Galway Girl by Ken Bruen is the 14th book in the Jack Taylor series—as sharp and sardonic as it is starkly bleak and violent, it shows the master raconteur at his best: lyrical, brutal, and ceaselessly suspenseful. I have long been a fan of Ken Bruen’s writing, particularly his Jack Taylor novels. I will confess…
When reading a book, there’s nothing quite like a pulsating pursuit to get you turning the pages. I’ve always loved the use of the cat-and-mouse chase as a plot device; the moment the tension boils over that sparks the frantic escape, the intense hunt, the heart-stopping near misses, the showdown between the hunter and the…
I didn’t even know who Rory Gallagher was until I got a postcard from Ken Bruen. To my shame, my knowledge of Irish music is limited. I loved the Pogues but didn’t realize Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy came from the Emerald Isle until I should’ve known better. I lived a bizarrely exposed and yet…
The first episode set the tone, the second is setting the speed. Unlike some shows—such as Jack Taylor, which compresses an entire Ken Bruen novel into a 90-minute episode—Hap & Leonard will be more relaxed, expanding Lansdale’s off-kilter, East Texas world and encouraging us to sit down for some sweet tea and Nilla Wafers. And…
RECENTLY FINISHED: Once Were Cops by Ken Bruen. I've been on a bit of a tear with Ken Bruen lately. This was the ninth Bruen novel I've read this year. Granted, Bruen tends to write short novels so it's really only like three “regular” novels, but I love Bruen's stripped-down style so much I feel like…
Purgatory by Ken Bruen is the tenth Jack Taylor crime novel of Galway, Ireland (available November 4, 2013). Ken Bruen’s latest book, Purgatory, starts with a bang—fairly literally—and it’s all downhill from there. Jack Taylor is washed out, washed up, and washed clean. Bounced from the Guards and not really interested in any more private…
Kwik Krimes by Otto Penzler collects flash fiction crime stories told in a thousand words or fewer by over eighty different authors (available August 20, 2013). Even more exciting than the masterfully crafted, high-octane gems contained within Kwik Krimes,the latest anthology from legendary crime fiction aficionado and editor Otto Penzler, is the much-deserved recognition of…
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Here’s the trailer for Blitz, a movie which will come straight to video in the U.S.—though it has already screened in the UK and Turkey— based upon the Ken Bruen novel of the same name. Jason Statham, who must currently be the busiest man in the movies, stars as Bruen series cop Tom Brant and…
As fans of Ken Bruen’s books know, his writing is chock-full of external references. I’m guessing it’s one of the reasons the blurbs on the book jackets occasionally compare him to James Joyce, Irishness aside. Being a former grad student, I figured, why not chase down these references. So, I reread his debut in the…
