The Guards

There are a dozen reasons to read anything by Ken Bruen, but the best is this: His books are fun.

Unlike so many self-serious writers, Bruen never forgets that he’s writing for readers. And Bruen’s most compelling creation is Jack Taylor, a washed-up private investigator who always has a sharp comment, even when stuck in a scary situation. I read Bruen and find myself cackling just as often as I gasp.

It’s hard to describe the raw power of The Guards, the first book in the Jack Taylor Series. Bruen writes with ferocity and bloody emotion.

He’s honest too, with no time for explanation or translation. You won’t find a glossary of terms at the back. Either you accept the language and the writing or you toss it away, and I can’t see too many people doing that.

Jack Taylor is thrown out of the Guards for drinking and general misbehaviour and he sets himself up as a booze-fuelled PI. His first job arrives from a lovely woman who disputes her… show more.

More than just a crime novel, this book has the bleak mood of a failed coal mine town in winter. A seat at the bar and the stories you should be sharing with the person next to you, but there is no one there other than the bartender who doesn't like talking. Set in Galway, Ireland, it's a drunkard's tale of redemption and loss.