In truth I liked more the second story, Blood & Stardust, about the witty revenge of a Frankenstein like creature.The Man with No Name was interesting, well built, but not so explanatory and satisfying in the end.

The Heron clan of the Yakuza is tasked with abducting Muzaki, a former professional wrestler. However, Nanashi, loyal member of the Heron and a man with a mysterious past, has his doubts. And Muzaki might have just the answer for him...On the heels of The Croning, nothing but another Laird Barron book would do. Fortunately, I already had this one on my kindle.Man with No Name is part noir, part cosmic horror with emphasis on the noir. In fact, it's mostly a crime book until Muzaki's true nature

3.5/5Fast-paced, violent (slashed throats, exploding eyeballs, general bloodbath), and weird. I liked it, just didn't love it.

Weird, enthralling, and creepy as fuck. An incredible novella.

So, so good. Need another collection soon. These novellas are great, but over far too quick!

There are very few authors out there that can consistently and successfully pull off Lovecraftian horror without it becoming an unoriginal, tired trope of unimaginable, indescribable horrors and old gods with unpronounceable monikers. Laird is head and shoulders above the rest of his peers when it comes to this kind of horror. That being said, “Man With No Name” has significantly less H.P. overtones than some of his past titles, but Laird can’t resist throwing in some crazy cosmic elements, laye...

Nanashi is a gangster with a mysterious, tragic and terrible past, typical of Laird Barron's tough guys. Now he works for the Heron yakuza clan as one of their enforcers. They are sent to collect a professional wrestler who's an "asset" of a rival clan, over some sort of gang dispute. All the characters are described in vivid noir detail, then there is a lot of blood and violence, a femme fatale, and finally, the Barron twist where Nanashi comes face to face with the cold, unfeeling cosmic horro...

I don't know... This may be a bit better than the 3 star rating I give it. It is a fast paced action read with a sort of weird twist. I believe it will hold most action fans.The thing is, it's one of those books I read, laid aside and then just recently picked up again thinking, this sounds interesting.Then of course realized I'd read the book and completely forgotten it. I never followed it up or thought about the story again.So, okay read. I liked it, but it is pretty much so light as to be ra...

Well, this was a treat. Barron's Man with No Name is a novella that fuses Nikkatsu noir with cosmic horror that is more reminiscent of the cinematic nightmares of David Lynch than of you-know-who. Barron's presentation of Yakuza in-fighting feels as authentic as any film directed by Seijun Suzuki or Beat Taskashi, which is to say that the novella exists in its own pocket of reality, one in which time is malleable and the true nature of spirituality is as incomprehensible as it is carnivorous. Ba...

During this entire novella, Barron had me entranced by his writing. His prose is equal parts efficient and deliriously lyrical in this strange crime story about an enforcer for the Heron clan of the Yakuza and his colleagues as they kidnap an ex-celebrity wrestler during a gang war. From the start, I got a sense that this story was not going to be your run-of-the-mill crime thriller, as the author infuses the tale with a sense of existential dread that just gets worse and worse as it goes on. An...

Hmmm. I never thought I'd say this, but I didn't love this novella by my dear Laird Baron. Now don't get me wrong, it was still quite good: the prose is as strong and atmospheric as ever, the sense of dread and weirdness that permeate his stories was present. But I had a hard time keeping track of when we were in reality, a dream-sequence or the underworld, it was all a bit too blurry and I was scratching my head a little by the last page.The story uses Barron's usual elements: a protagonist wit...

The title novella is a blast, full of action and demanding a cinematic adaptation. And then there's the bonus story, "Blood and Stardust," a pure treat, a perfect dessert. Great stuff overall, and well worth picking up. (But someone at JournalStone should give me a call: We need to talk about layout.)

I'm growing really fond of cosmic horror fiction. It's a subtle and ominous genre that has a lot of freedom to explore different angles. Laird Barron's MAN WITH NO NAME is a boundless and introspective noir/horror story that's intricately intertwined in Japanese mythology. Barron's accuracy and economy of language create rich and intoxicating atmosphere that could almost carry the storyline on its own even if there weren't any characters in the novella.The cast of characters in itself is great a...

The book consists of two reprint stories:2014's "Man With No Name" from Centipede Press's "A Mountain Walked"2013's "Blood & Stardust" from Tor's "A Mad Scientists Guide To World Domination"Cover Art and design by Rob Grom

This slim volume contains two exemplary tales by the inimitable Laird Barron. The first, the novella "Man with No Name," is an excellent reminder that nobody captures the mystery and disorientation of being caught up in unknowable supernatural forces like Barron does. Hints of a much larger and more terrifying backstory pepper this tale of a Yakuza enforcer, a popular professional wrestler, and a terrifying excursion into the liminal realm between the worlds of the natural and the supernatural.

Laird Barron is absolutely brilliant and consistently writes stories that are extremely good. This book contains two stories,' Man With No Name' & 'Blood & Stardust'. Both these stories have been published before in anthologies. Man With No Name was published in previous expensive limited edition formats so it is great to see it now available in a format that costs less. For big Laird fans (like me) this edition is another must have for the collection and whilst it isn't my favourite Laird Barro...

This was creepy as hell which is awesome.

Nanashi was born into a life of violence. Delivered from the mean streets by the Heron Clan, he mastered the way of the gun and knife and swiftly ascended through yakuza ranks to become a dreaded enforcer. His latest task? He and an entourage of expert killers are commanded to kidnap Muzaki, a retired world-renowned wrestler under protection of the rival Dragon Syndicate. It should be business as bloody usual for Nanashi and his ruthless brothers in arms, except for the detail that Muzaki posses...

A deliciously compact, mystery steeped, blood drenched novela. NICE!!!!

'It should be business as bloody usual ...' - it definitely wasn't.I loved the writing, the story and the narration is good.