Queens Noir by Robert Knightly
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(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: January 2008
- 350pp
- Sales Rank: 612,873
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: January 2008
- Publisher: Akashic Books
- Format: Paperback, 350pp
- Sales Rank: 612,873
- Series: Akashic Noir Series
- ISBN-13: 9781933354408
- ISBN: 1933354402
Synopsis
Brand-new stories by: Denis Hamill, Malachy McCourt, Maggie Estep, Megan Abbott, Robert Knightly, Liz Martínez, Jill Eisenstadt, Mary Byrne, Tori Carrington, Shailly P. Agnihotri, K.j.a. Wishnia, Victoria Eng, Alan Gordon, Beverly Farley, Joe Guglielmelli, and Glenville Lovell.
Robert Knightly is a trial lawyer in the Criminal Defense Division of the Queens Legal Aid Society. In another life, he was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department. President of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America, he was born and raised in New York City and lives in Queens.
Publishers Weekly
The ethnically diverse New York borough of Queens is the setting for this solid entry in Akashic's noir anthology series (Brooklyn Noir, etc.). Rather than featuring big name authors only loosely connected to Queens, Knightly has brought in a crew of local writers that includes many unknowns. The result is a satisfying if unspectacular volume, with protagonists ranging from a young woman out for revenge (Denis Hamill's "Under the Throgs Neck Bridge") to a trigger-happy cop protecting her cousin from an abusive ex-husband (Stephen Solomita's "Crazy Jill Saves the Slinky"). The husband-and-wife team writing as Tori Carrington (Sofie Metropolis) weighs in with a gritty whodunit set in a Greek diner in "Last Stop, Ditmars." The standout by far is "Hollywood Lanes" by Megan Abbott (The Song Is You), a bleak and masterful story of passion and betrayal set in a Forest Hills bowling alley. There's plenty to enjoy here for Akashic completists and anyone who's ever cheered (or jeered) the Mets. (Jan.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
Robert Knightly is a trial lawyer in the Criminal Defense Division of the Queens Legal Aid Society. In another life, he was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department, The president of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America, he was born and raise in New York City and lives in Queens.
Customer Reviews
Queens Noirby Anonymous
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February 02, 2008: If you want an outsider's view on Queens, open up any alternative publication 'village voice, new york press'and look at the culture section you'll find some smarmy piece written by pseudo-intrepid reporters 'daring' enough to cross the Hudson to get a bite to eat or attend a cultural event. You'll get a lackluster description of the cantina scene from star wars and an over-the-top rendering of Queens as a shangri-La. Tourists. No beef with the stories. Some are quite good, but most could've taken place anywere. And Admittedly, according to the Editor Robert Knightly, some stories were initially set in other boroughs but quickly changed to meet this books criteria. Real Authentic. Yes, publishing is a shamelessly incestuous practice, but if you're going to attempt to represent an entire borough , maybe push back some of the cronyism and recognize that you're dealing with history, culture, and a diversity that should be represented - maybe 'considering it is Queens' even more than any other boroughs heretofore depicted in this noir series. With the exception of about 5 'OUT OF 19!' authors that have lived in Queens for any length of time, everyone else has 'connections' to Queens, meaning they weren't raised there and at best only live there - and by 'live' they mean 'reside,' as in sleep and bathe there before getting out of the borough like a bat out a hell to get to the City. About as many authors that do live there don't. Also, some of those alterna-culture pieces from newspapers before mentioned just get further perpetuated in this book. That is to say, the tourist interpretation of Queens: In Shailly Agnihotri The myth that Jackson Heights is an Indian neighborhood is belabored. There are a little over two blocks in the entirety of Jackson Height that have a large concentration of Indians and their business. That's it. And of all stories this was probably the least 'noir' of them all. Enjoyed the stories, but the book is a shameless attempt to tack another one onto the series at the expense of a rich and underappreciated - because underexposed - borough. Tourists, transplants beware: you'll learn nothing about Queens from this book that you wouldn't learn from your neighbor'who probably also just moved into the neighborhood because they were pushed out of the village and williamsburg'. The lore, mystique, appeal of Queens goes untapped, to say nothing of the genuine 'noir' of the borough.
Queens Noirby Anonymous
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January 13, 2008: Loved the book so fun!! Especially loved the story by Ms Jill Abbott great writer!!
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