As thousands protest in the streets of Hong Kong, it seems a fitting time to dive into Hong Kong Noir, edited by Jason Y. Ng & Susan Blumberg-Kason. This immersive anthology is part of the phenomenal “Noir Series” from Akashic Books which, by now, surely includes nearly every city on the planet.
Of course, you don’t need GPS to locate noir, it’s not a geographic hotspot, but a state of mind that’s everywhere. Indeed, as the world squirms in the grip of climate change, the angst at the heart of the genre is spreading like a black plague.
Hong Kong has historically existed in the dark shadows of foreign occupation, and today in the looming behemoth of the communist Mainland. To live there is to be wary, to look over your shoulder while surrounded by spirits and ghosts from the past. The city is a second skin that’s impossible to shed.
Hong Kong Noir offers 14 tales, set in the past and present, that are deeply dark—noir at its most seductive and riveting. The writers you’ll discover inside will not be familiar, but they’ll mark you like a tattoo.
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