The Top 10 Noir Novels of the 21st Century

The hallmarks of noir are the sad sucker, the femme fatale, some very bad decisions—The Cleanup has them all. Working night security at an Omaha supermarket is about as low as a man can sink.

A blazing, first-person narrative that gleefully takes you into the gutter with Josephine, recovering drug addict and newly minted amateur P.I. No happy endings here. But this is noir, so that’s no spoiler.

Crooked cop Joe Denton seems hellbent on ruining his life, even after he’s given a second chance. And reading about his slide down is bleak, black fun.

Watching the disaster that befalls a down-on-their-luck couple who think they’ve hit the jackpot, is a slow spiral through small justifications for bad actions. But, oh, no. There is always one more loose thread to be cut. One more test of how crooked we are willing to get when staring temptation in the face. An instant classic.

Southern-fried and Bible-thumping, this noir contains one of the most noir sentences ever uttered: “So, you see, starting out I had good intentions.” That sums up the cynical world view as well as anything.

This is a story about the failure to live down your past, and the fact that payback is patient and will always find you in the end.

Twisted City is the ultimate bad-luck noir. A simple twist of fate draws our protagonist into the worst week of his life, and on every page, you feel terrified that this could all happen to you tomorrow. Chilling.

This is homage that elevates itself above the realm of mere imitation and stands proudly on its own. This one won the Shamus award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and it’s easy to see why.

A small story, simply told, this novel progresses deliberately, but powerfully, forward. Second-guessing doesn’t even cover it. You can’t figure it out. It’s like mercury in your hands.

These are nasty people doing nasty things and almost daring you to root for them. The crooks and shysters are small-time, but the stakes are high in their seedy little world. This is Midwestern noir at its ice-cold best.