Gary Phillips has published novels, comics, and short stories, and edited numerous anthologies, including Orange County Noir. Violent Spring, first published in 1994, was named one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. Culprits, a linked anthology he coedited, has been optioned as a British miniseries, and he was a staff writer on FX's Snowfall about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central, where he grew up.
"If you're of a certain age, your perception of South Los Angeles
might have been formed by riots and rappers. Or maybe you know it
through television . . . But Gary Phillips, who grew up there, has
a more historically complex point of view . . . For Phillips and
the 13 other writers who contributed to his just-published
anthology, those narrower, pop-infused renditions are just the tip
of the iceberg . . . with the result that their work-and their
city-is much richer for the exercise."-Los Angeles Times
"Let's make some space for crime fiction in miniature. Akashic
Books offers its latest city-centric noir anthology with South
Central Noir, which includes 14 top-notch stories about one of Los
Angeles's most chronicled neighborhoods. The editor, Gary
Phillips-whose most recent novel is One-Shot Harry-has assembled a
formidable group of writers that includes Jervey Tervalon,
Tananarive Due, Naomi Hirahara, Steph Cha and Penny
Mickelbury."-New York Times Book Review
"This collection of noir short stories is a perfect introduction to
the crime fiction genre and an unrelenting tour of one of LA's most
iconic neighborhoods from the Watts Towers to the Holiday Bowl to
the Dunbar Hotel."-L.A. Taco, One of the 27 Best Books About Los
Angeles in 2022
"South Central Noir, edited by Gary Phillips, is a remarkable
anthology of fourteen original tales set in South Central Los
Angeles. The stories are vivid, atmospheric, thought-provoking, and
entertaining with nary a dud from the first page to the
last."-Mystery Scene Magazine
"South Central is hardly a monolith; these stories are set all over
South Los Angeles. What they share is a deep sense of place, or
maybe we should say: of what came before . . . This is noir as
mirror. This is noir as lens. This is work that enlarges our sense
of what noir is and what it does."-Alta Online
"Short story collections are great when you want to do reading
where you can dive in and out as necessary or even when you want to
find new authors. Fourteen stories bring to life South Central
LA-from some of the best crime writers like Steph Cha, Naomi
Hirahara, and Tananarive Due."-BookRiot
"The 14 tales in this strong entry in Akashic's noir series focus
on the robust past and present of one of the most notorious areas
not just in Southern California but the country . . . Phillips and
his contributors dig deep, presenting a rich tapestry of stories
varied in tone and perspective."-Publishers Weekly
"Editor Phillips packs 33 square miles of one of Los Angeles' most
iconic neighborhoods into 14 compact stories . . .These stories
offer a strong sense of their community, covering a remarkable lot
of ground on their beat."-Kirkus Reviews
"South Central Noir is another fine collection in the venerable,
admirable Akashic Books series. And if the editors are willing to
subdivide every city they have already visited, then we lucky
readers of all things noir have decades of enjoyment ahead."-New
York Journal of Books
"An array of powerful literary contributions are compiled to create
a powerfully written illustration of the predominately Black
community of South Central Los Angeles."-Amsterdam News
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