This was an Early Reviewer book that didn't arrive until eons later, so it can't really be called "early," in my opinion. However, I did enjoy the stories ... some more so than others, of course. Collections are always tricky because those comparisons get made regardless, and certain authors do well and others not such much when that happens. "Such a Pretty Little Girl" was quite good. "Other People's Secrets" was a bit to obvious for my taste in noir. All-in-all, a decent collection. Hopefully the rest of the series is the same. ( )

For a long time now, Akashic Books has been publishing a series of anthologies of noir-tinged short stories set in a specific city, and I’ve been picking them up from time to time. Given that I have lived in Montreal for over 25 years now, of course I was excited to receive this volume as a birthday present. By their very nature, books of short stories will yield favourites for me that will not be the favourites of other readers; that said, I was impressed by Michel Basilieres’s “The Haunted Crack House,” a melancholy and atmospheric tale; the very weird “Wild Horses” by Arjun Basu; Robert Pobi’s “Poppa,” about the mobster world; and Melissi Yi’s “The Sin Eater,” which features a physician/sleuth much like Dr. Yi is a physician/writer. My very favourite story, however, was “Such A Pretty Little Girl,” by Genevieve Lefebvre, which is presented as a series of “chapters” each titled with a character’s name, and which completely blew me away (and no, not just because the last scene takes place off an alley which I myself walk quite regularly). It’s always fun to recognize places in stories, and many of the neighbourhoods described here are familiar to me, but even someone completely unfamiliar with Montreal will find something to enjoy here; recommended! ( )

I believe this is the 4th book in the Akashic Noir series and I have to say, that this one (up to this point) is by far my favorite of them. I really liked the vast majority of the stories, each one sucked me in. Maybe being from the 'North' myself, I felt more connected to the underlying tone. Anyway, I have not been disappointed with any of the books I've read in this series, but I find this one topped the others. I have more to read so I'll be reviewing them soon too. ( )

My hometown can be as dark and desperate as any other town in the world. Certainly that is the impression I receive from reading Akashic Books' brilliant collection of seedy crime stories, Montreal Noir. Editors John McFetridge and Jacques Filippi travel from the west side to the gritty, dangerous neighborhoods in the eastend, plucking stories that are seeped in passion, fear and hopeless, dead-end rage. Drugs, murder, terrorism, revenge and hardscrabble existence are the seeds that bloom in this wonderful collection. ( )

Thoroughly enjoyable collection of stories. I admit that the first few seemed a bit slow to me, the rest gripped me and I enjoyed each one. ( )