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Santa Cruz Noir
Following in the footsteps of Los Angeles Noir, San Francisco Noir, San Diego Noir, Orange County Noir, and Oakland Noir, this new volume further reveals the seedy underbelly of the Left Coast.
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Featuring brand-new stories by: Tommy Moore, Jessica Breheny, Naomi Hirahara, Calvin McMillin, Liza Monroy, Elizabeth McKenzie, Jill Wolfson, Ariel Gore, Jon Bailiff, Maceo Montoya, Micah Perks, Seana Graham, Vinnie Hansen, Peggy Townsend, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Lou Mathews, Lee Quarnstrom, Dillon Kaiser, Beth Lisick, and Wallace Baine.
From the introduction by Susie Bright:
Every town has its noir-ville. It’s easy to find in Santa Cruz. We live in what’s called “paradise,” where you can wake up in a pool of blood with the first pink rays of the sunrise peeking out over our mountain range. The dewy mist lifts from the bay. Don’t hate us because we’re beautiful—we were made that way, like Venus rising off the foam with a brick in her hand. We can’t help it if you fall for it every time . . .
“If I lived in a place like this,” visitors often say, “I’d wake up with a smile every day.”
Oh, we do, thank you for that. There’s no beauty like a merciless beauty—and like every crepuscular predator, it thrives at dawn and dusk. You’re just the innocent we’ve been waiting for, with your big paper cone of sugar-shark cotton, whipped out of pure nothing. We have just the ride for you, the longest tunnel ever. Santa Cruz is everything you ever dreamed, and everything you ever screamed, in one long drop you’ll never forget.
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Featuring brand-new stories by: Tommy Moore, Jessica Breheny, Naomi Hirahara, Calvin McMillin, Liza Monroy, Elizabeth McKenzie, Jill Wolfson, Ariel Gore, Jon Bailiff, Maceo Montoya, Micah Perks, Seana Graham, Vinnie Hansen, Peggy Townsend, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Lou Mathews, Lee Quarnstrom, Dillon Kaiser, Beth Lisick, and Wallace Baine.
From the introduction by Susie Bright:
Every town has its noir-ville. It’s easy to find in Santa Cruz. We live in what’s called “paradise,” where you can wake up in a pool of blood with the first pink rays of the sunrise peeking out over our mountain range. The dewy mist lifts from the bay. Don’t hate us because we’re beautiful—we were made that way, like Venus rising off the foam with a brick in her hand. We can’t help it if you fall for it every time . . .
“If I lived in a place like this,” visitors often say, “I’d wake up with a smile every day.”
Oh, we do, thank you for that. There’s no beauty like a merciless beauty—and like every crepuscular predator, it thrives at dawn and dusk. You’re just the innocent we’ve been waiting for, with your big paper cone of sugar-shark cotton, whipped out of pure nothing. We have just the ride for you, the longest tunnel ever. Santa Cruz is everything you ever dreamed, and everything you ever screamed, in one long drop you’ll never forget.
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2018
35 people are currently reading
997 people want to read
About the author
Susie Bright
120 books359 followersSusannah "Susie" Bright (also known as Susie Sexpert) is a writer, speaker, teacher, audio-show host, performer, all on the subject of sexuality. She is one of the first writers/activists referred to as a sex-positive feminist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
January 13, 2018
Akashic Noir has since 2004 put out some eighty volumes of their Noir anthology series, each of which is set in a specific geographic location, whether a city, a state, a country, or other geographic area. These are crime fiction stories, each edited by an editor familiar with the location with stories chosen to reflect the mood, the feel, the aura of an area.
When I read a volume about a place I've never been to, I look to whether it reflects what I've heard or seen about the location. When I read a volume about an area I'm familiar with, it becomes a question of whether the authors nailed the area as I know it. Santa Cruz is my old alma mater and I remember so many places alluded to in these stories from the clock tower to the Catalyst to Steamer's Lane to the Flats to Natural Bridges Park to the Boardwalk. What impressed me so much about this collection is how much the authors conveyed the sense of place, the paradise with the redwoods in the hills and the rocky points along West Cliff Drive and the sense that, with that Garden of Eden where all are welcome, there have always been drugheads, serial killers, and more who feel like they can hide in plain sight in this pseudo-hippie neverland on the California coast.
Thanks to Akashic Books for providing a copy for review.
When I read a volume about a place I've never been to, I look to whether it reflects what I've heard or seen about the location. When I read a volume about an area I'm familiar with, it becomes a question of whether the authors nailed the area as I know it. Santa Cruz is my old alma mater and I remember so many places alluded to in these stories from the clock tower to the Catalyst to Steamer's Lane to the Flats to Natural Bridges Park to the Boardwalk. What impressed me so much about this collection is how much the authors conveyed the sense of place, the paradise with the redwoods in the hills and the rocky points along West Cliff Drive and the sense that, with that Garden of Eden where all are welcome, there have always been drugheads, serial killers, and more who feel like they can hide in plain sight in this pseudo-hippie neverland on the California coast.
Thanks to Akashic Books for providing a copy for review.
May 27, 2018
Santa Cruz is visited by over a million pleasure seekers each year. One of the biggest attractions is Beach Boardwalk. An amusement park with the most famous ride called the Giant Dipper. A story of adventure and life in Santa Cruz. Thankyou Goodreads for this free book!!!!
June 24, 2018
It has been a long wait for a new anthology from Susie Bright. Since I've began reading BAE over twenty years ago, I would read pretty much any anthology Susie put together. The Noir series from Akashic takes a geographic location and plumbs the noir-istic depths of the locale.
Santa Cruz having shown up in the vampire lore of The Lost Boys, the stories in this collection, like the movie, look for the dark underneath the surf and sun. Combined that with the history of Santa Cruz as the murder capital of the world due to a couple of serial killers in the 1970s and Santa Cruz is a great noir setting. Many of the stories in the collection played off this historical contrast of Surf City and Murder City.
It wasn't really spoken directly in the stories, but I found it interesting how socio-economics played out in the conceptions of noir in Santa Cruz. Many of the stories hung around the immigrant and agricultural populations, including bleed over from more agricultural areas. You could spend a lot of time just on the socio-economics of noir horror.
Probably my favorite story in the collection was Treasure Island, but that could be because we have a neighborhood website in our area and I feel that creeping curmudgeon sneaking up on me.
Santa Cruz having shown up in the vampire lore of The Lost Boys, the stories in this collection, like the movie, look for the dark underneath the surf and sun. Combined that with the history of Santa Cruz as the murder capital of the world due to a couple of serial killers in the 1970s and Santa Cruz is a great noir setting. Many of the stories in the collection played off this historical contrast of Surf City and Murder City.
It wasn't really spoken directly in the stories, but I found it interesting how socio-economics played out in the conceptions of noir in Santa Cruz. Many of the stories hung around the immigrant and agricultural populations, including bleed over from more agricultural areas. You could spend a lot of time just on the socio-economics of noir horror.
Probably my favorite story in the collection was Treasure Island, but that could be because we have a neighborhood website in our area and I feel that creeping curmudgeon sneaking up on me.
May 4, 2018
I was excited to receive an ‘advance reading copy’ of SANTA CRUZ NOIR to be published in June, 2018 by Akashic Books.
SANTA CRUZ NOIR is a new title in Akashic Book’s quite eclectic Noir series.
The series was ‘launched’ in 2004 with BROOKLYN NOIR. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within a particular city (or state or area).
I believe that all titles follow a certain format.
There is an excellent introduction by the editor(s); a map (I love the map) of the particular locations; a Table of Contents; an About the Contributors section; and acknowledgements.
Of course I love the maps - I feel ‘one with the book’ and more familiar with an area. The introductions are quite good - very chatty with an ‘insider’ voice - setting a tone and a sense of place. I find the introductions to be very well-written and welcoming. A ‘step into my parlor said the spider to the fly’ approach. Susie Bright is the editor of SANTA CRUZ NOIR and her introduction is excellent.
The book included the following stories, their authors and their locations:
“Buck Low” by Tommy Moore (North Coast
“Whatever happened to Skinny Jane?” by Ariel Gore (Pacific Avenue
“Monarchs and Maidens” by Margaret Elysia Garcia (Capitola)
“54028 Love Creek Road” by Jessica Breheny (Bear Creek Road)
“Possessed” by Naomi Hirahara (Mount Hermon)
“Wheels of Justice” by Jon Bailiff (Steamer Lane)
“Mischa and the seal” by Liza Monroy (Cowell’s
“First Peak” by Peggy Townsend (Please Point)
“Safe Harbor” by Seana Graham (Seabright)
“Miscalculation” by Vinnie Hansen (Yacht Harbor)
“To live and Die in Santa Cruz” by Calvin McMillin (UCSC)
“Treasure Island” by Micah Perks (Grant Park)
“Flaming Arrows” by Wallace Baine (Soquel Hills)
“The Big Creep” by Elizabeth McKenzie (The Circles)
“Death and Taxes” by Jill Wolfson (Mission Street)
“The Strawberry Tattoo” by Maceo Montoya (Aptos)
“Crab Dinners” by Lou Mathews (Seacliff)
“Pinballs” by Beth Lisick (Corralitos)
“The Shooter” by Lee Quarnstrom (Watsonville)
“It Follows Until It Leads” by Dillon Kaiser (San Juan Road)
The first four stories were very scary for me; more like a ‘horror noir’ approach. “54028 Love Creek Road” had me on the edge of my seat.
I liked the Jane Austen tidbits in “To Live and Die in Santa Cruz”.
“Crab Dinners” was a favorite of mine. Cockfighting -who knew all these details! Well-written; a detective story; cockfighting arenas; true noir.
Most of these stories were a bit too plausible - very spooky.
There are over 75 titles in Akashic Books’ Noir series. Pick a title - any title - and your reading habits will be changed forever.
SANTA CRUZ NOIR is a new title in Akashic Book’s quite eclectic Noir series.
The series was ‘launched’ in 2004 with BROOKLYN NOIR. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within a particular city (or state or area).
I believe that all titles follow a certain format.
There is an excellent introduction by the editor(s); a map (I love the map) of the particular locations; a Table of Contents; an About the Contributors section; and acknowledgements.
Of course I love the maps - I feel ‘one with the book’ and more familiar with an area. The introductions are quite good - very chatty with an ‘insider’ voice - setting a tone and a sense of place. I find the introductions to be very well-written and welcoming. A ‘step into my parlor said the spider to the fly’ approach. Susie Bright is the editor of SANTA CRUZ NOIR and her introduction is excellent.
The book included the following stories, their authors and their locations:
“Buck Low” by Tommy Moore (North Coast
“Whatever happened to Skinny Jane?” by Ariel Gore (Pacific Avenue
“Monarchs and Maidens” by Margaret Elysia Garcia (Capitola)
“54028 Love Creek Road” by Jessica Breheny (Bear Creek Road)
“Possessed” by Naomi Hirahara (Mount Hermon)
“Wheels of Justice” by Jon Bailiff (Steamer Lane)
“Mischa and the seal” by Liza Monroy (Cowell’s
“First Peak” by Peggy Townsend (Please Point)
“Safe Harbor” by Seana Graham (Seabright)
“Miscalculation” by Vinnie Hansen (Yacht Harbor)
“To live and Die in Santa Cruz” by Calvin McMillin (UCSC)
“Treasure Island” by Micah Perks (Grant Park)
“Flaming Arrows” by Wallace Baine (Soquel Hills)
“The Big Creep” by Elizabeth McKenzie (The Circles)
“Death and Taxes” by Jill Wolfson (Mission Street)
“The Strawberry Tattoo” by Maceo Montoya (Aptos)
“Crab Dinners” by Lou Mathews (Seacliff)
“Pinballs” by Beth Lisick (Corralitos)
“The Shooter” by Lee Quarnstrom (Watsonville)
“It Follows Until It Leads” by Dillon Kaiser (San Juan Road)
The first four stories were very scary for me; more like a ‘horror noir’ approach. “54028 Love Creek Road” had me on the edge of my seat.
I liked the Jane Austen tidbits in “To Live and Die in Santa Cruz”.
“Crab Dinners” was a favorite of mine. Cockfighting -who knew all these details! Well-written; a detective story; cockfighting arenas; true noir.
Most of these stories were a bit too plausible - very spooky.
There are over 75 titles in Akashic Books’ Noir series. Pick a title - any title - and your reading habits will be changed forever.
June 26, 2018
For someone in the throes of a love hate relationship with Santa Cruz (love the community, the climate, the ocean . . . hate the crime, the homelessness, the cost of living), Santa Cruz Noir could not have been published at a better time -- amidst our infamous June Gloom no less -- this reviewer’s first days of summer vacation. The perfect time for Santa Cruz to add its own dark tales to the Akashic Noir Series!
After attending an event with publisher Susie Bright and some of the contributors at our beloved, independent Bookshop Santa Cruz, I purchased a copy and slipped it into my pile beneath some predetermined, long-awaited summer reads. Lured by the authors’ readings at the event I pulled it out again, only to look more closely at the table of contents’ amazing cast of contributors and the familiar locations . . .
Just this one by Vinnie Hansen. I’ve played uke with her at Sons of the Beach! Ooh, this one, faintly disguised about the Harbor Hooker. Too soon, Seana Graham? I guess not! Oh my god, one using the thread of Nextdoor--I mean--Good Neighbor, to advance the plot. Only creative writing professor, Micah Perks, could be so clever. Another by one of my favorite local authors, Elizabeth McKenzie. I hope she turns this into a detective novel – maybe a series. I love the 15 yo P.I.!
The voice of a roid-raging Westsider claiming Steamer Lane, the mysterious ghost tale that chills with the monarchs at Natural Bridges, from Brady’s to Zelda’s, locals will recognize the people and the places in this collection. And those considering Santa Cruz as a destination might be wise to unearth its seedy underbelly by opening these pages. You’ll better understand the look you get when you tell locals how lucky we are to live here. Yes, this is paradise, and paradise comes with a tax. These authors seem to have intimate knowledge of the many ways that tax is extracted.
The stories in Santa Cruz Noir will pull you in like a rip tide, drag you out into the water’s dark depths, and then playfully push you back toward the safety of shore; but like the addicts checking our car doors at night to find the item that will pay for their next fix, you’ll dive in again for just one more. I’m so glad it ascended to the top of my reading list. I highly recommend you add it to yours!
After attending an event with publisher Susie Bright and some of the contributors at our beloved, independent Bookshop Santa Cruz, I purchased a copy and slipped it into my pile beneath some predetermined, long-awaited summer reads. Lured by the authors’ readings at the event I pulled it out again, only to look more closely at the table of contents’ amazing cast of contributors and the familiar locations . . .
Just this one by Vinnie Hansen. I’ve played uke with her at Sons of the Beach! Ooh, this one, faintly disguised about the Harbor Hooker. Too soon, Seana Graham? I guess not! Oh my god, one using the thread of Nextdoor--I mean--Good Neighbor, to advance the plot. Only creative writing professor, Micah Perks, could be so clever. Another by one of my favorite local authors, Elizabeth McKenzie. I hope she turns this into a detective novel – maybe a series. I love the 15 yo P.I.!
The voice of a roid-raging Westsider claiming Steamer Lane, the mysterious ghost tale that chills with the monarchs at Natural Bridges, from Brady’s to Zelda’s, locals will recognize the people and the places in this collection. And those considering Santa Cruz as a destination might be wise to unearth its seedy underbelly by opening these pages. You’ll better understand the look you get when you tell locals how lucky we are to live here. Yes, this is paradise, and paradise comes with a tax. These authors seem to have intimate knowledge of the many ways that tax is extracted.
The stories in Santa Cruz Noir will pull you in like a rip tide, drag you out into the water’s dark depths, and then playfully push you back toward the safety of shore; but like the addicts checking our car doors at night to find the item that will pay for their next fix, you’ll dive in again for just one more. I’m so glad it ascended to the top of my reading list. I highly recommend you add it to yours!
April 26, 2018
I loved this book and not just because it includes my story. Santa Cruzans adore Santa Cruz. Go anywhere in the county and you'll run into people wearing Santa Cruz tee-shirts, O'Neill's sweatshirts, and Banana Slugs hoodies. These aren't tourists; these are locals.
As I read SANTA CRUZ NOIR, I delighted in my familiarity. Oh, yes, I know the Jury Room, where the mass murderer Kemper regaled the cops, but also Natural Bridges where, as Margaret Elysia Garcia writes, "Thousands of monarchs beat their wings about the eucalyptus and pine so that trees appear to dance." Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point, backdrops for two stories set in the surfing world--of course! The Market Street Senior Center referenced in my favorite story "Treasure Island,"--check. "They have folk dancing, ukulele lessons . . . " Micah Perks writes, and I smile because I'm there playing keyboards with All in Good Time Orchestra, an ukulele group, every Wednesday. For me, the warmth of recognition infused every story.
But my love of this book is born from more than just my familiarity with the locations and the excellent writing. SANTA CRUZ NOIR embraced me, confirmed me as part of this community. Even though I grew up in South Dakota, this is my home. This is where I belong.
As I read SANTA CRUZ NOIR, I delighted in my familiarity. Oh, yes, I know the Jury Room, where the mass murderer Kemper regaled the cops, but also Natural Bridges where, as Margaret Elysia Garcia writes, "Thousands of monarchs beat their wings about the eucalyptus and pine so that trees appear to dance." Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point, backdrops for two stories set in the surfing world--of course! The Market Street Senior Center referenced in my favorite story "Treasure Island,"--check. "They have folk dancing, ukulele lessons . . . " Micah Perks writes, and I smile because I'm there playing keyboards with All in Good Time Orchestra, an ukulele group, every Wednesday. For me, the warmth of recognition infused every story.
But my love of this book is born from more than just my familiarity with the locations and the excellent writing. SANTA CRUZ NOIR embraced me, confirmed me as part of this community. Even though I grew up in South Dakota, this is my home. This is where I belong.
August 3, 2018
For the sake of full disclosure, I'll mention up front that I have a story in this book. But I have also read all the nineteen other stories in this collection and found them well worth my time. Although Santa Cruz is in many ways a paradise, with both ocean and redwood covered mountains within walking distance of each other, it does and always has had a dark side, so the authors of these tales didn't have to stretch the truth to come up with a noir version. What I personally appreciated most about this book as a resident of the county was to be reminded of the rich diversity of the region, from the sanctuary for Monarch butterflies at Natural Bridges to the history of cockfighting in south county, and to see many different aspects of life in this unique place represented.
June 23, 2018
Santa Cruz is home. I’ve lived here for over 30 years. Every day I traipse the sidewalks of my downtown, meandering through both its shadow & light. I wear the familiarity of this town & its surroundings like I wear my favorite Gypsy Cowgirl boots. If you live here, you will recognize me by my boots & my bookshelves. And I do adore crime fiction & urban noir. I went to our Santa Cruz Noir reading launch with high expectations, & I was not let down. These are my people: the writers, & their characters. I embrace it all & am grateful we live in such a strong community of talented authors. Despite the genre, some stories shine more brightly than others. Noir is loosely defined within these pages. A few stories lend themselves to the magical & supernatural, but in a good way.
Highlights:
• Mischa and the Seal, by Liza Monroy: My favorite in this collection. Fairy tale noir! More please, Liza!
• Monarchs and Maidens, by Margaret Elysia Garcia: I enjoyed her story so much; I plan to seek out all of her writing. Ghost story noir. Weird & wonderful.
• Safe Harbor, by Seana Graham: Seana takes a well-publicized local crime story & spins out a well-written piece of fiction from it. Perfectly noirish!
• Whatever Happened to Skinny Jane? by Ariel Gore: Ariel gives us a very unreliable young female narrator who weaves her obsession with a true crime serial killer into her own delusional life story-telling. Edgy & crazy good.
• The Big Creep, by Elizabeth McKenzie: 15 year old girl detective! Yes! I loved it.
Lowlight:
• Wheels of Justice, by Jon Bailiff: An over-usage of gratuitous profanity within the confines of a short story will be off-putting to most readers. Disconcerting.
Highlights:
• Mischa and the Seal, by Liza Monroy: My favorite in this collection. Fairy tale noir! More please, Liza!
• Monarchs and Maidens, by Margaret Elysia Garcia: I enjoyed her story so much; I plan to seek out all of her writing. Ghost story noir. Weird & wonderful.
• Safe Harbor, by Seana Graham: Seana takes a well-publicized local crime story & spins out a well-written piece of fiction from it. Perfectly noirish!
• Whatever Happened to Skinny Jane? by Ariel Gore: Ariel gives us a very unreliable young female narrator who weaves her obsession with a true crime serial killer into her own delusional life story-telling. Edgy & crazy good.
• The Big Creep, by Elizabeth McKenzie: 15 year old girl detective! Yes! I loved it.
Lowlight:
• Wheels of Justice, by Jon Bailiff: An over-usage of gratuitous profanity within the confines of a short story will be off-putting to most readers. Disconcerting.
June 9, 2018
I was looking forward to this latest Akashic Noir installment and I really wanted to like it more than I did. Overall, there was quite the variety, from psychotic style Flaming Arrows to downright weird Monarchs and Maidens. But overall, none of the stories really stood out, and, for the first time in all of the Akashic series I've read, I had to write down my thoughts as I read each story so I wouldn't forget these pretty forgettable tales. Three stars because when they were good, they were very, very good.
I received this copy through librarything giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
I received this copy through librarything giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
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June 3, 2018This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I liked the note about noir in the introduction:
Often...the narrator has her own agenda
The darker the twist.
Moral ambiguity.
More cynicism, More fatalism.
The femme fatale, Even if she is mother nature herself.
A lot of the stories had open ended, ambiguous endings.
I liked the note about noir in the introduction:
Often...the narrator has her own agenda
The darker the twist.
Moral ambiguity.
More cynicism, More fatalism.
The femme fatale, Even if she is mother nature herself.
A lot of the stories had open ended, ambiguous endings.
June 11, 2018
Am going to give this book a completely biased five stars because I grew up in SC and currently live here. Am a huge fan of the Akashic Noir series and have been steadily reading them since San Francisco Noir was published when I lived in SF, so was thrilled to see my hometown in the lineup and read it at the scene of the crimes:) Definitely have some picky reservations regarding geo specifics and timeframes here and there. More than one story piggybacks a true crime and doesn’t necessarily add new depth. Lots of drugs, bad attitudes, pent up aggression and hostility ring true for our little area. This volume in the series contains about the level of violence I was prepared for and kicks things off with a rape - the misogyny kinda tapers down with successive stories and leads to some strong woman lead characters and some of strength who are vicious too. Noted at 71% that this particular volume has more than one story not necessarily fitting the bill for noir, going more ghosty, and that stands out to me but I also have that 100% bias thing going on.
May 22, 2018
Thank you to Akashic Books for sending me an ARC of this new noir collection! An excellent group of stories; worth reading!
June 22, 2018
As often happens with short story collections, I thought that this collection was very uneven. My favorites were the first two, "Buck Low" by Tommy Moore and "Whatever Happened to Skinny Jane" by Ariel Gore, and the last one, "It Follows Until It Leads" by Dillon Kaiser. Some of the others weren't as good, but those three were great. The book is worth reading if only for those.
July 8, 2018
This is the third of the Noir series that I’ve read, after New Orleans and Oakland. I think it’s a great series — in each of them, the city is not just the setting, it’s a character in itself.
Santa Cruz is famously a beach and surfing city, with a lot of eccentric characters. But it’s also home for a lot of people who live on the fringe, and they take the lead in many of these stories. There are surfers who just aren’t viable, either emotionally or financially. There are people from the rural areas to the south of Santa Cruz, in tough straits and criminal temptations. And there are the people — teachers, private investigators, . . . — who, either by choice or the class stratifications woven into American culture, barely swim at the surface.
The locations of the stories are distinctive and evocative of Santa Cruz life — Pacific Avenue downtown, the woods and hills of UC Santa Cruz, the surfing spots at Steamer Lane, Cowell’s, and Pleasure Point, . . . I was surprised to see a story set even in my own neighborhood, The Circles.
Some stories also conjure the kinds of attitudes and noirish disorders that plague people no matter where they live, like people who act as though the world is truly against them, that the guy who got to the stop sign first (or to the lineup at Steamer Lane first) is an asshole for it. Everybody is just an asshole, and it’s my job to fight back.
The stories are pretty dire — the first set of stories take up the theme of serial killers. It’s definitely not soft, touristy, beachy noir. Characters are disturbed, bent on destruction, just like in all noir stories, but maybe even with a little harder, more desperate edge.
If you live in Santa Cruz, you’ll enjoy that maybe slightly perverse pleasure of seeing your city in its worst lights. If you don’t live in Santa Cruz, this may not be the tourist industry’s best marketing tool, but you will get a flavor of what’s under the rocks at the beach or buried among the redwoods.
Santa Cruz is famously a beach and surfing city, with a lot of eccentric characters. But it’s also home for a lot of people who live on the fringe, and they take the lead in many of these stories. There are surfers who just aren’t viable, either emotionally or financially. There are people from the rural areas to the south of Santa Cruz, in tough straits and criminal temptations. And there are the people — teachers, private investigators, . . . — who, either by choice or the class stratifications woven into American culture, barely swim at the surface.
The locations of the stories are distinctive and evocative of Santa Cruz life — Pacific Avenue downtown, the woods and hills of UC Santa Cruz, the surfing spots at Steamer Lane, Cowell’s, and Pleasure Point, . . . I was surprised to see a story set even in my own neighborhood, The Circles.
Some stories also conjure the kinds of attitudes and noirish disorders that plague people no matter where they live, like people who act as though the world is truly against them, that the guy who got to the stop sign first (or to the lineup at Steamer Lane first) is an asshole for it. Everybody is just an asshole, and it’s my job to fight back.
The stories are pretty dire — the first set of stories take up the theme of serial killers. It’s definitely not soft, touristy, beachy noir. Characters are disturbed, bent on destruction, just like in all noir stories, but maybe even with a little harder, more desperate edge.
If you live in Santa Cruz, you’ll enjoy that maybe slightly perverse pleasure of seeing your city in its worst lights. If you don’t live in Santa Cruz, this may not be the tourist industry’s best marketing tool, but you will get a flavor of what’s under the rocks at the beach or buried among the redwoods.
June 30, 2018
I received an autographed advance copy of this book through Giveaways. I honestly wasn't expecting much. After reading the first two stories, I was sure I wouldn't be a fan and almost put the book down. Once I hit the third story, though, things started to pick up, and by the time I'd finished the first section of the book (of four), I couldn't put it down.
The stories in this collection are all set in Santa Cruz and are written by authors who are familiar with the area. Themes include drug use, murder, paranoia, cartels, and the supernatural. While a few of the stories were duds, two or three of them were good enough that they've been stuck in my mind for several days. The editor did quite a nice job of selecting stories that complement each other, with plenty of variety in voice and topic. My only criticism would be that some aspects of the stories can be a bit difficult to follow if you don't know the city (or surfing culture in general), and the "map" at the beginning of the book doesn't contain enough details to be useful in painting a picture. However, this book has turned me on to the "noir" collection, and I am planning to order Istanbul Noir; I've spent quite a bit of time living there, and I think I might appreciate the stories more.
CONCLUSION: Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fiction, especially those who like short stories or those who read during their commute (the stories are the perfect length for a short bus ride, etc.).
The stories in this collection are all set in Santa Cruz and are written by authors who are familiar with the area. Themes include drug use, murder, paranoia, cartels, and the supernatural. While a few of the stories were duds, two or three of them were good enough that they've been stuck in my mind for several days. The editor did quite a nice job of selecting stories that complement each other, with plenty of variety in voice and topic. My only criticism would be that some aspects of the stories can be a bit difficult to follow if you don't know the city (or surfing culture in general), and the "map" at the beginning of the book doesn't contain enough details to be useful in painting a picture. However, this book has turned me on to the "noir" collection, and I am planning to order Istanbul Noir; I've spent quite a bit of time living there, and I think I might appreciate the stories more.
CONCLUSION: Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fiction, especially those who like short stories or those who read during their commute (the stories are the perfect length for a short bus ride, etc.).
July 3, 2018
Santa Cruz .... the place was an opiate - you can almost hear Bogey narrating.
It's modern, hard, and coked up; and even today, the city has crime rates higher than most of its neighbours despite having high levels of education, high relative incomes, property values, etc. And it is into this city of contradiction, nestled between mountains and ocean, that we the reader journey in search of gritty entertainment.
Santa Cruz ... sun, surf, sand, tourism, entertainment .... but all the glitters is not necessarily gold.
It's modern, hard, and coked up; and even today, the city has crime rates higher than most of its neighbours despite having high levels of education, high relative incomes, property values, etc. And it is into this city of contradiction, nestled between mountains and ocean, that we the reader journey in search of gritty entertainment.
Santa Cruz ... sun, surf, sand, tourism, entertainment .... but all the glitters is not necessarily gold.
June 21, 2018
Santa Cruz Noir was released earlier this month, another stellar installment in the marvelous Akashic Noir series of anthologies that take readers around the world, the noir world. This time we are visiting sunny, sun-soaked, surfer-town Santa Cruz with the vibrant Susie Bright, the sex-positive feminist author and activist. It’s a generous anthology with twenty stories in four sections.
This book is full of wonderful short stories including “Monarchs and Maidens”, an eerie ghost story of sorts with butterflies and annoying child that I loved. There’s plenty of murders, “Buck Low” is chilling. “Mischa and the Seal” is a strange and wonderful fairy tale. “Whatever Happened to Skinny Jane” will leave you wondering who killed whom. “Treasure Island” is a brilliant sendup of NextDoor and particularly, those Nextdoor members who post when a car has circled the block twice or whenever a person of a darker complexion walk on the streets that belong to us all. Like many great stories, it leaves us wondering.
I loved Santa Cruz Noir. Susie Bright has a brilliant sense of humor and it shows in her story selection. She is also a feminist and that shows in her story selection, too, with many stories focusing on relationships. There are stories of drug dealers, immigrants, surfers, and those on the downside of life. In these stories, you will find struggle and cruelty, madness and kindness, and everything human. I recommend it highly.
I received an e-book of Santa Cruz Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Santa Cruz Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir series
Susie Bright author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
This book is full of wonderful short stories including “Monarchs and Maidens”, an eerie ghost story of sorts with butterflies and annoying child that I loved. There’s plenty of murders, “Buck Low” is chilling. “Mischa and the Seal” is a strange and wonderful fairy tale. “Whatever Happened to Skinny Jane” will leave you wondering who killed whom. “Treasure Island” is a brilliant sendup of NextDoor and particularly, those Nextdoor members who post when a car has circled the block twice or whenever a person of a darker complexion walk on the streets that belong to us all. Like many great stories, it leaves us wondering.
I loved Santa Cruz Noir. Susie Bright has a brilliant sense of humor and it shows in her story selection. She is also a feminist and that shows in her story selection, too, with many stories focusing on relationships. There are stories of drug dealers, immigrants, surfers, and those on the downside of life. In these stories, you will find struggle and cruelty, madness and kindness, and everything human. I recommend it highly.
I received an e-book of Santa Cruz Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Santa Cruz Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir series
Susie Bright author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
September 5, 2018
Santa Cruz Noir: an uneven collection.
This collection raises the question: What are the elements that constitute noir? The answers are no doubt very diverse, but for me it’s a darkness of mood, atmosphere, character, settings, and motive. I can think of no better example than Jim Thompson.
The best of these stories are pretty good examples of noir as I think of it. But too many others try to achieve it with page after page of strong profanity, including multiple f-bombs, and sixties-style bohemian behavior and attitudes. That’s not noir in the best sense.
This collection raises the question: What are the elements that constitute noir? The answers are no doubt very diverse, but for me it’s a darkness of mood, atmosphere, character, settings, and motive. I can think of no better example than Jim Thompson.
The best of these stories are pretty good examples of noir as I think of it. But too many others try to achieve it with page after page of strong profanity, including multiple f-bombs, and sixties-style bohemian behavior and attitudes. That’s not noir in the best sense.
May 28, 2018
I received an advance reading copy of this anthology of 20 short stories through the library thing early reviewers program.
I started this book by choosing a story at random near the middle called Treasure Island. I liked it. Quite a bit. It was twisty and tricky and clever. So I started at the beginning. Well before I finished the collection I knew that some of this was not my cuppa. The majority of the stories I liked, like my first sample, and I thought were quite good. I won't name names good or bad here because I know each of these stories represents someone's hard work to craft a tale. My problems with this mostly arose from subject matter. Some of the stories I'd classify as horror rather than noir, even though I know there is a sub-genre of horror noir and many other variations of noir. Supernatural too. That wasn't really the problem though.
I think the book suceeded in capturing some of the atmosphere of Santa Cruz and surrounding areas, a place I once knew pretty well and visited reasonably often, and my hometown gets a couple of mentions and it felt authentic. The little towns and highways and backroads, most of which I had at least a passing familiarity with seemed spot on. I have not visited the area for quite a while but I still use my cloth "Bookshop Santa Cruz" bag when I go book shopping.
Overall the good stories outweighed the ones I didn't like, but there were too many stories I disliked to give this better than 3 - 3 1/2 stars overall.
I started this book by choosing a story at random near the middle called Treasure Island. I liked it. Quite a bit. It was twisty and tricky and clever. So I started at the beginning. Well before I finished the collection I knew that some of this was not my cuppa. The majority of the stories I liked, like my first sample, and I thought were quite good. I won't name names good or bad here because I know each of these stories represents someone's hard work to craft a tale. My problems with this mostly arose from subject matter. Some of the stories I'd classify as horror rather than noir, even though I know there is a sub-genre of horror noir and many other variations of noir. Supernatural too. That wasn't really the problem though.
I think the book suceeded in capturing some of the atmosphere of Santa Cruz and surrounding areas, a place I once knew pretty well and visited reasonably often, and my hometown gets a couple of mentions and it felt authentic. The little towns and highways and backroads, most of which I had at least a passing familiarity with seemed spot on. I have not visited the area for quite a while but I still use my cloth "Bookshop Santa Cruz" bag when I go book shopping.
Overall the good stories outweighed the ones I didn't like, but there were too many stories I disliked to give this better than 3 - 3 1/2 stars overall.
August 15, 2018
This is the first of the Akashic Noir series that I have read, and like any collection of short stories with various authors, it is difficult to provide a single rating. There were some stories that I didn't much care for, including Tommy Moore's Buck Low. Unfortunately, Buck Low was the very first story and nearly caused me to put down the collection altogether. Others were a bit strange, the oddest, Mischa and the Seal by Liza Monroy, included . However, the standout for me was Treasure Island by Micah Perks, an enjoyable mash-up of every Facebook community page and Rear Window.
I did enjoy the introduction to Santa Cruz and various authors I'd otherwise likely never known. I'm sure I'll delve into other Akashic Noir's other locales at some point.
I did enjoy the introduction to Santa Cruz and various authors I'd otherwise likely never known. I'm sure I'll delve into other Akashic Noir's other locales at some point.
February 5, 2018
I have read many books in this Akashic Series, and this one was not one of my favorites. It's about a beach town in California, and reminds me of "Big Little Lies." The stories aren't particularly interesting or noteworthy.
July 29, 2020
Received this as a gift and wasn't sure I would like it; my excursions into genre fiction ended in high school with John Bellairs and Nancy Drew and LA Confidential and Chinatown. I'm too much of an optimist to seek out noir as an adult (I also got sick of House of Cards and even the BRILLIANT veep because they were too cynical).
But this collection is so great and makes me want to seek out more of what I now realize is a huge ongoing series (each story is tagged to a neighborhood or section of the city/region featured in the title). I don't know Santa Cruz well; I've visited, considered grad school there and my brother lived there for many years. So I was delighted by the geographic and demographic and even temporal diversity here (and have a soft spot for the stories featuring protagonists that are wayward academics).
*Monarchs and Maidens
**54028 Love Creek Road
*Possessed
**Miscalculation (great title!)
*To Live and Die in Santa Cruz
***Treasure Island (also great title!)
**Flaming Arrows
**The Big Creep
**Death and Taxez
*The Strawberry Tattoo
**Crab Dinners
*It Follows Until It Leads
But this collection is so great and makes me want to seek out more of what I now realize is a huge ongoing series (each story is tagged to a neighborhood or section of the city/region featured in the title). I don't know Santa Cruz well; I've visited, considered grad school there and my brother lived there for many years. So I was delighted by the geographic and demographic and even temporal diversity here (and have a soft spot for the stories featuring protagonists that are wayward academics).
*Monarchs and Maidens
**54028 Love Creek Road
*Possessed
**Miscalculation (great title!)
*To Live and Die in Santa Cruz
***Treasure Island (also great title!)
**Flaming Arrows
**The Big Creep
**Death and Taxez
*The Strawberry Tattoo
**Crab Dinners
*It Follows Until It Leads
July 18, 2018
When I think noir I think private detective stories. So maybe unsurprisingly, the some of the ones here that most closely fit that mold where my favorites - but I also think they were some of the better written ones. A lot here is dark, but more in the horror/suspense/thriller/violenceforitsownsake vein. A lot of the first section "Murder Capital of the World" was especially ugh, but it got better from there. And if you're a Santa Cruz person, you can definitely tell that these authors have been here, which was fun.
Favorites: Crab Dinners, The Big Creep, Treasure Island
Least favorites: Buck Low (the opening story, after which I almost put this down), Wheels of Justice, and Safe Harbor (this last one feels like a tacky exploitation of a recent death in town)
Favorites: Crab Dinners, The Big Creep, Treasure Island
Least favorites: Buck Low (the opening story, after which I almost put this down), Wheels of Justice, and Safe Harbor (this last one feels like a tacky exploitation of a recent death in town)
January 28, 2024
Akashic’s “Noir” series rarely disappoints* and sometimes contains real gems. Santa Cruz Noir is nothing outstanding but certainly readable enough. The writers are not familiar names (at least not to me), and the result is a mixed bag, some of them noirish indeed.
*honesty compels the admission that the more foreign the culture/language from which the stories are drawn the less I enjoy/understand them. When I read a sentence like “They arrested him and took him to police headquarters where they beat him until he confessed” I need to know if that’s the noir part or simply the way things are done in Upper Volta or Kyrgyzstan or wherever.
*honesty compels the admission that the more foreign the culture/language from which the stories are drawn the less I enjoy/understand them. When I read a sentence like “They arrested him and took him to police headquarters where they beat him until he confessed” I need to know if that’s the noir part or simply the way things are done in Upper Volta or Kyrgyzstan or wherever.
July 13, 2018
A delicious look at the seamy underside of the original “Surf City”—Santa Cruz, California. There are terrific stories by well-known authors such as Elizabeth McKenzie and Naomi Hirahara, but the ones by lesser-known writers are equally as good. If you’ve ever visited Santa Cruz—or intend to do so in the future—you should definitely read this collection of stories. But don’t read it right before turning out the lights at night!
July 17, 2018
Four stars if you live in or know Santa Cruz, 3 if you don't.
I enjoyed this mainly because I knew the places the stories were set; Brady's, The Jury Room, the yacht harbor, hell, the street at the bottom of my hill (that's where the creepy UCSC prof lives in one of the stories).
The stories themselves were a little uneven, but on the whole good, and I enjoyed this, overall. The first few stories were almost more horror than noir, but I'm glad I continued past those.
I enjoyed this mainly because I knew the places the stories were set; Brady's, The Jury Room, the yacht harbor, hell, the street at the bottom of my hill (that's where the creepy UCSC prof lives in one of the stories).
The stories themselves were a little uneven, but on the whole good, and I enjoyed this, overall. The first few stories were almost more horror than noir, but I'm glad I continued past those.
December 30, 2019
Quirky, and avoids that disconnectedness that generally comes with short story collections, I think because these stories are themed around being set in Santa Cruz. But it goes further than that for it’s as if the authors all speak with a similar voice.
To be honest I think if any of them had of continued into a full length novel I would have read them right then and there. A good quality read.
To be honest I think if any of them had of continued into a full length novel I would have read them right then and there. A good quality read.
July 16, 2018
Some of these stories that add a dark color to familiar places, or to "recognizable" characters, can be wryly humorous; others that unmask the unfamiliar (like gang violence) can be moving and revelatory. All the stories are creepily excellent. Some I had a hard time hearing on Audible and preferred to read in my own voice (the one in my head).
November 8, 2018
Editor Susie Bright pulls together a remarkable collection of diverse voices that manage to do the dark side of Santa Cruz justice. I was skeptical when I learned of this project and unsure if the underbelly of my hometown could be accurately and entertainingly represented. I should not have worried. Highly recommended.
December 2, 2018
as a collection of short stories, this is kind of a mixed bag. some of these stories are really amazing. i loved the story by wallace baine. i kind of can't stop thinking about it, but some of the stories just left me perplexed, like, "wait, it's over, but nothing has happened yet...what?" it was fun to read stories set in santa cruz.
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