Singapore Noir (Akashic Noir)

I posted this review elsewhere and I'll put it here as well.This book contains short crime stories set in Singapore, each story written by a different author set in a different part of the city-state. As in pretty much any short story collection, you're inevitably going to get stronger stories intermingling with weaker stories, and this is no different. Some stories are quite good, with surprise twist endings; some are okay but not great; others have an interesting start but don't go anywhere, and simply peter out to a weak ending.As a collection of crime stories, there's no real stand-out, but the book isn't bad either. If you have an interest in Singapore then I'd recommend it. If you simply have an interest in crime stories then I'd still recommend it but just keep in mind that it's not the best collection of crime stories out there.

This is a collection, so some stories are better than others. I was interested in local color. This was only partly met, mostly because I knew from the title where the action was taking place.

Some of the collections in the Noir series have been uneven - due possibly to translation in some cases - but every story in Singapore is a gem, all well written, all different and noir in every one.

Everything was fine.

I was excited to read "Singapore Noir" because I've visited the city-state and love a good noir story. And this collection did not disappoint. At. All. Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan edited the fourteen short stories in this book, including her own, which I really loved. Set amidst a traditional fishing community, Tan's story is both informative and bone-chilling. Another that stood out to me was Colin Cheong's story centered around a taxi uncle that takes many unexpected twists and turns. Two others by Lawrence Osborne and S.J. Rozan told the stories of expats in Singapore who encountered relationship troubles once they arrived in the city-state. I loved these stories, too, and could empathize with the spouses who were left behind...until they weren't! I recommend this book for anyone who likes noir stories, has been to Singapore, or is interested in reading about Singapore beyond the canings and littering laws.

Singapore, the city-state reknown for her cleanliness that borders on sterile conditions, draconian laws, enviable economy and affluence, high property and car prices, and a generally safe society. Singapore Noir, through short stories, exposes the darker side of the little island state, raising to our consciousness that below the glossy surface lurks the roiling beasts of humanity that could strike at any moment.Singlish, the local patois, a mix of various Chinese dialects, Malay, English and occasionally Tamil, is scattered through the stories, incomprehensible and jarring perhaps to some readers who have yet to be exposed to the language, nonetheless provides the authenticity of the voices in the stories.Some stories are uncomfortable, some are shocking and some will anger the reader, but what's common among them all is they each elicit a strong reaction.

I won an advanced reading copy of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.Singapore Noir is a short story collection focusing on the darker side of Singapore. I've never previously heard of the Noir books, but apparently Akashic has a whole line of them from a variety of cities and countries such as Boston, Istanbul, Rome, San Diego and Wall Street! From the back of the book: "Say Singapore to anyone and you'll likely hear one of a few words: Caning. Fines. Chewing gum. For much of the West, the narrative of Singapore has been marked largely by its government's strict laws and unwavering enforcement of them. Beneath its sparkling veneer is a country teeming with shadows and in the following pages, you'll get the chance to discover some of them. There is evil, sadness, a foreboding. This is a Singapore rarely explored in Western literature."This book is comprised of four sections with three or four stories each pertaining to the themes: Sirens, Love (Or Something Like It), Gods & Demons, and The Haves & The Have-Nots. I can't remember if I've read much (or anything) set in Singapore, so this felt like a new experience for me. Most of the tales contain murder, or at least violence, so it might not be for the faint of heart - the material doesn't have a lot of graphic detail***, but if you don't want to read about murder and betrayal, then this probably isn't the book for you.***Note: There is one tale - Detective In A City With No Crime - that is very sexually explicit, and I wasn't expecting that, so it grossed me out a bit. However, the writing itself was well done and I still enjoyed the story, just not the sexual scenes.I felt all the stories fit together nicely. Rather than feeling like I was reading a bunch of random murder/mystery stories set in Singapore, it felt more like a novel but with different viewpoints and I enjoyed that. The characters in these stories aren't all natives to Singapore either, so the reader gets more than one type of outlook or lifestyle - one I particularly enjoyed was Kena Sai, which follows an American who relocated to Singapore with his wife and child. Rozan, the author, made the father likeable and his appreciation and experience in Singapore actually made me want to go there, but with this fictional character as my guide!If you're into murder, mystery and betrayal, this book is for you! I imagine that the other Noir collections are just as gripping and interesting. There were a few stories that left me scratching my head at the end though (which could be a failing on my part), and I get frustrated when I don't understand the ending, especially in a short story, but other than that I really enjoyed this collection!

The major fun of the Akashic Noir series is the settings, whether it's the utra familiarity of cities you've been to, the vague familiarity of similar cities you haven't or the exoticism of foreign places like Haiti.Singapore Noir may be my favorite so far of the international volumes. In it we are treated to a glimpse of an Eastern city-state that sometimes acts as if it were a Western city, so it is both familiar and exotic at once.Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan has assembled a wonderful batch of stories that includes everything a noir fan would want - murder, betrayal, adultery, paranoia, schizophrenia, even a little magic.As with any anthology some stories are better than others, but every one here is worth a read.

It's OK. Kind of a stylized depiction of Singapore, of course. Some of the stories were kind of "blah".