Ken Bruen 5: The Killing of the Tinkers

Again, I'm reading Ken Bruen out of order. Which normally would really irk the obsessive order in which I must read an author's books. However, after having a taste of Jack Taylor in The Guards, I was ready for some more. And thus came The Killing of the Tinkers, which I read before Blitz, which was published a year earlier. Oh, well. In this book, Taylor reads voraciously and he actually talks about two of my favorite authors, Lawrence Block and George Pelecanos. Which makes sense, since similar to Block's Matt Scudder character, Taylor is a drunk former cop turned detective with some shady friends. And similar to Pelacanos, Bruen has a film noir writing style that perfectly captures the hip local underground in the place in which he lives, including the drugs that often exist but are rarely written about in mainstream fiction. As I mentioned before, Bruen is an acquired taste. Pelecanos, T. Jefferson Parker and Mark Billingham sing his praises so I know I am in good company as I enjoy the ride. Which, basically is a mystery which involves a social worker and some gypsies. And includes some vicious violence to go along with drunken debauchery. Enough said. (Ken Bruen books and reviews)

Ken Bruen 4: The Guards

Just like beer, Ken Bruen is an acquired taste. My first exposure to Bruen was in The White Trilogy, which featured British detective Brant in three novels: A White Arrest; Taming the Alien; and The McDead. While The Guards was written before The McDead -- and Bruen has written a couple of prior books -- for my purposes, I consider this his fourth book. Anyway, Irish detective Jack Taylor is the focus of this book. A former member of the Irish Guards militia, Taylor takes shit the entire book since there aren't really any private eyes in Ireland. He also has major issues with alcohol and hangs around with some shady characters, which is your standard detective fare. What isn't standard, is the prose of Bruen. Not only are you hit with the Queen's English, but Bruen has a unique writing style in which he sometimes uses poetry. In the middle of a paragraph. Or he makes a list and puts it in the form of poetry. Similar to your first sip of beer, at the start of the novel, you are a little skeptical. But as you continue to read, it starts to make sense. And you find yourself enjoying his quirky style. Not to mention his characters. Bruen is compared to Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos for this reason. Taylor and his criminal friend, Sutton, are both a dichotomy between good and bad, normal and abnormal. And just like Pelecanos, Bruen is a mix between detective fiction and book noir. A literary cocktail worth trying. (Ken Bruen books and reviews)