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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
 
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)
   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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Chapbooks
   Murder by the Book (2005)
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Novellas and Short Stories
   Callous (2021)
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Series contributed to
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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


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."
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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."
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Under Water (2017)
(Duck Darley, book 1)
Casey Barrett
"Here be the beginnings of a superb series."
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Bay of Martyrs (2017)
Tony Black and Matt Neal
"One Hell of a read."

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