If a mutant offspring of Raymond Chandler and Patricia Highsmith had written fortune cookies, the result would be Verse Noir. The original edition, published in 2010, was a minimalist masterpiece. Its 77 brief poems—the shortest was only three words long—delivered concentrated doses of sex, violence, and existential angst. This expanded edition doubles the size of the original collection, adding 76 new poems to the mix. If you are a fan of noir but not of poetry, Verse Noir will make you a fan of noir poetry. This is noir in its purest, distilled form.