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Ken Bruen


Ireland (b.1951)

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
 
New and upcoming books
March 2024

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Galway Confidential
(Jack Taylor, book 17)
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)
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Jack Taylor
   1. The Guards (2001)
   2. The Killing of the Tinkers (2002)
   3. The Magdalen Martyrs (2003)
   4. The Dramatist (2004)
   The Dead Room (2005)
   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)
   Jack Taylor: A Mysterious Profile (2022)
   17. Galway Confidential (2024)
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Max and Angela (with Jason Starr)
   1. Bust (2006)
   2. Slide (2007)
   3. The Max (2008)
   4. Pimp (2016)
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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)
   Inherit the Dead (2013) (with others)
   Merrick (2014)
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Collections
   Funeral (1992)
   Sherry (1994)
   Time of Serena-May and Upon the Third Cross (1995)
   A Fifth of Bruen (2006)
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Novellas and Short Stories
   Murder by the Book (2005)
   Callous (2021)
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Ken Bruen recommends
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Small Town Sins (2023)
Ken Jaworowski
"A stunning novel. Think Peter Dexter blended with James Sallis. It is that good and beautifully written. The sort of novel where you want to underline whole passages. I'm going to be pressing this book on those I care about. It restored my joy in the mystery genre."
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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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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."

More recommendations 


Anthologies containing stories by Ken Bruen
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Silent Night, Deadly Night (2016)
Classic Christmas Carols with a Twist of Crime
edited by
Otto Penzler

More anthologies 


Awards
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (2004) : The Guards
Macavity Awards Best Novel nominee (2004) : The Guards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (2004) : The Guards
Anthony Awards Best Novel nominee (2005) : The Killing of the Tinkers
Macavity Awards Best Novel winner (2005) : The Killing of the Tinkers
Barry Awards Best British Crime Novel winner (2007) : Priest
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (2007) : The Dramatist
Anthony Awards Best Paperback original nominee (2008) : Slide
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (2008) : Priest
Anthony Awards Best Paperback original nominee (2010) : Tower
Macavity Awards Best Novel winner (2010) : Tower


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