“In the open sky above the hushed streets, the moon was a porcelain plate on a black table as I walked home. A breeze raised the collar of my jeans jacket as I sliced through the silvery silence, past unlit buildings and quivering trees and cars idle by the curb. The air felt like glass. I crossed empty corners under the mauve light of overhead lamps.” Night SkyWalking AloneAtmospheric WritingBrooklyn At Night Book:Outerborough Blues: A Brooklyn Mystery Source: Outerborough Blues: A Brooklyn Mystery
“The lady in the liquor store sold me a fifth of whiskey and the landlord’s name without taking her eyes off the book she was reading.” Murder MysteryNoirNoir Fiction Book:Outerborough Blues: A Brooklyn Mystery Source: Outerborough Blues: A Brooklyn Mystery
“Gypsy cabs jostled and honked...Dollar vans lined the sidewalk and people piled in and out. As I walked down the slope, the buildings grew smaller and squalid. Trees vanished...and the heat picked up. Beyond the brick wall of the Navy Yard, the silver skyline of Manhattan glimmered in the distance like a mirage. The industrial remains of the flats were low and decrepit and mostly abandoned, though a few beeping forklifts unloaded trucks here and there. The storefronts were shuttered except for a bank busy with Orthodox Jews. The funk of a chicken processing plant contaminated the air. I walked along the high brick wall that separated the Navy Yard from the street, frequently stepping over pulverized vials that sparkled like jewels on the sidewalk. There was no shade. I blinked away the dust.” Urban Blight1990s New YorkPre Gentrification Brooklyn Book:Outerborough Blues: A Brooklyn Mystery Source: Outerborough Blues: A Brooklyn Mystery