(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“It wasn’t until he’d come to see me a dozen times that he told me he wanted to concentrate on women who looked like the victims who’d escaped from him his first time around.”
This man thinks that executed serial killer Ted Bundy comes out at night to instruct him how to continue his killing mission. But there’s more to it, and the shock made “The Stranger Inside Me” my favorite story in Amsterdam Noir.
This collection of fourteen stories feature protagonists diverse in age, economic class and ethnicity. Many explore the issues of assimilation into the city’s culture. A policeman who is Muslim and the son of Moroccan immigrants not only faces discrimination in the police force but is also mistrusted among Moroccan immigrants.
Another favorite is the story about a Syrian national who was imprisoned and tortured by the Assad regime. However, he ultimately gets some revenge in Amsterdam. Another story features a felon who is released on a weekend leave but has sinister plans. There’s also the gruesome double murder that comes back to haunt a community forty years later. Many have themes of love and trust that turn into deceit and betrayal. And of course, there are incidents that take place in the infamous red-light district.
The reason that I am not mentioning the titles of these stories is that some of them have surprises along the way and I don’t want to give anything away. While we’re engrossed in the plot, we later find out that what we thought was going on really isn’t.
That said, there are some stories I found to be disappointing. Some have incomplete or unsatisfying endings. Some I feel are just mediocre. However, these are outweighed by the number and breadth of riveting stories.
Though it isn’t one of my favorites in the Akashic Noir Series, Amsterdam Noir is still a winner.
