Yearning for witty repartee and intellectual stimulation? How about wine and hors d'oeuvres? Come join us for our new monthly series, Skylight Salon, where our staff shares their faves from small presses and independent publishers. A modern-day mixer for the literary minded. This month's theme: NOIR/THRILLERS


Darren gives some respect to the Hard Case Crime. Hard Case Crime is dedicated to reviving the vigor and excitement, the suspense and thrills - the sheer entertainment - of the golden age of paperback crime novels, both by bringing back into print the best work of the pulp era and by introducing readers to new work by some of today's most powerful writers and artists.

Monica holds high regard for Bitter Lemon Press. Launched in 2003, Bitter Lemon Press is a London based independent publisher that aims to bring readers high quality thrillers and other contemporary fiction from abroad. They are dedicated to the crime genre and publish dark, sexy and often humorous novels that expose the seamier side of society. To understand a culture you need only examine its crimes.

Justin points the gun at Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard was formed in June 1990 with the acquisition of Black Lizard, a renowned publisher of classic crime fiction that was created by Donald S. Ellis and Barry Gifford. Before the acquisition, Vintage Books was already publishing the work of respected American authors such as Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Raymond Chandler under the Vintage Crime series. With Black Lizard came the literature of Jim Thompson, David Goodis, and other great noir writers of the post World War II era, allowing the formation of one of the preeminent crime publishers in the country.