The River City emerges as a hot spot for unseemly noir as life, death, and American history mix together into a frightening Southern cocktail. 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: Dean King, Laura Browder, Howard Owen, Yazmina Beverly, Tom De Haven, X.C. Atkins, Meagan J. Saunders, Anne Thomas Soffee, Clint McCown, Conrad Ashley Persons, Clay McLeod Chapman, Pir Rothenberg, David L. Robbins, Hermine Pinson, and Dennis Danvers, with a foreword by Tom Robbins. From the introduction by Andrew Blossom, Brian Castleberry & Tom De Haven: “In  The Air-Conditioned Nightmare , Henry Miller tosses off a hard-bitten assessment of the City on the James: ‘I would rather die in Richmond somehow,’ he writes, ‘though God knows Richmond has little enough to offer.’ As editors, we like the dying part, and might point out that in its long history, Richmond, Virginia has offered up many of the disparate elements crucial to meaty noir. The city was born amid deception, conspiracy, and violence . . . Richmond has seen everything America has to offer, and has at times stood for its worst, darkest bits . . . It’s also a hell of a place to live. We, the editors and authors, love this city. Try standing on a rock in the middle of the James River as the evening sun lights up the tinny but somehow magnificent buildings of downtown. You’ll see. It’s quite a sight. When you accept a city not only for its strengths but also for its weaknesses, when you realize that the combination of the two is what gives the place true beauty―when, indeed, you recognize that the combination might also make for some very good storytelling―well, that’s love. We love Richmond, Virginia. We hope you like it too.“ Andrew Blossom is the founding editor of Makeout Creek. He lives in Richmond, Virginia. Brian Castleberry is a playwright, novelist, and music critic. He lives in Virginia with his wife and their two mangy dogs. Tom De Haven is the author of seventeen books, including Freaks' Amour, Sunburn Lake, It's Superman! and the Derby Dugan trilogy of novels. Richmond Noir Akashic Books Copyright © 2010 Akashic Books All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-933354-98-9 Contents Foreword by Tom Robbins................................................................15Introduction...........................................................................23Pir Rothenberg The Rose Red Vial Museum District.....................................46David L. Robbins Homework East End...................................................61Mina Beverly Gaia Providence Park....................................................76Dennis Danvers Texas Beach Texas Beach...............................................93Clay Mcleod Chapman The Battle of Belle Isle Belle Isle..............................111X.C. Atkins A Late-Night Fishing Trip Oregon Hill....................................129Laura Browder The Heart Is a Strange Muscle Church Hill..............................140Dean King The Fall Lines Shockoe Slip................................................153Tom De Haven Playing with DaBlonde Manchester........................................174Anne Thomas Soffee Midnight at the Oasis Jefferson Davis Highway.....................194Meagan J. Saunders Untitled Jackson Ward.............................................206Conrad Ashley Persons Marco's Broken English West End................................223Howard Owen The Thirteenth Floor Monroe Park.........................................239Hermine Pinson Mr. Not Devil's Half Acre.............................................255Clint McCown The Apprentice Hollywood Cemetery.......................................271Editors' Acknowledgments...............................................................274 Introduction Negotiating the James In The Air-Conditioned Nightmare , Henry Miller tosses off a hard-bitten assessment of the City on the James: "I would rather die in Richmond somehow," he writes, "though God knows Richmond has little enough to offer." As editors, we like the dying part, and might point out that in its long history, Richmond, Virginia has offered up many of the disparate elements crucial to meaty noir . The city was born amid deception, conspiracy, and violence. In 1607, after Christopher Newport paddled up the river that would one day be the city's lifeblood, he installed a wooden cross at the future site of Richmond, claiming the area for England. The local Powhatan rightly perceived the symbolism in his act, but Newport, with the aid of flattery and gifts, convinced them that the cross indicated friendship, not conquest. His lie, soon revealed for what it was, led to conflict-not only between settlers and Native Americans, but also among the settlers themselves. Within two years, a second Engli