(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“…Vancouver may seem idyllic. But living here is different—cold and baffling and occasionally hostile…locals see a heroin crisis…It’s ground zero for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, a nationwide catastrophe involving the deaths and disappearances of hundreds of marginalized women. Money and status trample culture and community.”
Sam Wiebe, writer and editor of the anthology, Vancouver Noir, gives outsiders another view of his city and it is characterized in these fourteen short stories. But don’t get him wrong, women can be formidable and dangerous adversaries.
A hit -woman emotionally relates to her mark in “Terminal City”. Also, how dangerous can meeting mothers at the park be? You’ll find out in “The Perfect Playgroup”. I wasn’t sure that I would like Sheena Kamal’s “Eight Game-Changing Tips on Public Speaking” but was surprised at it was one of my favorites. How about the woman who gets a rush from trespassing into abandoned houses? What gruesome discoveries could she encounter? Meet a retired policeman with Alzheimer’s who thinks he’s back in 1974. What happens when he gets hold of a gun and remembers a little too much?
As you can tell, these stories are quite different from each other. Murder, revenge, jealousy, greed, mental illness and problems with gentrification are common threads in many of these stories.
Now this is the difficult part of my review. The books that I have read in the Akashic series have been so riveting, that perhaps I set unreasonable expectations for each one. That is the case with Vancouver Noir. A few of the stories didn’t wow me, especially compared to those in Sydney Noir. Then again, how likely is it that each story in a collection of fourteen will all be winners? What I especially appreciate in these latest Akashic releases is that the characters are diverse in gender, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
That said, fans of gripping thrillers are sure to enjoy Vancouver Noir. I sure did and highly recommend it.
