{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936070030?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"1936070030","authors":["Gary Phillips"],"book_id":"9781936070039","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/orange-county-noir-9781936070039","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781936070039.jpg?v=ac63233443c792f7","description":"You may be disturbed—or possibly titillated—to discover what can happen once you cross the Orange Curtain . . . “‘There’s a dark side to most places,’ even California’s sunny Orange County, Edgar-winner T. Jefferson Parker observes in his foreword to this outstanding entry in Akashic’s noir series, one of the stronger of the all-original anthologies. The crisp, often seductive prose of the 14 contributors, most of them relatively unknown, is a tribute to the critical judgment of the editor.” — Publishers Weekly , Starred Review Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir . Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Brand-new stories by: Susan Straight, Robert S. Levinson, Rob Roberge, Nathan Walpow, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Dan Duling, Mary Castillo, Lawrence Maddox, Dick Lochte, Robert Ward, Gary Phillips, Gordon McAlpine, Martin J. Smith, and Patricia McFall, with a foreword by T. Jefferson Parker. From the introduction by Gary Phillips: “Orange County brings to mind McMansion housing tracts; massive shopping centers with their own zip codes where Pilates classes are run like boot camp and real-estate values are discussed at your weekly colonic; and ice-cream parlors on Main Street, U.S.A., side by side with pho shops and taquerías. Los Angeles has been and continues to be explored as the place where noir, if it wasn’t spawned there, sure as hell flowered. But what about its neighbor to the south? What secrets do Orange County’s denizens have to tell . . . or hide? This volume, like coming in from a sudden storm and then being gripped by a heavy riff from Bird’s horn, takes you on a hard-boiled tour behind the Orange Curtain. Among those you’ll meet are a reclusive rock star who has lived way too long in his twisted head, a crooked judge who uses the court for illicit means, a cab driver prowling the streets with more than the ticking meter on his mind. In Orange County Noir, cultures clash, housewives want more than the perfect grout cleaner, and nobody is exactly who they seem to be.”","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781936070039","publication_date":"20100406","publisher":"WW Norton","slug":"orange-county-noir","subtitle":"Kindle Edition","title":"Orange County Noir"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":0.8042,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Hard-Boiled Mystery","score":0.7923,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Private Eye Fiction","score":0.7858,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":0.8042,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Hard-Boiled Mystery","score":0.7923,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Private Eye Fiction","score":0.7858,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"FIC003000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Short Story Anthologies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Mystery","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022050","confidence_band":"high","label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":0.8042,"slug":"mystery-anthologies"},{"label":"Hard-Boiled Mystery","score":0.7923,"slug":"hard-boiled-mystery"},{"label":"Private Eye Fiction","score":0.7858,"slug":"private-eye-fiction"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in hard-boiled stories set across Orange County"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Denise Hamilton"],"book_id":"9781933354224","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781933354224.jpg?v=7a0b28f5320dfc32","score":0.8527,"title":"Los Angeles Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781933354224"},{"authors":["Chris McKinney"],"book_id":"9781636141985","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781636141985.jpg?v=98df76b321375a10","score":0.809,"title":"Honolulu Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781636141985"},{"authors":["Kevin Sampsell"],"book_id":"9781933354798","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781933354798.jpg?v=5eeb67b155d6d436","score":0.7956,"title":"Portland Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781933354798"},{"authors":["Curt Colbert"],"book_id":"9781933354804","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781933354804.jpg?v=166f8d0787d04f73","score":0.7789,"title":"Seattle Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781933354804"},{"authors":["Tayari Jones"],"book_id":"9781617755378","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781617755378.jpg?v=0a598b7a415a8630","score":0.7712,"title":"Atlanta Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781617755378"},{"authors":["Colin Channer"],"book_id":"9781617750748","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781617750748.jpg?v=fdba3f32f93a7495","score":0.76,"title":"Kingston Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781617750748"},{"authors":["Ace Atkins","Jimmy Cajoleas","RaShell R. Smith-Spears","Tom Franklin"],"book_id":"9781617752285","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781617752285.jpg?v=06378badb2687b8d","score":0.7542,"title":"Mississippi Noir","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781617752285"},{"authors":["Lee Horsley","B. Morris Allen","Donald J. 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