Akashic's ambitiously geographical crime fiction series here tours the dark and sometimes quirky corners of the Garden State, leading off with Joyce Carol Oates's nostalgic examination of all things New Jersey, coupled to an enlightening exploration of the key elements of noir. Her promises of the betrayal and odd sense of morality typical of noir writing are not hollow, as the anthology's stories and poems will demonstrate.
Some contributors reference the state's history: Bradford Morrow's "The Enigma of Grover's Mill" tells the story of one family whose lives were forever changed after the mass panic following Orson Welles's War of the Worlds radio broadcast, while Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini reveal the final resting place of Jimmy Hoffa in "Meadowlands Spike" (albeit through the confession of a somewhat unreliable source). Among the other notable selections: Lou Manfredo's gritty and descriptive "Soul Anatomy," in which a police union lawyer helps a young cop--the son of a local politician--get his story straight after a fatal shooting in Camden, and Jonathan Santlofer's "Lola" shines as an oddly satisfying tale of love and betrayal, about an artist who meets his inspiration on the train to Hoboken and quickly becomes obsessed with her. Arranged in four parts and punctuated by the striking photography of Gerald Slota, New Jersey Noir is a distinctive, thoroughly entertaining addition to Akashic's series. --Sarah Borders, librarian, Houston Public Library