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Ken Bruen, born in Galway in 1951, is the author of The Guards (2001), the highly acclaimed first Jack Taylor novel. He spent twenty-five years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, S.E. Asia and South America. His novel Her Last Call to Louis Mac Niece (1997) is in production for Pilgrim Pictures, his "White Trilogy" has been bought by Channel 4, and The Guards is to be filmed in Ireland by De Facto Films.
Genres: Mystery
Series
Inspector Brant
1. A White Arrest (1998)
2. Taming the Alien (1999)
3. The McDead (2000)
4. Blitz (2002)
5. Vixen (2003)
6. Calibre (2006)
7. Ammunition (2007)
1. A White Arrest (1998)
2. Taming the Alien (1999)
3. The McDead (2000)
4. Blitz (2002)
5. Vixen (2003)
6. Calibre (2006)
7. Ammunition (2007)
Jack Taylor
1. The Guards (2001)
2. The Killing of the Tinkers (2002)
3. The Magdalen Martyrs (2003)
4. The Dramatist (2004)
5. Priest (2006)
6. Cross (2007)
7. Sanctuary (2008)
8. The Devil (2010)
9. Headstone (2011)
10. Purgatory (2013)
11. Green Hell (2015)
12. Emerald Lie (2016)
13. The Ghosts of Galway (2017)
14. In the Galway Silence (2018)
15. Galway Girl (2019)
16. A Galway Epiphany (2020)
The Dead Room (2005)
Jack Taylor: A Mysterious Profile (2022)
1. The Guards (2001)
2. The Killing of the Tinkers (2002)
3. The Magdalen Martyrs (2003)
4. The Dramatist (2004)
5. Priest (2006)
6. Cross (2007)
7. Sanctuary (2008)
8. The Devil (2010)
9. Headstone (2011)
10. Purgatory (2013)
11. Green Hell (2015)
12. Emerald Lie (2016)
13. The Ghosts of Galway (2017)
14. In the Galway Silence (2018)
15. Galway Girl (2019)
16. A Galway Epiphany (2020)
The Dead Room (2005)
Jack Taylor: A Mysterious Profile (2022)
Novels
Shades of Grace (1993)
Martyrs (1994)
Rilke on Black (1996)
The Hackman Blues (1997)
Her Last Call to Louis MacNeice (1998)
London Boulevard (2001)
Dispatching Baudelaire (2004)
American Skin (2006)
Once Were Cops (2008)
Tower (2009) (with Reed Farrel Coleman)
Merrick (2014)
Martyrs (1994)
Rilke on Black (1996)
The Hackman Blues (1997)
Her Last Call to Louis MacNeice (1998)
London Boulevard (2001)
Dispatching Baudelaire (2004)
American Skin (2006)
Once Were Cops (2008)
Tower (2009) (with Reed Farrel Coleman)
Merrick (2014)
Collections
Funeral (1992)
Sherry (1994)
Time of Serena-May and Upon the Third Cross (1995)
A Fifth of Bruen (2006)
Sherry (1994)
Time of Serena-May and Upon the Third Cross (1995)
A Fifth of Bruen (2006)
Chapbooks
Novellas
Series contributed to
Awards
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Ken Bruen recommends
The Trojan Dog (2000)
(Sandra Mahoney Mystery, book 1)
Dorothy Johnston
"The investigator, a mother with all the burdens of modern life, is a terrific creation and achingly real."
Immoral (2005)
(Jonathan Stride, book 1)
Brian Freeman
"One hell of a read, gut-wrenching and exciting."
City for Ransom (2005)
(Alastair Ransom, book 1)
Robert W Walker
"It's the best pairing of a fictional couple in recent memory. Walker takes Caleb Carr territory to a new level. I read it in one sitting. Ransom your soul for this one."
Escape Clause (2006)
(Bill Tasker, book 3)
James O Born
"James O. Born is the future of crime fiction."
Small Crimes (2008)
(Badass Gets Out of Jail, book 1)
Dave Zeltserman
"Unputdownable. Classic noir, dark, funny, shocking and absolutely no compromise. Pure magic of the blackest kind."
Paying for It (2008)
(Gus Dury, book 1)
Tony Black
"One adrenalin-pumped novel... the narrative blasts off the page like a triple malt."
The Fourth Victim (2008)
(Joe Serpe Mystery, book 3)
Tony Spinosa (Reed Farrel Coleman)
"Classic... I was kept on me guessing toes all the way through. Terrific to have Serpe and Healy back in their uneasy alliance."
The Good Son (2008)
(J McNee, book 1)
Russel D McLean
"McLean has all the merits of this brilliant writer [Jean-Patrick Manchette] with the added bonus of a Scottish sense of wit that is like no other."
Total Immunity (2009)
(Harper and Hidalgo FBI, book 1)
Robert Ward
"Burns and blitzes like Ellroy on meth."
The Twelve (2009)
(Jack Lennon Investigation, book 1)
Stuart Neville
"The Ghosts of Belfast is the book when the world finally sits up and goes WOW, the Irish really have taken over the world of crime writing. Stuart Neville is Ireland's answer to Henning Mankell."
Payback (2010)
(Mace and Pylon, book 1)
Mike Nicol
"South Africa joins the hard-boiled stakes, and in a wondrous dazzling humorous novel. Imagine Elroy joining forces with Chester Himes, Coffin Ed, and Gravedigger, throw in the spectacular landscape of South Africa, and you ll get some sense of this wild and daring novel. One prays this is the first in a series if Tom Sharpe wrote mystery, this would be it."
Print the Legend (2010)
(Hector Lassiter, book 8)
Craig McDonald
"Print the Legend is a landmark book. Lassiter for me is the Flashman/Zelig of the new era, but with a ferocious literary knowledge that is worn so lightly. A book beyond genre, stunning."
The Rage (2011)
Gene Kerrigan
"A stunning novel. Naylor is a villain worthy of Elmore leonard in his prime."
Absolute Zero Cool (2011)
Declan Burke
"Absolute Zero Cool is unlike anything else you'll read this year... laugh-out-loud funny... this is writing at its dazzling, cleverest zenith. Think John Fowles, via Paul Auster and Rolling Stone... A feat of extraordinary alchemy."
Piggyback (2012)
Tom Pitts
"Think Don Winslow's Savages meets Christopher Cooke's Robbers and you have the dark read of the year."
The Lost (2013)
(Paula Maguire, book 1)
Claire McGowan
"Claire McGowan is Ireland's answer to Ruth Rendell."
Hunting Shadows (2013)
(DI Ellen Kelly, book 1)
Sheila Bugler
"A tour de force... this is great writing."
The Blood Dimmed Tide (2014)
(W B Yeats, book 1)
Anthony J Quinn
"Quinn blends crime fiction and literature into something truly wondrous and highly entertaining."
The Corpse Role (2015)
(DI Granger, book 1)
Keith Nixon
"Keith Nixon is the fresh voice we so desperately need in these days of dreadful Fifty shades of blandness."
Restoration Heights (2019)
Wil Medearis
"I read Restoration Heights in one sitting and found it absolutely astounding. Loaded with brilliant characters, rich dialogue and beautiful misdirection, this wildly entertaining debut made me want to relocate to Brooklyn and connect with the art world. It’s a portrait of contemporary New York that would have Jay McInerney green with envy. A beautifully assured debut. New York has a new noir poet in Wil Medearis."
Carbon (2019)
Andrew Vachss
"(Carbon) is a stupendous piece of work, a genre-busting masterpiece that is awhole new direction in fiction. As astonishing as it is compulsivelyreadable and as always with Andrew Vachss, the compassion and empathyfor the vulnerable and victimized is heart-wrenching. May be the finestwork yet from the master of the art."
Sometimes People Die (2022)
Simon Stephenson
"Sometimes People Die blew me away and cost me a night's sleep as I read it on tenterhooks. Both a revelatory glimpse into the rigours and strains of medicine and a thrilling piece of entertainment, this astounding novel announces the arrival of a new Michael Crichton for the zeitgeist."
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