Johnny Temple - USA Noir - Best of the Akashic Noir Series

Julie Smithis the author of more than twenty mystery novels, most set in New Orleans and starring one or the other of her detective heroes, a cop named Skip Langdon and a PI named Talba Wallis. She is also the editor of New Orleans Noir for Akashic Books . Her book New Orleans Mourning won the Edgar Award for best novel. She has recently published her course on writing novels, Writing Your Way , as an e-book. Her digital publishing startup is www.booksBnimble.com.

Asali Solomonis the author of Get Down: Stories . Her work has been featured in the anthologies Philadelphia Noir, Heavy Rotation: Twenty Writers on the Albums that Changed Their Lives, and Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award in 2006 and was selected as one of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35” in 2007. She is at work on a novel.

Domenic Stansberryis an award-winning novelist known for his dark, innovative crime novels. His North Beach Mystery Series has won praise in the New York Times and other publications for its rich portrayal of the ethnic and political subcultures in San Francisco. An earlier novel, The Confession, received an Edgar Award for its controversial portrait of a Marin County psychologist accused of murdering his mistress.

Susan Straighthas published eight novels. Her latest, Between Heaven and Here, is the final book in the Rio Seco trilogy. Take One Candle Light a Room was named one of the best novels of 2010 by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Kirkus . "The Golden Gopher,” included in this volume, won the 2008 Edgar Award for best short story. She teaches creative writing at University of California–Riverside. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family, whose history is featured on susanstraight.com.

Johnny Templeis the publisher and editor in chief of Akashic Books, an award-winning Brooklyn-based independent company. He won the 2013 Ellery Queen Award from the Mystery Writers of America; the American Association of Publishers' 2005 Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing; and the 2010 Jay and Deen Kogan Award for Excellence. He has contributed articles and political essays to various publications, including the Nation, Publishers Weekly, AlterNet, Poets & Writers, and Bookforum . He lives in Brooklyn.

Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Edgar Award for the short story "Amapola” (included in this volume), is the best-selling author of fourteen books, including Queen of America, Into the Beautiful North, The Hummingbird's Daughter, and The Devil's Highway. Recipient of an American Book Award, a Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize, a Lannan Literary Award, and a member of the Latino Literary Hall of Fame, Urrea lives with his family in Naperville, Illinois, where he is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois–Chicago.

Don Winslowis the New York Times best-selling author of more than a dozen novels, including Savages, The Power of the Dog, The Kings of Cool, California Fire and Life, The Winter of Frankie Machine, and Satori. Savages was made into a critically acclaimed film for Universal Pictures by three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone. Winslow has received numerous awards for his writing, including the prestigious Raymond Chandler Award as one of the most significant figures in American literature.

Following are the full contributor lists to the original Akashic Noir Series volumes represented in USA Noir. Included are the author, title, and location for each story, and they are listed in the order they first appeared.

Laura Lippman, “Easy As A-B-C”, Locust Point

Robert Ward,“Fat Chance”, Old Northwood

Jack Bludis,“Pigtown Will Shine Tonight”, Pigtown

Rob Hiaasen,“Over My Dead Body”, Fell’s Point

Rafael Alvarez,“The Invisible Man”, Highlandtown

David Simon,“Stainless Steel”, Sandtown-Winchester

Marcia Talley,“Home Movies”, Little Italy

Joseph Wallace,“Liminal”, Security Boulevard-Woodlawn

Lisa Respers France,“Almost Missed It By a Hair”, Howard Park

Charlie Stella,“Ode to the O’s”, Memorial Stadium

Sarah Weinman,“Don’t Walk in Front of Me”, Pikesville

Dan Fesperman,“As Seen on TV”, Fells Point

Tim Cockey,“The Haunting of Slink Ridgely”, Greenspring Valley

Jim Fusilli,“The Homecoming”, Camden Yards

Ben Neihart,“Frog Cycle”, Inner Harbor

Sujata Massey ,“Goodwood Gardens”, Roland Park

Lynne Heitman,“Exit Interview”, Financial District

Dennis Lehane,“Animal Rescue”, Dorchester

Jim Fusilli,“The Place Where He Belongs”, Beacon Hill

Patricia Powell,“Dark Waters”, Watertown

Dana Cameron,“Femme Sole”, North End

Brendan DuBois,“The Dark Island”, Boston Harbor

Stewart O’Nan,“The Reward”, Brookline

John Dufresne,“The Cross-Eyed Bear”, Southie

Don Lee,“The Oriental Hair Poets”, Cambridge

J. Itabari Njeri,“The Collar”, Roxbury

Russ Aborn,“Turn Speed”, North Quincy

Jerome Charyn,“White Trash”, Claremont/Concourse

Terrence Cheng,“Gold Mountain”, Lehman College

Joanne Dobson,“Hey, Girlie”, Sedgwick Avenue

Rita Lakin,“The Woman Who Hated the Bronx”, Elder Avenue

Lawrence Block,“Rude Awakening”, Riverdale

Suzanne Chazin,“Burnout”, Jerome Avenue

Kevin Baker,“The Cheers Like Waves”, Yankee Stadium

Abraham Rodriguez Jr.,“Jaguar”, South Bronx

Steven Torres,“Early Fall”, Hunts Point

S.J. Rozan,“Hothouse”, Botanical Garden

Thomas Bentil,“Lost and Found”, Rikers Island

Marlon James,“Look What Love Is Doing to Me”, Williamsbridge

Sandra Kitt,“Home Sweet Home”, City Island

Robert J. Hughes,“A Visit to St. Nick’s”, Fordham Road

Miles Marshall Lewis,“Numbers Up”, Baychester

Joseph Wallace,“The Big Five”, Bronx Zoo

Ed Dee,“Ernie K.’s Gelding”, Van Cortlandt Park

Patrick W. Picciarelli,“The Prince of Arthur Avenue”, Arthur Avenue

Thomas Adcock ,“You Want I Should Whack Monkey Boy?” ,Courthouse

Pete Hamill,“The Book Signing”, Park Slope

Pearl Abraham,“Hasidic Noir”, Williamsburg

Sidney Offit,“No Time for Senior’s”, Downtown