Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge,from Random House/Alibi Press via Netgalley, for review purposes on this blog, No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.
Today's Monday Mystery takes us across to Ireland, only fitting, as we attended an Irish Dance competition this week, and we've got more Irish posts coming this week!
Synopsis:
After much tragedy and violence, Jack Taylor has at long last landed at contentment. Of course, he still knocks back too much Jameson and dabbles in uppers, but he has a new woman in his life, a freshly bought apartment, and little sign of trouble on the horizon. Once again, trouble comes to him, this time in the form of a wealthy Frenchman who wants Jack to investigate the double-murder of his twin sons. Jack is meanwhile roped into looking after his girlfriend’s nine-year-old son, and is in for a shock with the appearance of a character out of his past. The plot is one big chess game and all of the pieces seem to be moving at the behest of one dangerously mysterious player: a vigilante called “Silence,” because he’s the last thing his victims will ever hear.
This is Ken Bruen at his most darkly humorous, his most lovably bleak, as he shows us the meaning behind a proverb of his own design―“the Irish can abide almost anything save silence.”
Review:
Brutal. That's the one word I would use to describe this book. I had not read any of the Jack Taylor series, and this might not have been the one to start with! But it's a tour de force- Galway is as much a character as Jack. The city and its roots frame both Jack's life and the events around him. Add in a game he doesn't know he is in the middle of, and you have a deep mystery wound so tight, you don't think it will ever be solved. But solved it is-in a totally UNEXPECTED, take your breath away way. After the moments of light humor and brilliant sarcasm, there is a gut wrenching "nooooooooo" and the reader has to STOP reading and breathe, before diving back in to see what will happen next. Ultimately it's a fulfilling story, and Bruen is an excellent storyteller.
About the Author:
Ken Bruen received a doctorate in metaphysics, taught English in South Africa, and then became a crime novelist. The critically acclaimed author of twelve previous Jack Taylor novels and The White Trilogy, he is the recipient of two Barry Awards and two Shamus Awards and has twice been a finalist for the Edgar Award. He lives in Galway, Ireland.
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