[Akashic Noir 01] • Amsterdam Noir

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.

Featuring brand-new stories by: Michael Berg, Anneloes Timmerije, Murat Isik, René Appel, Josh Pachter, Simon De Waal, Hanna Bervoets, Karin Amatmoekrim, Christine Otten, Mensje van Keulen, Max van Olden, Theo Capel, Loes Den Hollander, Herman Koch, Abdelkader Benali, and Walter Van Den Berg.

From the Introduction

Amsterdam has the amenities and, to a certain extent, the feel of a major world city, but one of its most attractive features is its relatively small size. It’s easy to navigate on foot, by bike, and via its excellent public transportation network, especially with the semicircular perimeter of its famous grachtengordel, or ring of concentric canals. Like any other metropolis, though, Amsterdam also has its dark side, its shadowy corners—in other words, there is also an Amsterdam noir. No matter how beautiful, vital, and cheery a city might be, pure human emotions such as greed, jealousy, and the thirst for revenge will rear their ugly heads . . . with all the negative consequences appertaining thereto. Amsterdam is a multidimensional city, populated by a wide assortment of social groups, and not all of those groups agree on what constitutes normal social values and mores. This results in a lively mix . . . and, as you will see, in problems.