Zagreb Noir edited by Ivan Sršen

This is a collection of short stories about Croatia.  These aren't pleasant stories but they do have the flavor of what the country and its people are like.

Akashic Books sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published.

My grandparents immigrated to the US from either Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia depending on which relative you asked.  Their birth certificates were kept at Zagreb.  When I tried to get a copy of them, I was told that the courthouse that held the records was burnt down during the wars there and those records no longer existed.  It doesn't appear things have gotten much better.

Featuring brand-new stories translated from Croatian by: Ivan Vidic, Josip Novakovich, Andrea Žigic-Dolenec, Robert Perišic, Mima Simic, Pero Kavesic, Nada Gašic, Zoran Pilic, Ružica Gašperov, Darko Milošic, Nora Verde, Ivan Sršen, Neven Ušumovic, and Darko Macan.

There's a lot of sex, death and despair in these stories.   My grandparents came to the states to get away from tyranny.  These modern stories give me no reason to go visit the area.  They do, however, keep your attention and keep you reading as you wonder just how true they are.  Is it really that bad over there or are these just stories?