тАЬSubverts the simplistic sunshine/reggae/spliff-smoking image of Jamaica at almost every turn┬а.┬а.┬а. with a rich interplay of geographies and themes.тАЭ тАФLos Angeles Times
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From Trench Town to Half Way Tree to Norbrook to Portmore and beyond, the stories of┬аKingston Noir shine light into the darkest corners of this fabled city.
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Joining award-winning Jamaican authors such as Marlon James, Leone Ross, and Thomas Glave are two тАЬspecial guestтАЭ writers with no Jamaican lineage: Nigerian-born Chris Abani and British writer Ian Thomson. The menacing tone that runs through some of these stories is counterbalanced by the clever humor in others, such as Kei MillerтАЩs тАЬWhite Gyal with a Camera,тАЭ who softens even the hardest of August TownтАЩs gangsters; and Mr. Brown, the private investigator in Kwame DawesтАЩs story, who explains why his girth works to his advantage: тАЬIn Jamaica a woman like a big man. She can see he is prosperous, and that he can be in charge.тАЭ
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TogetherтАФwith more contributions from Patricia Powell, Colin Channer, Marcia Douglas, and Christopher John FarleyтАФthe outstanding tales in┬аKingston Noir┬аcomprise the best volume of short fiction ever to arise from the literary wellspring that is Jamaica.
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тАЬThoroughly well-written stories┬а.┬а.┬а. fans of noir will enjoy this batch of sordid tales set in the sweltering heat of the tropics.тАЭ тАФPublishers Weekly
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тАЬAn eclectic and gritty m├йlange of tales that sears the imagination┬а.┬а.┬а. Kingston Noir proves its worth as a quintessential piece of West Indian literatureтАФrich, artistic, timeless, and above all, draped in unmistakable realism.тАЭ тАФThe Gleaner┬а(Jamaica)