Down These Mean Streets

NEW FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION STORIES WITH A HARDBOILED NOIR TWIST—FOCUSING ON THE MEAN STREETS OF THE CITY
“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” —Raymond Chandler
Humans have always been fascinated by darkness. Especially the darkness of a city at night, when the black sky is made ever more inky by the pools of illumination dropped under streetlights. We harken to the sound of streetcars in the distance. We are drawn to the garish flash of club signs and marquees. We love the danger of shadowed alleyways, of wealth and poverty living side by side.
We love the city. It’s a part of us.
Whether the mean streets be in an alternate past charmed with dark magic or the dirty alleyways of futuristic crowded space stations, the city—and its darkened streets—will always fascinate us. Here then, an anthology of all new stories of science fiction and fantasy with a hardboiled noir twist that acknowledge that the city is a living, breathing entity . . . and it isn’t always on our side.
Stories by: Laurell K. Hamilton, Larry Correia, Kacey Ezell, Mike Massa, Steve Diamond, Robert E. Hampson, Chris Kennedy, Marisa Wolf, Griffin Barber, Robert Buettner, Hinkley Correia, Casey Moores, Patrick M. Tracy, and Dan Willis.
Cover Art by Dominic Harman
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Hardcover
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
First printing, January 2024
Distributed by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020
Printed in the United States of America
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ISBN-13: 978-1-9821-9312-6 eISBN: 978-1-62579-944-9
Copyright © 2024 by Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell
“Kacey’s Introduction” © 2024 by Kacey Ezell “Larry’s Introduction” © 2024 by Larry Correia “Ophir Chasma” © 2024 by Kacey Ezell “Yokoburi” © 2024 by Hinkley Correia “Empire of Splinters” © 2024 by Mike Massa “The Streets of CirumFrisco” © 2024 by Robert E. Hampson “He Who Dies with the Most Scars” © 2024 by Patrick M. Tracy “Fool’s Gold” © 2024 by Dan Willis “Central After Dark” © 2024 by Casey Moores “Ghosts of Kaskata” © 2024 by Marisa Wolf “A Devil’s Bargain” © 2024 by Steve Diamond “Urban Renewal” © 2024 by Chris Kennedy “1957–The Dark Side of Paradse” © 2024 by Robert Buettner “Breathe” © 2024 by Griffin Barber “It’s Always Sunny in Key West ” © 2024 by Laurell K. Hamilton “Low Mountain” © 2024 by Larry Correia.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original Baen Publishing Enterprises P.O. Box 1403 Riverdale, NY 10471 http://www.baen.com
Electronic version by Baen Books http://www.baen.com
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