disappoints me. If you like armchair travel and mysteries, it combines the best of both. Of course, it’s most traveling the grimmer side of the cities it visits, but it visits most of the neighborhoods, poor, wealthy, traditional, and modern. You see more of a city in these books than you will in Fodor’s.
I received an e-galley of Buenos Aires Noir from Akashic Books through Edelweiss.
Buenos Aires Noir at Akashic Noir
Akashic Noir Series
Ernesto Mallo author site (Spanish language)
Ernesto Mallo on GoodReads
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/9781617755224/
Given Argentina’s violent and grim history with the Peronistas, the Junta, the Dirty War, it is no surprise that this is one of the grimmest anthologies in the series. This is the noir of noir. There is nothing cozy about it. Fury of the Worm by Alejandro Parisi was so disturbing and violent I had to put the book down for a few days.
The Golden Eleventh by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara is a breathless, headlong, poetic race of words that capture the desperate indecision of a man in the midst of committing an atrocity. It is perhaps my favorite story in the anthology even though we are in the mind of a white supremacist terrorist. I loved the slow dawning horror of Crochet by Inés Fernández Moreno. Some of the stories are small, private dramas while others touch on the pain of the Dirty War. Oddly, since I think Mallo did such a great job selecting stories for the anthology, I thought his Eternal Love was the weakest of the collection, more a long joke with a final punchline.
I enjoyed Buenos Aires Noir. That is no surprise, it is one of my favorite publishing series and it seldom disappoints me. If you like armchair travel and mysteries, it combines the best of both. Of course, it’s most traveling the grimmer side of the cities it visits, but it visits most of the neighborhoods, poor, wealthy, traditional, and modern. You see more of a city in these books than you will in Fodor’s.
I received an e-galley of Buenos Aires Noir from Akashic Books through Edelweiss.
Buenos Aires Noir at Akashic Noir
Akashic Noir Series
Ernesto Mallo author site (Spanish language)
Ernesto Mallo on GoodReads
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/9781617755224/
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