Sadly,
I may be coming to the end for this series. I don't mind that I don't like Jack but I really don't like much of anyone else either. Sometimes the books are just too bleek even for me. I am also pretty much done with the character Emily. He is a brilliant writer but it might not be for me any longer. I will try one more. ( )

*** This is a review of an uncorrected proof copy. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to do a pre-publication review. ***

The Ghosts of Galway is the latest instalment in Bruen's Jack Taylor series. At the outset Jack is in a right state, following a failed suicide attempt. Amid considerable self-loathing and ongoing pain, he takes a job as a security guard. His reputation precedes him, however, and he is soon summoned by the boss to take on a more lucrative job, recovering a missing religious text: the Red Book.

Jack makes snippy references to Dan Brown, but still takes the gig. In the process, he soon finds himself involved with Jeremy, the leader of a nascent cult, and with Emerald, a ruthless woman prepared to stoop to almost anything.

Emerald reminded me a bit of Alice from the Luther TV series; both appalling and attractive at the same time. She's a complex and distinctive character, and a perfect foil for Taylor's surly, alcohol-fuelled PI. Neither is to be under-estimated, and both are implacable.

I enjoyed the prose in this book, with its blend of a very hard-boiled narrative with almost poetic strings of short sentences. It is a bit circumlocutory (perhaps intentionally?) at times, for example we are introduced to the character of Sister Maeve in almost the same terms, three times.

I'm a bit late to the party with this series, picking it up at instalment 14. I sensed that there might be plot twists here that I could be missing due to not having read earlier entries in the series. This wasn't a problem, but it has whetted my appetite for going back and reading the earlier books. ( )

I didn't care for the authors' writing style. It was very ADHD. The author jumps from topic to topic and didn't develop the characters in any depth. He unnecessarily name drops a bunch of book, and movie titles and the names of many different types of alcohol that do nothing to enhance the story. I know there is a story there but the way it was written made it difficult to follow the story line. ( )

Jack has taken a job as a security guard and his Ukrainian boss with the unlikely name of Alexander Knox-Keaton wants to see him. He wants Jack to find a legendary book for him. The Red Book is a blasphemous text that has been stolen from the Vatican archives by a priest purported to be hiding out in Galway. Jack is not the only one after the book as there’s a new gang in town known as Ghosts who are trying to get noticed and it seems like they’re interested as well. The enmity between Ridge and Emerald finally comes to a head and you know that’s not going to end well for at least one of them.

The latest three books in the series seem to have more socio & political comment than previous with the Irish government’s introduction of the water tax receiving particularly harsh treatment but there’s also an eye cast across the Atlantic as well. All the usual hallmarks of the series are contained in this volume and it continues to be a joy to read. ( )

If you don't read Ken Bruen, do yourself a favor and start. He's easily one of my favorites and this book is among his best.

With Bruen outlining the plot is almost needless because it's what he writes between the plot that makes the book. Suffice it to say that once again protagonist Jack Taylor faces a number of challenges as character that belong in an asylum weave in and out of his life.

These books are talk, but come with a sense of Irish humor. I can't recommend them enough. ( )