Zagreb Noir

Zagreb's noirish underbelly

comes from a new nation familiar with both war and war crimes. Mr. Sršen's handpicked selections are anything but ordinary.

Eastern European history

is filled with noir-ish and harrowing tales, and Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, certainly has its fill. Layers of trauma from its war years, soccer hooliganism, and a shadowy Balkan underground all contribute to the city's transient and inconstant character. Editor Ivan Sršen has curated a diverse, powerful, and dramatic group of stories that offer tremendous insight into the perspectives of contemporary Croatians.

Zagreb Noir features translated stories by

Ivan Vidić, Josip Novakovich, Andrea Žigić-Dolenec, Robert Perišić, Mima Simić, Pero Kvesić, Nada Gašić, Zoran Pilić, Ružica Gašperov, Darko Milošić, Nora Verde, Ivan Sršen, Neven Ušumović, and Darko Macan.

Zagreb, Croatia

its culture and its touchstones will be terra incognita for many U.S. readers. Notable is Nora Verde's She-Warrior, in which a young woman's carefully planned anarchist activities are smacked down by a triple helping of reality.

The stories shed light

on a sickness that stirs within society's boundaries. Readers will easily glean that this sickness is not exclusive to Zagreb. Sršen reveals the ugly truth about human nature that burrows under the surface in war-torn countries.