- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Akashic Books (Nov 1 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1933354852
- ISBN-13: 978-1933354859
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #376,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
“Patrick Millikin...as if to prove his witty claim that 'sunshine is the new noir,' offers one superb specimen, 'Whiteout on Van Buren,' in which [author] Don Winslow makes skillful use of a city street at high noon to provide the perfect metaphor for life and death.”—New York Times Book Review
Brand-new stories by: Diana Gabaldon, Lee Child, James Sallis, Luis Alberto Urrea, Jon Talton, Megan Abbott, Charles Kelly, Robert Anglen, Patrick Millikin, Laura Tohe, Kurt Reichenbaugh, Gary Phillips, David Corbett, Don Winslow, Dogo Barry Graham, and Stella Pope Duarte.
Patrick Millikin is a bookseller at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. As a freelance writer, his articles, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Firsts Magazine, Paradoxa, Yourflesh Quarterly, and other publications. Millikin currently lives in central Phoenix.
About the Author
Patrick Millikin is a bookseller at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. As a freelance writer, his articles, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Firsts Magazine, Paradoxa, Yourflesh Quarterly, and other publications. Born in Los Angeles, he moved to Arizona in 1972 and grew up in Scottsdale. Millikin currently lives in central Phoenix.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Phoenix Noir" is a delicious contradiction in terms, Nov 2 2009
By Tucson Book Worm "BookWorm" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Phoenix Noir (Paperback)
Spend a few years in Phoenix and it's easy to think you know her. But the truth is that the real Phoenix is mercurial and constantly changing. There is no denying editor Patrick Millikin's description of the city's unchecked urban sprawl as "metastacizing into the desert" with never ending additions of one more resort or mall or subdivision. Whatever it is at any given moment, however, the shiny, sparkling Valley of the Sun seems an unlikely setting for Noir fiction -- and that's exactly the contradiction that makes Phoenix Noir such a compelling read.Millikin's selection of stories seems to suggest that Phoenix herself is the ultimate noir metaphor -- the perfect femme fatale -- her sultry, beautiful surface giving way to a back story that is often flawed, complex and dangerous. Running through each of the narratives is the omnipresent notion that in the Valley of the Sun, no one is completely safe and that morality often takes a back seat to more immediate and baser indulgences.
But those who take in the superficial -- palatial estates, five-star resorts, the tanned and perfect East Valley soccer moms -- and write Phoenix off as the dumb blonde of the southwest tend to miss the point. Phoenix Noir digs a little deeper.
Diana Gabeldon's wicked tale of murder, sex and suburban social climbing; Don Winslow's poignant reflection on the city's notorious Van Buren strip; Stella Pope Duarte's lament for the lost and Millikin's gritty sojourn into the early 80's punk scene are just a few of the tales that bear witness to those consumed by the city and her dirty little secrets - secrets Phoenicians prefer not to put in travel brochures.
Readers who are new to the Valley of the Sun will love the depth and diversity of this collection of well crafted stories. And for those of you who have ever driven down the seedy Van Buren Strip, or eaten ribs at Bill Johnson's Big Apple, or gazed at Tovrea Castle sillouetted against sunset on a sultry summer evening, Phoenix Noir and it's brilliant juxtaposition of sunshine and shadow will both delight and haunt you. . . . but then again, that's kind of the point.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beneath the Valley of the Sun, Nov 2 2009
By James L. Thane - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Phoenix Noir (Paperback)
As the opening titles fade in Alfred Hitchcock's immortal film "Psycho," the camera begins to pan slowly across the gray urban landscape of Phoenix, Arizona in the late 1950s. Finally the camera selects a building and slowly zooms in through the open window of a seedy hotel room. Janet Leigh lies on the bed, wearing only a white slip and bra, and before her married lover can even deliver the first line of dialogue, you know damn well that nothing good can possibly come of this.Now, nearly fifty years later, Patrick Millikin's "Phoenix Noir" captures perfectly that same sense of dread, suggesting that something may be terribly wrong at the core of this city. Millikin has recruited an impressive array of crime fiction writers who have contributed stories to this book, including Lee Child, Don Winslow, Jon Talton and James Sallis. The stories are uniformly good and cut a broad swath through the Valley of the Sun, both in time and in space, showing readers a side of Phoenix that the Convention and Visitors Bureau would never dare feature in its glossy brochures. The stories are gritty, sexy and violent, revealing the sordid underbelly of a city much better known these days for its sunshine and superficiality.
Millikin's own story, "Devil Doll," is among the best in the book, and the editor more than holds his own in the company of the better-known writers. Fans of noir fiction anywhere, but especially those who know the Phoenix area, will enjoy this collection immensely.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Millikin hit's the mark, Aug 23 2010
By steve shadow schwartz - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Phoenix Noir (Paperback)
An excellent addition to the Akashic series. Millikin's choice of authors and stories fully limn the diversity found in the "valley of the Sun". While all the stories are good to great, a special mention to Kurt Reichenbach and Charles Kelley for delivering terrific tales. I look forward to Phoenix Noir #2.
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