Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir

Goldberg (the Gangsterland quartet) presents a winning anthology of 11 Hanukkah-themed crime stories. Stefanie Leder is perhaps the brightest candle in this menorah: her entry, “Not a Dinner Party Person,” centers on pharmaceutical sales rep Rachel, a proud sociopath whose fraught relationship with her family (“My mother? In an ideal world, the next time I see her would be at her funeral”) leads to an eventful final night of Hanukkah. David L. Ulin is a close second; in his defiantly dark “Shamash,” a New York City man who’s grown weary of caring for his ailing 90-year-old father uses the family menorah to carry out some drastic action. Gabino Iglesias’s “Lighting the Remora,” a tongue-in-cheek caper carried out by small-time crooks who converse in punchy, Pulp Fiction–style banter, also impresses. With their dark hearts and memorable antiheroes, these stories make an entertaining complement to Soho Crime’s Christmas anthology, The Usual Santas. Agent: Jamie Dunham, Dunham Literary. (Oct.)