New Jersey Noir (34 page)

Marlena laughed—she was delighted—for this was the sort of small surprise she appreciated.

Not for herself but for the children. In this case, for Devra. It was a good moment, a warm moment—Kevin didn’t react with jealousy but seemed only curious, as Daddy said he’d found the necklace in a “secret place” and knew just who it was meant for.

Shyly Devra took the little necklace from Daddy’s fingers.

“What do you say, Devra?”

“Oh Dad-dy—thank you.”

Devra spoke so softly, Reno cupped his hand to his ear.

“Speak up, Devra. Daddy can’t hear.” Marlena helped the little girl slip the necklace over her head.

“Daddy,
thank you!”

The little fish-mouth pursed for a quick kiss of Daddy’s cheek.

Around the child’s slender neck the blue glass beads glittered, gleamed. All that summer at Paraquarry Lake, Reno would marvel he’d never seen anything more beautiful.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

R
OBERT
A
RELLANO
was born in 1969 at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, and raised at 228 Kent Place Boulevard, where he shared a bedroom with brothers Manuel and Miguel, a wall with sisters Alicia and Ana Maria, and another wall with parents Manuel and Alicia. His novel
Havana Lunar
, which was a 2010 Edgar Award finalist, and his Southwest noir
Curse the Names
(2012), are both published by Akashic Books.

R
ICHARD
B
URGIN’S
fifteen books include the novel
Rivers Last Longer
and the story collections
Shadow Traffic
and
The Identity Club: New and Selected Stories
, which the Huffington Post listed as one of the forty best books of fiction of the last decade. His stories have won five Pushcart Prizes and been reprinted in many anthologies including
The Best American Mystery Stories 2005
. He teaches at St. Louis University where he edits the literary journal
Boulevard
.

M
ICHAEL
C
ARROLL’S
stories have appeared in
Open City, Ontario Review, Boulevard
, and such anthologies as
The New Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories
. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

J
ONATHAN
S
AFRAN
F
OER
is the author of the best-selling novels
Everything Is Illuminated
, which was adapted into a film starring Elijah Wood; and
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
. His short stories have been published in the
New Yorker,
the
Paris Review,
and
Conjunctions
. Foer’s latest book is a work of nonfiction,
Eating Animals
, which was an instant
New York Times
and international best seller. He lives in Brooklyn.

J
EFFREY
F
ORD
is the author of the novels
The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque
,
The Girl in the Glass
, and
The Shadow Year
.
His most recent story collection is
The Drowned Life
.
Ford is the recipient of an Edgar Award, a Nebula, a Shirley Jackson Award, and a World Fantasy Award. He lives in South Jersey and teaches early American literature and writing at Brookdale Community College.

S
HEILA
K
OHLER
is the author of eight novels including
Becoming Jane Eyre
and
Love Child
, and three collections of short stories. Kohler was awarded two O. Henry Awards, an Open Voice, the Smart Family Foundation, a Willa Cather, and an
Antioch Review
Prize. She was a fellow at the Cullman Center and teaches at Bennington and Princeton. A film based on her novel
Cracks
, directed by Jordan and Ridley Scott, debuted in theaters in the spring of 2011.

B
ARRY
N. M
ALZBERG
graduated obscurely in the same Syracuse University class of 1960 of which
New Jersey Noir
’s editor was valedictorian. Less than a decade later, as Malzberg struggled toward modest prominence in science fiction, the valedictorian won the National Book Award in fiction. Not only has she been an inspiration for well over half a century, she’s kept Malzberg humble. Extremely humble.

L
OU
M
ANFREDO
served in the Brooklyn criminal justice system for twenty-five years. His short fiction has appeared in
The Best American Mystery Stories, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine,
and
Brooklyn Noir
. He has authored three novels,
Rizzo’s War, Rizzo’s Fire,
and
Rizzo’s Regards
(forthcoming). Born and raised in Brooklyn, Manfredo and his wife Joanne have lived in New Jersey for many years.

B
RADFORD
M
ORROW
is author of the novels
Come Sunday
,
The Almanac Branch
,
Trinity Fields
,
Giovanni’s Gift
,
Ariel’s Crossing
, and
The Diviner’s Tale
. His anthology,
The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death
, coedited with David Shields, came out in 2011 with W. W. Norton, and a collection of short stories,
The Uninnocent
, is forthcoming from Pegasus Books. Morrow is a professor of literature at Bard College, and lives in New York.