What is a former cop to do when he gets a medical discharge off the force? Become a private investigator, of course. Jack Taylor is one of the best, always was, but his gimpy leg and hearing aid have left him with a thirst for adventure and a bottle of Jameson.
Taylor seems to have annoyed everyone he ever came in contact with, from the clergy and the nuns to his former employers, to the criminals he helped put behind bars, all who seem to go out of their way to great him as maliciously as possible. It’s enough to drive one to drink. This being Galway, Ireland drinking is as much the national sport as curling is.
One of the malfeasant characters that he arrested as a teenager has rousted a small group of hoodlums and preached to them his twisted version of Darwin’s evolutionary theories, one that includes ridding the world, or at least Galway of misfits, retards, gays and parasites. Christening his band of warriors “Headstone,” he leads them on a killing spree. Taylor is not only on the case he is also on the list for extermination and so the plot builds as one by one those in his community are attacked, molested, and killed all in the name of saving the purity of the human species.
Bruen has written a plethora of novels and his style slips easily across the eyes and the tongue. I found myself repeating his dialogue out loud to hear the brogue in which it needs to be read. The technique instantly reminded me of the master of dialogue, Charlie Huston in the form of the paragraphing and I too was drawn to the prose, simple two and three word sentences that just pop on the page.
I was totally entranced with the originality of the plot, the humor, and the grit in this novel of the dark side.
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What is a former cop to do when he gets a medical discharge off the force? Become a private investigator, of course. Jack Taylor is one of the best, always was, but his gimpy leg and hearing aid have left him with a thirst for adventure and a bottle of Jameson.
Taylor seems to have annoyed everyone he ever came in contact with, from the clergy and the nuns to his former employers, to the criminals he helped put behind bars, all who seem to go out of their way to great him as maliciously as possible. It’s enough to drive one to drink. This being Galway, Ireland drinking is as much the national sport as curling is.
One of the malfeasant characters that he arrested as a teenager has rousted a small group of hoodlums and preached to them his twisted version of Darwin’s evolutionary theories, one that includes ridding the world, or at least Galway of misfits, retards, gays and parasites. Christening his band of warriors “Headstone,” he leads them on a killing spree. Taylor is not only on the case he is also on the list for extermination and so the plot builds as one by one those in his community are attacked, molested, and killed all in the name of saving the purity of the human species.
Bruen has written a plethora of novels and his style slips easily across the eyes and the tongue. I found myself repeating his dialogue out loud to hear the brogue in which it needs to be read. The technique instantly reminded me of the master of dialogue, Charlie Huston in the form of the paragraphing and I too was drawn to the prose, simple two and three word sentences that just pop on the page.
I was totally entranced with the originality of the plot, the humor, and the grit in this novel of the dark side.
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One of the few ongoing series that I'm almost up-to-date with is the Jack Taylor one about an Irish private investigator set mostly in Galway. This is the ninth instalment in this violent and hard-hitting sequence of books which sees the protagonist receive almost as much punishment as those he goes up against. Wondrously, the opening of this book sees Jack in a happy place. He'd been to London, met Laura, spent an idyll week in Paris and she was due to visit him in Galway in a few days. But anybody who's been following this series knows that it won't be long before a spanner gets thrown into the works and sure enough it's not long before Jack hears that Father Malachy has been attacked and left in a coma. Soon after a Down's syndrome boy is killed and Jack, along with Ridge and Stewart (the two people he can call friends) receive packages in the mail each of which contains a headstone. Obviously a warning but for what? Jack also gets a new case where he's asked to locate a missing member of a church group who's absconded with rather more than this week's collection plate money. So can Jack solve the case while avoiding the danger from the warning and get ready for the arrival of his new lady friend?

Another fine addition to an already wonderful series. Not one I'd recommend as a starter book if you haven't yet tried Mr. Bruen's work as Jack Taylor is not an easy person to like unless you already know him from earlier adventures. Well worth starting from the beginning with The Guards. The writing style is somewhat unique, using cut-up sentences to form a character's thoughts before they are then put into speech but it's not difficult to get to grips with and the short chapters make for a fast and exciting read. ( )

No one writes a flawed character better that Ken Bruen. Jack Taylor is an alcoholic, pill popping ex Guard in Galway, Ireland. He has a caustic tongue but a heart of gold. His nemesis, Father Malachy, is assaulted and ends up in a coma. Soon after, Jack is assaulted and two of his fingers cut off. Someone is mailing his friends tiny tombstones identical to one Jack had received. He realizes someone is targeting what they consider to be social misfits: Jack’s friends, Ridge and Stewart who are gay; a young man with Downs Syndrome; Jack who is an alcoholic. The attackers have a plan, one that Jack has to figure out before more attacks take place. As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate, Father Gabriel hires him to locate a priest who had taken off with the money belonging to The Brethren. Jack doesn’t trust Gabriel but takes the job anyway. Jack deals with his enemies in ways not for the faint at heart but humor softens the blow to the reader. Bruen offers large dollops of Ireland’s past and present as well as quotes from some of Taylor’s favorite books. As an aside, HEADSTONE has one of the most striking covers I have ever seen. ( )

Ahhhh.....Ken Bruen is simply one of the best. This is dark Irish crime fiction at its best. In these books the plot is immaterial, its all the other stuff that goes on around the plot that holds your interest. The other thing that sets these books apart is that the character suffer very real consequences, that includes the major players. These aren't for the squeamish but god they are good. ( )