Ace Atkins - New Orleans Noir - The Classics

Touché cracks Sanchez in the back of the head with the shaft of his stick. Sanchez is out cold. Baby smells copper. Blood.

“It’s on and popping,” Touché laughs.

Baby thinks it’s over, that they’ll drive off and put this behind them, but Touché stoops and wraps twine around Sanchez’s wrists and ankles. Within minutes, they’re speeding toward the levee on the back side of City Park. When they reach the muddy access road that shadows the levee, Touché nearly rolls the van. Sanchez clutches his knees on the floor. A dark landscape whizzes by as Baby grips the metal handles in the van bay.

The van pitches when they scale the levee, causing a box of nails to fall on Sanchez. He yelps. Baby wants to catch the next box to fall, but doesn’t. He feels like he’s on a conveyer belt, heading toward an open furnace. Touché stops near the concrete floodwall, which sits atop the levee. He takes Sanchez’s ankles, Baby his armpits, and they haul him from the van. Sanchez is heavier than he looks. They drop him in the moist grass at the foot of the wall.

“Maybe we can just leave him,” Baby says.

Touché remains silent and switches on his video camera. The van’s headlights flood the scene so there’s no color. Sanchez prays into his bound hands.

“You first.” Touché hands his walking stick to Baby.

Baby steps toward Sanchez and water snakes in through the seams of his Chuck Taylors, sending a jolt up his spine. Sanchez looks up at him. The stick is covered with spikes. Touché added nails to it, Baby realizes.

“Take your shot, little man.”

Crooked nails glisten like fingers in the moonlight. Baby brings the stick up high above Sanchez’s head. Some of the nails are angled at the van. Others slant toward Touché, Sanchez, and the night sky. One points straight at Baby.

Many thanks to all the writers who so kindly contributed excellent work, especially James Lee Burke and his team — the nice people at the Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency, Simon & Schuster, and Pamala Burke — for making it possible to include “Jesus Out to Sea.”

Also to Johnny Temple and his incomparable staff for amazingly efficient work, as always; and a special shout-out to the scholars I consulted: Kenneth Holditch, who introduced me to “Desire and the Black Masseur,” and who reminded me of “Mussolini and the Axeman’s Jazz,” already a longtime favorite; and to Nancy Dixon, whose remarkable collection, N.O. Lit: 200 Years of New Orleans Literature, confirmed many of my choices and introduced me to others, notably Tom Dent’s Ritual Murder and the writers of Les Cenelles . Nancy, thanks for a lovely morning at the Fair Grinds, and for Armand Lanusse.

Ace Atkinsis the New York Times best-selling author of seventeen novels, including the forthcoming The Redeemers and Robert B. Parker’s Kickback . He has been nominated for every major award in crime fiction, including the Edgar Award twice. A former newspaper reporter and SEC football player, Atkins also writes essays and investigative pieces for several national magazines including Outside and Garden & Gun . He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his family.

Nevada Barr’s first novel, Bittersweet, was published in 1983. The first book in her Anna Pigeon series, Track of the Cat , was brought to light in 1993 and won both the Agatha and Anthony awards for best first mystery. In the years since, sixteen more Anna Pigeon novels have been published, twelve of them New York Times best sellers. At present Barr lives in New Orleans with her husband, four cats, and two dogs.

John Biguenet’s seven books include The Torturer’s Apprentice and Oyster , a novel. His work has appeared in the Atlantic, Granta, Esquire, Playboy, Storie (Rome), Tin House, Zoetrope , and many anthologies. He is the author of such award-winning plays as Wundmale, The Vulgar Soul, Rising Water, Shotgun, Mold, Broomstick , and Night Train . An O. Henry Award winner, he is currently the Robert Hunter Distinguished University Professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Poppy Z. Briteis the author of eight novels, several short story collections, and some nonfiction. Brite now goes by the name Billy Martin and lives in New Orleans with his partner, the artist Grey Cross.

James Lee Burke, a rare winner of two Edgar Awards, and named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, is the author of more than thirty novels and two collections of short stories, including such New York Times best sellers as Light of the World, Creole Belle, Swan Peak, The Tin Roof Blowdown , and Feast Day of Fools . He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Kate Chopin(1850–1904), born Katherine O’Flaherty, was the author of two published novels and about one hundred short stories, and lived in New Orleans for over ten years. She is widely considered one of the first feminist authors of the twentieth century. She is best known for her short story collections Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897), and her novel The Awakening (1899).

John William Corringtonwas raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He received a JD at Tulane University School of Law (1971), but after a few years left the practice of law and began writing full time. Before his death in 1988 he had published four books of poetry, four novels, three books of short fiction, two anthologies, and, with his wife, had written a four-book mystery series, six feature movies, and numerous television episodes.

O’Neil De Nouxwrites in multiple genres with twenty-nine books published and hundreds of short story sales. His mysteries have won Shamus and Derringer awards and his novel John Raven Beau was the 2011 Police Book of the Year. His historical novels include Battle Kiss and USS Relentless. The French Detective is De Noux’ s latest, a historical mystery novel set in 1900 New Orleans. A former homicide detective, De Noux is currently a police investigator at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Tom Dent(1932–1998) was a New Orleans — born poet, essayist, playwright, and teacher, and was an active participant in the Black Arts and civil rights movements. He was a leading literary figure in New Orleans and spearheaded the Free Southern Theater community workshop program to cultivate local talent within the New Orleans community. His work as an oral historian culminated with his book Southern Journey: A Return to the Civil Rights Movement (1997).

Ellen Gilchristwon the National Book Award for her 1984 collection Victory Over Japan . She is the author of more than twenty books, including novels, short stories, essays, and poetry, most recently her story collection Acts of God. Gilchrist lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and teaches creative writing at the University of Arkansas.

Shirley Ann Grauis the author of nine novels and short story collections who was raised in Alabama and Louisiana. Her first novel, The Hard Blue Sky (1958), portrayed the descendants of European pioneers living on an island off the coast of Louisiana. Her public profile rose during the civil rights movement, when her dynastic novel Keepers of the House (1964), which dealt with race relations in Alabama, earned her a Pulitzer Prize.

O. Henry(1862–1910), born William Sydney Porter, was an American writer of short stories known for his wit, wordplay, and plot twists. He lived briefly in New Orleans in 1896 while fleeing embezzlement charges before eventually settling in New York City, where he would spend the remainder of his life. His most notable stories include “The Ransom of Red Chief” (1910), “The Duplicity of Hargraves” (1902), and “The Gift of the Magi” (1905).