L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION BY CHARLES ARDAI

EDITED BY JONATHAN SANTLOFER

STORY ONE: THE GIRL

by Megan Abbott

Megan Abbott, whose work has often dealt with real-life noir stories, lures the reader—and L.A. Noire character erstwhile actress June Ballard—into the depraved goings-on at an infamous Hollywood party.

STORY TWO: SEE THE WOMAN

by Lawrence Block

Award-winning author Lawrence Block delivers a poignant and painful look at domestic abuse and its harrowing after-math as a retired L.A. cop recounts the story that has haunted and colored his life.

STORY THREE: NAKED ANGEL

by Joe R. Lansdale

In this story of love, betrayal, and murder, Joe R. Lansdale creates a vivid protagonist who confronts an ugly truth in his past to solve a crime in the present before L.A. Noire homicide detective Rusty Galloway even has a lead.

STORY FOUR: BLACK DAHLIA & WHITE ROSE

by Joyce Carol Oates

One of the most esteemed writers of our time, Joyce Carol Oates has often blended fact and fiction—the incident at Chappaquiddick in her novel Black Water, the murder of JonBenét Ramsey in her novel My Sister, My Love—and does so once again in this brilliant reimagining of the Black Dahlia murder case and the young Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Baker), a story sure to haunt readers for a long time.

STORY FIVE: SCHOOL FOR MURDER

by Francine Prose

Distinguished writer of bestselling fiction and nonfiction Francine Prose goes full throttle in her darkly humorous take on Hollywood, the making of noir films, and acting that goes far beyond the Method.

STORY SIX: WHAT’S IN A NAME?

by Jonathan Santlofer

Well-known artist and award-winning writer Jonathan Santlofer, who has often explored the dark psychological makeup of criminals and sociopaths, here crafts a tale of murder and identity that is both heartbreaking and terrifying.

STORY SEVEN: HELL OF AN AFFAIR

by Duane Swierczynski

Duane Swierczynski reveals the dizzying spiral of duplicity that drives L.A. Noire character William Shelton into a headlong collision with the wrong side of the law.

STORY EIGHT: POSTWAR BOOM

by Andrew Vachss

Andrew Vachss, an attorney specializing in child protection, always takes on important and disturbing social issues in his work—whether in fiction or in real life. Here is a pointed, painful look at the bitter racism, shaped by prejudice and combat, that fuels a couple of postwar hit men.

About the Authors

About L.A. Noire

New from the authors of L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories

Copyright

Copyright Acknowledgments