Purgatory

Starred review from September 2, 2013
Edgar-finalist Bruen’s excellent 10th Jack Taylor novel (after 2011’s Headstone) finds the Irish PI looking upon the sights of Galway with now-sober if ever-wistful eyes—but a serial killer wants him to come out and play. Signing invitations to Jack as “C33,” the mysterious figure inflicts vigilante justice on other murderers and scumbags. “A Dexter with an Irish lilt... C33 had honed the art of reprisal in the States, an equal killer land of opportunity.” For once, with a possible new woman in his life, Jack isn’t interested, and stays aloof from the crimes, much like a soul lost in purgatory. But when his former drug-dealer friend, Stewart, picks up the challenge, all hell breaks loose. Bruen maintains his trademark hip references and highly poetic style, but fans expecting the usual are in for some shock therapy, as he busts out one series-changing surprise after another. Agent: Lukas Ortiz, Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency.

November 15, 2013
Galway ex-cop Jack Taylor, whose main job these days is keeping himself clean and sober, goes up against a vigilante whose targets richly deserve to die. You might feel sorry for Joseph, the teenager shot off his skateboard, if you didn't know he was dealing dope to kids even younger than him. But no one mourns the passing of Tim Rourke, the accused rapist who'd be rotting in prison instead of the grave if a dewy-eyed social worker's testimony hadn't freed him to meet his maker. Or Peg Ramsay, the moneylender's widow who's been determined to squeeze her clients even harder than her late lamented husband ever did. Or Dolan, the landlord who neglected to make sure all his tenants had made it out of his properties before he burned them down. Jack wouldn't waste a tear on any of these victims if their killer, calling himself C33, weren't sending notes to Jack (The Devil, 2010, etc.) inviting him to join the festivities. Soon enough, Jack and his mates, Zen-spouting entrepreneur Stewart and lesbian Sgt. Ridge Ni Iomaire, are up to their necks in C33's lethal games. The case brings Jack bumping repeatedly against dot-com billionaire Daniel Reardon, with each new collision producing fresh eruptions of bile--is there an angrier narrator in the genre than Jack?--but precious little in the way of plot development, until the obvious suspect gets identified and does a runner, turning Jack from reluctant detective into nemesis, a role that suits him much better. For all the furious energy of Jack's throwaway riffs, the title of this installment, which would have fit most of Bruen's pitch-noir dispatches equally well, isn't the only thing that feels recycled here.

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Starred review from September 15, 2013
Unusually flush, sober, and settled into a new apartment stocked to the gills with books, Jack Taylor is no longer entertaining requests to hunt Galway's disappeared, identify the tormenters of its marginalized, or root out authoritarian abusers. But Jack's reputation as the man who'll deliver some manner of truth and justice stands, and he'll not walk away from Galway's darkness easily. C33, a vigilante killing criminals who have escaped legal justice through technicalities, seems to think Jack is a suitable playmate. Dropping Jack a note about the latest killing, C33 identifies the next mark and signs off with, Your turn. Despite the challenge, Jack hopes to avoid jumping back into the mix and sets his ally Stewart on C33's heels. In the meantime, Jack becomes entangled with Reardon, a crazy surfer mogul snatching up parts of Galway. Throughout, Jack's brutal inner voice shouts dire predictions as his attempts to avoid past mistakes lead to disasters for his friends and a hunt for the killer he's foolishly dismissed. Bruen's storytelling style, a stream-of-consciousness mix of prose and verse, strips away Galway's tourist-board facade and offers a darkly comic social commentary. Jack Taylor tales don't end well; that's just not the life our Jack's living. But Bruen always respects his characters, and they end right. Noir fans will find exactly what they love here. Note to RA librarians looking for links: The BBC series Jack, based on the Jack Taylor series, is now available in the U.S., and it's almost as good as the books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2013

Nine previous titles, a Shamus Award, two feature films, and now this: even as he struggles to maintain his hard-won stability, former cop Jack Taylor must face a vigilante killer wiping out the bad guys of Galway and leaving little missives to Jack signed C 33. Bruen's doctorate in metaphysics adds depth.

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