by James Ellroy
First published 2010
From the roaring twenties to the gritty modern day, this definitive noir anthology showcases the genre's most twisted, uncompromising tales. Legends like James M. Cain and Mickey Spillane mingle with contemporary masters Elmore Leonard and Joyce Carol Oates, each story a gut-punch of moral decay, doomed dreams, and deadly misalliance. Edited by the inimitable James Ellroy, these 39 stories distill the very essence of American noir - a world where one wrong move means a lethal plunge into the abyss.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, american, mystery, crime, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: doomed-dreams, moral-ambiguity, twisted
Period: Roaring Twenties, Gritty Modern Day
731 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence