Colette Bancroft & Authors Ace Atkins and Danny Lopez Present "Tampa Bay Noir"

Join Tampa Bay Times Reviewer and Book Editor Colette Bancroft and guest authors online for a discussion of Tampa Bay Noir, a collection of short stories by Florida authors that takes place in Tampa Bay.

Registration is needed for participation. The Zoom link will be sent one day prior to the event. 

There is no charge for this event, but we would appreciate your purchase of a copy of Tampa Bay Noir here.

About Tampa Bay Noir:

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the book. Brand-new stories by: Michael Connelly, Lori Roy, Ace Atkins, Karen Brown, Tim Dorsey, Lisa Unger, Sterling Watson, Luis Castillo, Sarah Gerard, Danny López, Ladee Hubbard, Gale Massey, Yuly Restrepo Garcés, Eliot Schrefer, and Colette Bancroft.

From the introduction by Collette Bancroft:

Ask most people what the Tampa Bay area is famous for, and they might mention sparkling

beaches and sleek urban centers and contented retirees strolling the golf courses year round. But it’s always had a dark side. Just look at its signature event: a giant pirate parade. Not only does Gasparilla honor the buccaneer traditions of theft, debauchery, and violence; its namesake pirate captain, José Gaspar, is a fake who probably never existed. And if there’s any variety of crime baked into Florida’s history, it’s fraud. From the indigenous residents who supposedly conned Spanish explorers seeking the Fountain of Youth through the rolling cycles of real estate scams that have shaped the Sunshine State for the last century or so, the place is a grifter’s native habitat.

Tampa Bay Noir  Editor Collette Bancroft has been the book editor at the Tampa Bay Times since 2007. In addition to writing reviews and interviewing authors, she directs the annual Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading. She served two terms on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. Bancroft earned degrees in English from the University of South Florida and the University of Florida, and she wishes she had finished her dissertation on the novels of Raymond Chandler.

Ace Atkins has been nominated for every major award in crime fiction, including the Edgar three times, twice for novels about former U.S. Army Ranger Quinn Colson. He has written nine books in the Colson series and continued Robert B. Parker’s iconic Spenser character after Parker’s death in 2010, adding seven best-selling novels in that series. A former newspaper reporter and SEC football player, Ace also writes essays and investigative pieces for several national magazines including Time, Outside and Garden & Gun.

Danny Lopez is a pen name. The author was raised in Mexico, Texas, and Florida. He worked numerous menial jobs before becoming a photojournalist, which allowed him to travel around the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean and meet many of the characters that populate his stories. When he finally decided to get serious about writing, he went back to college for an MFA in creative writing. The Last Breath is the second in the Dexter Vega series.