Nairobi Noir – edited by Peter Kimani – Review
Another phenomenal entry in the Akashic Noir series, Nairobi Noir is one the publisher can be proud of. Almost all of the 14 stories are exquisitely written. I appreciated that only one of these had the kind of violence that I find truly disturbing, and even though I’m not sure they all fall under the “noir” category, they were enjoyable stories that created a vivid sense of place and people. This is probably one of the top two Akashic Noir collections I’ve read. There were only two that disappointed me. The rest were wonderful, even if they didn’t all meet my expectation of “noir”. “The Hermit in the Helmet” by Ngugi was Thiong’o was more of a fable than something I would expect to read in a collection of noir, but I absolutely loved it. “A Song from a Forgotten Place” by Troy Onyango was probably the darkest, most heartbreaking story here. “She Dug Two Graves” by Winfred Kiunga and “Plot Ten” by Caroline Mose were probably my favorites.
Thank you to Akashic Books and LibraryThing for the free Early Reviewers copy in exchange for my honest review.
Tails from the Dog-side 