- Paperback: 288 pages
- Published: 11/5/24
- IBSN: 9781636141985
- e-IBSN: 9781636141992
- Genre: Fiction
Catalog » Browse by Title: H » Honolulu Noir
The Aloha State enters the Akashic Noir Series arena with a riveting collection, exploring shadows and corners of Honolulu that will never be found in a tourist brochure.
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Forthcoming: 11/5/24
“Akashic’s Noir series rolls merrily along, across the Pacific to this island state so often called paradise. But, okay, ‘merrily’ isn’t the right word given that the underbelly of Hawaii’s capital city is very dark indeed . . . The stories, by authors such as Stephanie Han, Lono Waiwai’ole, Don Wallace, Kiana Davenport, Scott Kikkawa, Mindy Eun Soo Pennybacker, and editor Chris McKinney, range from mystery to thriller to horror, with characters on the right side of the law, the wrong side, and straddling that thin line in between. The writing styles vary, but they have one thing in common: high quality. These are some seriously fine stories—outstanding writing, after all, is the hallmark of Akashic’s long-running, world-circling Noir series, now weighing in at 122 titles—and readers may well find themselves spending a lot of time in this fictional Honolulu, savoring the atmosphere and flavor of each tale before moving on to the next. A splendid anthology.”
—Booklist
“It’s 13 cases of trouble in paradise for the characters in Akashic’s solid latest regional crime anthology, which shrewdly exposes the underbelly of Hawaii’s capital city . . . Taken together, these stories successfully probe beneath the surface of a locale best known for its ‘white sandy beaches and crystal-blue waters.’ It’s a smart balance of thrills and cultural insight.”
—Publishers Weekly
“In his introduction, McKinney aptly notes the diversity of the characters that inhabit these stories, and indeed they present Honolulu less as an idyllic vacation destination than as a multicultural crossroads that attracts Native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, vampires, night watchers, and haoles like the tourist target audience.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Featuring brand-new stories from: Don Wallace, Stephanie Han, Christy Passion, Morgan Miryung McKinney, Alan Brennert, Lono Waiwai’ole, Kiana Davenport, Mindy Eun Soo Pennybacker, Scott Kikkawa, Tom Gammarino, B.A. Kobayashi, Michelle Cruz Skinner, and Chris McKinney.
Two thousand miles away from the rest of the country, an American city evades the mind’s eye of the empire that claimed it, peddled it as paradise, then largely ignored it. And yet, Honolulu likes its anonymity. Tourists and outsiders corral themselves in hotels and resorts, vacation eyes glued to their beachfront sunsets and mai tais while the people who live here get on with their affairs. And sometimes it’s dirty business.
Honolulu Noir comprises stories about the people of the city, written by those who know this place best. The volume opens with a story featuring Chang Apana, the Native Hawaiian/Chinese real-life cop who was the inspiration for the controversial Charlie Chan. It ends with a supernatural journey from the Philippines to Hawaii. In between, readers will find multicultural tales of invasion (whether yakuza, ISIS recruiters, or vampires), madness, addiction, and murder—all the stuff that many people don’t know happens here. Unbeknownst to the rest of the country, Honolulu can be a very dangerous place. Here, even the alluring crystal-blue waters might kill you.
Chris McKinney says, “When the opportunity to edit Honolulu Noir was presented to me, I jumped at the chance. I’d been aware of the outstanding reputation of Akashic’s Noir Series, and as someone who was born and has lived and worked in just about every neighborhood in this city, I felt up to the task.”
E komo mai to Honolulu Noir.
Chris McKinney is a Korean, Japanese, Scottish American writer born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the author of the Water City Trilogy. Book one was named a Best Mystery of 2021 by Publishers Weekly and a Best Speculative Mystery of 2021 by CrimeReads. He has published six other novels: The Tattoo, The Queen of Tears, Bolohead Row, Mililani Lauka, Boi No Good, and Yakudoshi: Age of Calamity. McKinney currently resides in Honolulu with his wife and two daughters.