Scott Phillips’s Introduction to St. Louis Noir

To celebrate the release of St. Louis Noir, the latest from Akashic’s Noir Series, we’re pleased to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the collection with editor Scott Phillips’s introduction, “High and Low Collide.”

“Fade Out” by Paul D. Marks

Fade in:

Flat on my back in the middle of one of the most famous intersections in the world, Hollywood and Vine. Cars slalom around me. Finally, it becomes clear, like a fade-in from a bad movie: what it all means. The pictures run through my mind at twenty-four frames per second . . .