Therefore I am: The Tale of IG-88 by Kevin J Anderson - Tales of theBounty Hunters

I came to this book from an article in Entertainment Weekly; in it the writer gave five ideas to make the next Star Wars movies better. One of his points was to look to the novels of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

I've always known of the books, and have dipped my toe in, but I've always found it overwhelming. The books span thousands of years back to about 45 years after the last movie (Revenge of the Jedi)

Tales of the Bounty Hunters takes place during the events of The Empire Strikes Back and tells the stories of these five bounty hunters from a scene from the movie. (See the picture below.)

Darth Vader, Dengar, IG-88, Boba Fett, Dossk, and 4-LOM

The Tale of IG-88 was a really fun story about an assassin robot that is making its own moves to take over the galaxy. It ties into the events in the movie perfectly and does a great job of expanding Boba Fett's bad-ass reputation.

Open Mike by James Nolan - New Orleans Noir

The longest story in the book so far, it was also the first straight-up detective story. Set in pre-K French Quarter and back alley dives, our detective searches for answers surrounding the death of a young woman.

The settings were wonderfully seedy, made more interesting by being set in the open mike world of the poetry community.

I thought the author did an excellent job of telling an interesting story with careful touches of humour.

Well worth the read.

The Battling Priests of Corpus Christie by Jervey Tervalon - NewOrleans Noir

Pretty cool story here.

We have two priests; one is a bigot the other a skirt-chasing drunk. Pretty rich territory when you also add a hatred between the two.

The story is told by a young adult girl of mixed race.

I would really like to read this story in a novel-length form. I found the short story less than satisfying because the conflict just resolves itself, in two paragraph0,s away from the narrators' eyes.

Boy, I liked the set up though. I really think the author has a great idea for a cracking read.

Pony Girl by Laura Lippman - New Orleans Noir

Set in pre-Katrina Treme, New Orleans; a young college student joins a second line parade on Mardi Gras day. She is dressed far too provocatively for the neighborhood (if such a thing can be imagined) and attracts the attention of many men including the narrator.

He sees that the girl has attracted the attention of a dangerous man and decides to follow in order to give her some protection.

What follows was a gruesome surprise both to me and the antagonist.

After watching the first season on Treme I could really picture what the parade line is like in the story.

This was very well done. I could have read more. I'll definitely be looking for Lippman's work from now on.

Algiers by David Fulmer - New Orleans Noir

Set in Algiers, New Orleans, 1905.

An enforcer comes into an Algiers tavern to run off a card-cheat who's been making a nuisance of himself.

It read a lot like a western, which, given the year the story is set in, is about right.

It was wonderful. My heart rate went up while reading the final scene.

Schevoski by Olympia Vernon - New Orleans Noir

Set in pre-Katrina New Orleans.

Well, I didn't get this one.

Something about a drunken university student vomiting all over a Magazine Street bar.
Her Russian boyfriend broke up with her.

Was everything real or imagined? I really didn't care.

Part of the problem, for me, is that the author works in the literary side of things and is not a bona fide mystery author. Nothing happens. It's just a navel gazing, self-pitying story about a girl vomiting dramatically.

Thankfully it was short

Scared Rabbit by Tim McLoughlin - New Orleans Noir

Set in pre-Katrina Irish Channel, New Orleans.

We are treated here to a soul-searching story about police corruption.

I loved the quiet desperation of this story.