“Suddenly, the male becomes the object of the protagonist’s gaze,” she writes. She’s compiled a book of new stories told from the female point of view. She writes that in noir, a woman’s place until fairly recently has been limited to one of two roles, muse or sexual object.

Joyce Carol Oates starts off “Cutting Edge” with an excellent essay about noir in literature. We already know that villages both quaint and picturesque practically beg for trouble. Such people walk among us, do they not?Īnd though Tess Gerritsen’s new novel, “The Shape of Night,” is fiction, too, who hasn’t seen someone sinister in an upstairs window, someone who didn’t belong there? And what is it about Maine? The book, “Haunted House Murder,” features three scary mysteries by respected cozy authors Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross. The woman wields a grudge and a double-serrated knife and a kind of invisibility she can count on. Not so in the Joyce Carol Oates story, “Assassin,” that falls at the end of a book of extremely readable short noir fiction - “Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers.” Oates delivers to us a woman in mid-delusion … maybe. We know the headless, bloody torso we just tripped over is all in fun. This time of year haunted houses spike the adrenaline in a good way.

We like to be - maybe we need to be - scared out of our wits every now and then. Published by Kensington Publishing, 2019. $28īy Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross. (To go to the full list in NoveList Plus, click here) 1.Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women WritersĮdited by Joyce Carol Oates with stories by Margaret Atwood, Aimee Bender, Edwidge Danticat, Valerie Martin and others.

Writing Style:Compelling Stylistically complex If you like Joyce Carol Oates, then here is a list of similar authors Tone:Bleak Creepy Disturbing Moody Suspenseful Genre:Literary fiction Psychological fiction Psychological suspense Short stories Start with: The Falls (Adult Fiction) A Widow’s Story (Nonfiction).

Her nonfiction includes both essays and memoirs. Her stories are generally set in small towns and rural areas, and often have a timeless feel. By narrating in both first and third person, Oates creates an intimate relationship between readers and characters as she explores complex human interactions. Oates‘ dark, gripping tales often focus on violence and victimization and the characters’ response to it. Writing in genres ranging from family chronicles to psychological suspense to horror, Joyce Carol Oates offers provocative, often political, novels and short stories that address significant social issues. Find books by Joyce Carol Oates (click here)įind eBooks by Joyce Carol Oates (click here)įind eAudiobooks by Joyce Carol Oates (click here)

Haunted by Joyce Carol Oates