"Zepeda's introduction notes her hometown's unique features, including the absence of any zoning laws, making Houston 'culturally diverse, internally incongruous, and ever-changing'...Noir aficionados will be pleased."—Publishers Weekly"There's precious little comfort to be found in any of these Houston neighborhoods, most of which are set light-years away from the city's notoriously cushy new-money culture...Houston comes across as a haven of multiculturalism—though, as in all the 90-plus volumes of Akashic's 15-year-old series, the vision of the city that emerges isn't likely to jump-start tourism for any but the most ghoulishly inclined."—Kirkus Reviews"Houston Noir has arrived, an ode to the grime, grit and glamour of Texas's largest, most fascinating (and, to be fair, probably ugliest) city. Houston is unique in Texas history in that it's a large, multicultural port city that has never had zoning laws....

Gwendolyn Zepeda, a Houston native who has struggled to escape the inner-city barrio she grew up in, wonders why she's crying about her long commute to the suburbs.Single with three sons, Zepeda made her way in corporate America, "the cold, beige womb of a money-grubbing mother," in the fight to provide them with better opportunities. Along the way, she has had to come to terms with the guilt of working in physical comfort while others work outside, trapped in dangerous jobs; the realization that the quality of her work doesn't really matter to anyone; and obnoxious male bosses who need "a wife on the side," or worse, proudly report their sons' sexual exploits. She's afraid, because "My whole life depends / On satisfying this man's needs...My own son is my everything. He's the / Only reason I'm here now this / Afternoon listening to this man piss / Into my brain."She's an astute observer of people: her elders, full of bitterness; the stranger on the elevator, who exudes...

Jessica Luna is your typical 26 year old: she has man trouble, mom trouble, and not a clue what to do with her life (though everyone else in her family seems to have plenty of suggestions!) After a lifetime of being babied by her family, Jess is incapable of trusting herself to make the right choices. So instead, she bases all of her life decisions on signs. She looks to everything for guidance, from the direction her rearview-mirror-Virgin-de-Guadalupe sways to whatever Madame Hortensia, her psychic, sees in the cards. When her sort-of boyfriend Guillermo, a gifted unmotivated artist, disappoints her again, Jessica thinks it's time to call it quits. Just to be sure, she checks in with Madame Hortensia who confirms that yes, it is time for a change. (Who knew $20 could buy so much security!) Right on cue, Jess meets Jonathan; he's the complete opposite of Guillermo--of all Jess's boyfriends, in fact. He's successful, has a stable job....and is white. Jess isn't sure ...