Oakland Noir

The Akashic Noir Series

By: Jerry Thompson - editor, Eddie Muller - editor

Narrated by: Traber Burns, Keith Szarabajka, Adenrele Ojo, Hillary Huber, Carrington MacDuffie, Kirby Heyborne, Priya Ayyar, Scott Brick

Brand-new stories by: Nick Petrulakis, Kim Addonizio, Keenan Norris, Keri Miki-Lani Schroeder, Katie Gilmartin, Dorothy Lazard, Harry Louis Williams II, Carolyn Alexander, Phil Canalin, Judy Juanita, Jamie DeWolf, Nayomi Munaweera, Mahmud Rahman, Tom McElravey, Joe Loya, and Eddie Muller.

In the wake of San Francisco Noir, Los Angeles Noir, and Orange County Noir - all popular volumes in the Akashic Noir Series - comes the latest California installment, Oakland Noir. Masterfully curated by Jerry Thompson and Eddie Muller, the "Czar of Noir", this volume will shock, titillate, provoke, and entertain. The diverse cast of talented contributors will not disappoint.

From the introduction: Jerry Thompson: "Discovering the wang-dang-doodle jams of the Pointer Sisters shifted my entire focus. Stunning black women were scatting and bebopping all the way into my soul. I think what we've put together in Oakland Noir is a volume where this city is a character in every story. He's a slick brother strutting over a bacon-grease bass line and tambourine duet. She's a white chick with a bucket of hot muffins heading to farmer and flea markets, to sell crafts and get hooked up with some fine kat with dreadlocks and a criminal record. And it's in the faces of young fearless muthaf - kers pounding keyboards and snapping fingers, lips, Snapchats, and Facebook timelines. It's the core of not only Black Lives Matter but all lives matter. We are the children of fantasy and of the funk."

Eddie Muller: "These days, writers and [listeners] aren't denying the darker parts of our existence as much as they used to, especially in crime fiction. Some writers just do it for fun because it's become the fashionable way to get published. You know, 'gritty violence' and all that bullshit. The genuine darkness in noir stories comes from two places - the cruelty of the world's innate indifference and the cruelty that people foster within themselves. If you're not seriously dealing with one, the other, or both, then you're not really writing noir."

The complete list of narrators includes Traber Burns, Keith Szarabajka, Adenrele Ojo, Kevin Kenerly, Hillary Huber, Carrington MacDuffie, Mirron Willis, Kirby Heyborne, Priya Ayyar, Neil Shah, Thom Rivera, and Scott Brick.

©2017 Jerry Thompson and Eddie Muller (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Very satisfying, gritty and dark, yet very human, noir stories

Oakland Noir is a collection of short fiction stories that are dark, yet human at the same time. The City of Oakland is as much a part of the stories as are the central characters. I am not typically a person who enjoys short stories. But this collection of stories are full of crime, mystery, murder, the grit of the streets, and humanity. My favorite stories were “Waiting for Gordo,” “The Bridge Tender,” and “Bulletproof.” The stories are very well performed. This is a very entertaining audio book.

Totally worth it.

This is my third read in the Noir series. Most of these stories were stellar. I thought Heroin Noir was to die for and also recommend Indian Noir without reservation.