books by Ken Bruen     books:       The Guards: A Novel (Jack Taylor Series)45 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004 Familiar and unique Bruen doesn't reinvent the murder mystery - he just shifts it's phasing and phrasing. Reading this, you're always comfortable with the genre and shaken by the interpretation. If you love murder mysteries, detective novels, or Irish humor, you'll be at home with this book. A quick read, you find yourself slowing so as not to finish too soon. Can't wait to read the next one...slowly...savoring it ...             Slide8 reviews Ken Bruen, Jason Starr Hard Crime Case, 2007 A madcap ride with a one of the world' great sleezeballs, a serial killer, and a real operator Following up where Bust leaves off, Slide is a rollicking good time ride with two of the main protagonists from the first book; Max Fisher, a hustler so driven he hustles himself first, and Angela Petrakos, a VERY calculating accomplice. They are joined by a plethora for characters who are well writ and capture the zeitgeist of a culture shot through with drugs, absolute worship of money, and ...             The Killing of the Tinkers16 reviews Ken Bruen Thorndike Press, 2004 Jack Taylor comes home After an aborted stay in London, Jack Taylor returns to Galway, still an alcoholic, but now also supporting a drug habit. That doesn't stop him from getting involved in attempting to solve a series of murders of tinkers (gypsies) in the area. As part of his fee, Jack gets to stay in decent housing, and his money purchases newer clothing, although he keeps getting them ripped and bloody, and is ...             Bust (Hard Case Crime)18 reviews Ken Bruen, Jason Starr Hard Case Crime, 2006 "Men don't want lunch, they want tits" I found this book to be hysterical. I'm not sure how much you would understand if you weren't acquainted with Irish colloquialisms, which I am, maybe you would. I just laughed out loud every few pages at the relentlessly vulgar nature of all of these characters, conscious and unconsciously, how even the 'classy' ones were still common as muck. beautiful study of hard nut people tested to their ...             The Dramatist: A Novel16 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006 Makes Hell Look Like a Happy Place There is some small injustice in describing Ken Bruen's "The Dramatist" as simply "noir". While all of Bruen's writing is bleak - in-your-face crime fiction with no regard for inane political correctness or modern niceties, "The Dramatist" reads like a chainsaw to the gut - an emotional tour de force that will leave fragments of Bruen's broken prose haunting your subconscious weeks after you've ...             Priest: A Novel (Jack Taylor Series)11 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2008 Irish Noir There is no joy for Jack Taylor. This book is like a train wreck. A glorious , noir train wreck that you wouldn't look away from even if you could. The running dialog inside Jacks head is a fascinating window into the mind of a man that reads voraciously out of a desperate need to mask the pain. An excellent read for the hard boiled fan set.             Once Were Cops: A Novel21 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2008 "Shake Hands with the Devil" There is magic in Ken Bruen's unadorned prose that is not easily identified. But once you've read it, you may wonder why it takes other authors paragraphs to conjure an image that Bruen knocks off in a single line, making it look easy. And once you've read him, you'll never mistake for anyone else in his uncluttered style telling of life on those mean streets outside the pages of "People ...             Damn Near Dead: An Anthology of Geezer Noir7 reviews Duane Swierczynski, Laura Lippman, ... Busted Flush Press, 2006 Black Diamonds What a terrific anthology - kudo's to editor/author Duane Swierczynski for compiling this collection of short stories that define noir - hardboiled gems written with cracked asphalt and broken beer bottles; brown paper bags with cold cash or cheap whiskey or untraceable .38s. I found many of my favorite authors here - Bruen, Burton, Cotterill, Stella, Brewer, Gischler, Doolittle, and of course ...             The Hackman Blues (Bloodlines) (Bloodlines)3 reviews Ken Bruen Do Not Pr, 1998 Brutal and fast-paced thriller Tony Brady is not a nice man, which sets him apart from many crime/thriller/suspense novel protagonists. He's not even particularly likeable. Further, he's manic-depressive, and walks a fine line between being able to exist in the world with the rest of us, and being carted off to the nearest padded room. He is, however, smart and cynical, with a wickedly funny take on the world around him. ...             The Max (Hard Case Crime)8 reviews Ken Bruen, Jason Starr Hard Case Crime, 2008 A giddy masterpiece of warped noir brilliance Take a look at that cover. Try to imagine any possible way that the story inside could live up to that potential. Now imagine that the story inside not only meets that potential, but takes it out for filet mignon and escargot, takes it out dancing, seduces it tenderly and takes it home, then slashes its throat, straps its corpse the roof of the Packard and goes on a cross-country rampage, ...             Blitz (White Trilogy)7 reviews Ken Bruen Do Not Pr, 2003 First-Rate Irish Noir Call it "Irish Noir," "Post-Modern Noir, " or whatever other adjective or descriptive phrase you can come up with; it matters not one bit. There's noir ... and then there's Ken Bruen. Blitz is the sequel to Bruen's The White Trilogy, a series of novels that introduced us to the cops in the South East London squad. A more dysfunctional collection of police officers would be hard to imagine. This ...             Ammunition (Inspector Brant Series)6 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2007 A master of noir Ireland is known for producing some of the greatest writers in Western literature. But few would consider Joyce or Yeats or Shaw to be mystery or crime writers. The prolific Galway writer, Ken Bruen, is an award-winning mystery author who has been called the "Celtic Dashiell Hammett." Bruen is changing the way Americans think about Irish writers by producing some of the best mysteries on the ...             Dogtown / Soultown Mercedes Lambert Stark House Press, 2008 Two gritty noirs let in 1990's L.A. featuring attorney-turned-investigator Whitney Logan and her adopted sidekick Lupe.             The Magdalen Martyrs (Jack Taylor Series)13 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006 Bruen is back After an insipid effort, _The Dramatist_, I was delighted to see Bruen return to the outstanding standard set by _The Guards_ and _London Boulevard_. His writing is not only exquisite and lyrical; the story allows the characters room to develop, even this late in a series of linked novels. _Martyrs_ is outstanding.             Taming the Alien Ken Bruen, Bruen Ken Do-Not Press, 2000             Calibre (Inspector Brant Series)9 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006 Noir as a Blunt Instrument It's impossible to categorize Ken Bruen. His jarring, disjointed chronicles of crime follow no convention, and while his respect for the masters of pulp fiction: McBain Chandler Thompson is faithfully imbedded in his prose, Bruen mimics none of them. His style and his formulae are all his ...             Cross12 reviews Ken Bruen Ulverscroft Large Print, 2008 Keeper of the Celtic Flame Like Galway's cold driving rain blowing horizontal from the North Atlantic, Ken Bruen's prose assaults - relentless, penetrating, no immunity. But just when you're sure he's taken the reader to the limits of despair, Bruen pulls you back in like a Jameson's and a pint of the black. Not that there's any redemption, of course - not in Bruen's vernacular - as you know that your reprieve is ...             Sanctuary1 review Ken Bruen Transworld Ireland, 2008 Brilliant!! First Sentence: Dear Mr. Taylor, Please forgive the formality. Jack Taylor has sold his apartment and is ready to head to the US when his friend, Ridge, announces she has malignant breast cancer, so he stays to help her. He then receives the letter stating two guards, one nun, one judge and a child will die and he is to be witness. His once friend, now enemy, Guarda Superintendent ...             Vixen (Inspector Brant Series)6 reviews Ken Bruen St. Martin's Minotaur, 2005 terrific thriller In London, Desk Sergeant Doyle receives the call about the bomb at the Paradise Cinema just before the explosion. The caller tells to cop to provide $300K or more bombs will ignite. The bomb was amateurish consisting of two sticks of dynamite and a simple timer with no one hurt. The second bomb a few days later proved a bit more sophisticated but still amateurish, but the extortion demand ...             American Skin12 reviews Ken Bruen Brandon / Mount Eagle Publications Ltd, 2008 One Solid Rip This one, in spots, is as brutal as they get. In other spots, it's equally insightful and melancholy. The references come in torrents -- poets, musicians, authors. I've never seen a book reference Rory Gallagher before so Bruen gets extra bonus points for that, right there. The mix of Irish attitude and the harsh American desert southwest, both Tucson and Las Vegas, make this a special read. How ...              search for books alien, american, ammunition, anthology, blitz, bloodlines, blues, brant, calibre, dogtown, dramatist, geezer, guards, hackman, inspector, killing, magdalen, martyrs, novel, priest, sanctuary, series, slide, soultown, taming, taylor, tinkers, trilogy, vixen, white books:    Kindle - Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device This is the future of book reading. I have used it and love it! randomly chosen book: Nannies Maids & More: The Complete Guide for Hiring Household Help we recommend Black Diamonds leave a comment home  impressum - about us