London Noir

June 12, 2006
While few of the names in the 10th entry in the city noir anthology series that began with Brooklyn Noir
(2004) will be familiar to American readers (where, for example, are Robert Barnard and John Harvey?), by way of compensation eight of the 17 contributions focus on punk rock. Ken Bruen, best known for his native Dublin settings, offers a sharp jab to the gut in "Loaded." Michael Ward's "I Fought the Lawyer" profiles one of the worst blackmail schemes ever devised. Unsworth's tale, "Trouble Is a Lonesome Town," riffs nicely on the seedy PI who gets in over his head. Martyn Waites's "Love" is a frightening portrait of a skinhead recruit. Joolz Denby's "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" effectively traces the arc of would-be punk stars from the country trying to find fame in the big city. If this volume doesn't match the quality of the best in the series, there are still pleasures to be found, especially for those into the contemporary London music scene.