West Jerusalem Noir (Akashic Noir)

Book excerpt: In West Jerusalem Noir—published simultaneously with East Jerusalem Noir—the Akashic Noir Series visits one of the world's most complex locales, in this volume from the perspective of Israeli writers From the editor's introduction: "This anthology offers a fictional tour of Jerusalem, this time through the lens of the noir genre. Not all the stories in this book include a detective, a femme fatale, or a dead body. In fact, a significant number of the writers chose to avoid these genre staples. And yet the stories—each taking place in a different part of the city—sketch a dark imagined map of the city, where religious mystery dwells alongside the quotidian, claustrophobic hubbub of the Central Bus Station . . . The stories included in West Jerusalem Noir could not have taken place anywhere else. They reflect national, religious, and socioeconomic tensions inherent to the city and sketch an image of a concrete, contemporary, and complicated Jerusalem." Featuring brand-new stories by: Yiftach Ashkenazi, Ilana Bernstein, Emanuel Yitzhak Levi and Guli Dolev-Hashiloni, Liat Elkayam, Asaf Schurr, Yardenne Greenspan, Ilai Rowner, Zohar Elmakias, Ilan Rubin Fields, Nano Shabtai, Yaara Shehori, Tafat Hacohen-Bick, Nadav Lapid, Tehila Hakimi, and Oded Wolkstein. West Jerusalem Noir is being published simultaneously with East Jerusalem Noir, edited by Rawya Jarjoura Burbara. The companion volume explores the city with brand-new stories by Palestinian authors.