One of a series of books from Akashic Press. Noir stories based in and written by authors from, the titled town. In this case, Pittsburgh. Other towns in the series, from Baltimore to New York to Havana to San Francisco and all points in between. Most of the authors in this book were unfamiliar with me, except for a favorite of my Stewart O'Nan. An excellent assortment of odd stories.

From Pray for Rain by Nancy Martin - Now the Allegheny swept masses of junk and debris past the few remaining boats tied up at the marina. An empty doghouse floated by, trailing a length of chain. Half a plastic Santa bobbed by on the turmoil of cold brown water. He rolled with the current until one mittened hand rose in the air as if hailing a rescue boat.

From A Minor Extinction by Paul Lee. Mark continued to work as though he had not heard a thing, rewetting the long-handled roller in the pan and applying to the stale walls lucent strips of dripping, viscous white, a slathered rendering of reversed time.

From Loaded by Rebecca Drake. It rained on moving day, quarter-sized drops splashing like bloodstains on the stone walkway. ( )

Solid book, entertaining stories with some neat twists. Especially enjoyable for area natives but non-locals (like myself) don't feel alienated. ( )

Take the feel of crime noir, update it to contemporary language and place it in Pittsburgh and you will have Pittsburgh Noir an anthology of some very dark stories connected by being set in Pittsburgh. The collection is uneven, some are better than others, but all are at least more than just good.

If you are not a Pittsburgher, either by birth or by adoption, you may not fully appreciate some of these stories. Even if you don't know the neighborhood, Rebecca Drake's Loaded will be recognized as one of the more outstanding offerings in this collection with an O Henry type twist at the end. Far Beneath is a just plain creepy story from Carlos Delgado. Nancy Martin's Pray for Rain seems almost to be based on a flood that happened here during a recent rainstorm. Kathleen George, the editor of this anthology and a local author with many novels to her credit, comes across with an outstanding homage to the Crime Noir genre, Intruder. The story is made even more contemporary through her choice of characters and will broaden the appeal to all readers, not just "yinzers".

Stories not mentioned in this review should not be considered a bad, there just is not enough space to do a review of all fourteen offerings; the ones above are what I consider the best of the best. The plots should have have a very broad appeal, but the flavor of all the stories are uniquely Pittsburgh. Not as straight-up as Raymond Chandler and not as twisted as Kris Saknussemm, this collection is still well worth tracking down and reading. An overall of rating four stars . . . plus another half star if you're a yinzer! ( )