The Ghosts of Galway (Jack Taylor Series #13)

by Ken Bruen

Overview

An ex-cop chases after a relic and a rogue priest: “They don’t come much tougher than Ken Bruen’s Irish roughneck, Jack Taylor.” —The New York Times Book Review

Jack Taylor is recovering from a mistaken medical diagnosis and a failed suicide attempt. Now that he’s going to live after all, he’s going to need money, so using his ex-Garda credentials he manages to land a job as a night-shift security guard.

But his Ukrainian boss has Jack in mind for a bit of off-the-books work. He wants Jack to find what some claim to be the first true book of heresy, the famously blasphemous “Red Book,” currently in the possession of a rogue priest hiding out in Galway after fleeing a position at the Vatican. Despite Jack’s distaste for priests of any stripe, the money is too good to turn down. Then Em, the many-faced woman who’s had a vise on Jack’s heart and mind for the past two years, reappears and turns out to be entangled with the story of the Red Book, too—leading Jack down ever more mysterious and lethal pathways—in this “dark and often hilarious” series by an author who’s won the Shamus, Macavity, and Barry Awards and been an Edgar Award finalist (Toronto Star).

“Bruen is in top form, and, although everything Taylor touches seems to turn to ash, he embodies such humanity that readers will be unable to resist rooting for him.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The most mannered prose since the glory days of James Ellroy.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802188847
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/26/2020
Series:	Jack Taylor Series , #13
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	928,161
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ken Bruen (b. 1951) is one of the most prominent Irish crime writers of the last two decades. Born in Galway, he spent twenty-five years traveling the world before he began writing in the mid 1990s. As an English teacher, Bruen worked in South Africa, Japan, and South America, where he once spent a short time in a Brazilian jail. He has two long-running series: one starring a disgraced former policeman named Jack Taylor, the other a London police detective named Inspector Brant. Praised for their sharp insight into the darker side of today’s prosperous Ireland, Bruen’s novels are marked by grim atmosphere and clipped prose. Among the best known are his White Trilogy (1998–2000) and The Guards (2001), the Shamus award-winning first novel in the Jack Taylor series. Bruen continues to live and work in Galway.

Read an Excerpt

Up a shabby set of stairs then knocked on 201. It opened almost immediately. Not sure what I was expecting, probably a whiskey refugee and old.

Neither.

Young guy, in his early thirties, long brown hair, bland face, dressed in gray track suit. Then I was falling backward from a punch. He was about to follow through with a kick but I grabbed that and flipped him, then, getting up, I dragged him by his hair into the room, kicked the door shut, said,

“Stay down or I will break your fucking neck.”

The introductions out of the way, I looked round the room.

Bare.

Thomas Merton would have been comfortable with it. I asked,

“Where is the book?”

Up close he didn’t seem as young though maybe being dragged by the hair ages you. He picked himself up, slowly, watching my boots carefully, asked,

“Are you working for the church?“

I nearly laughed but went,

“I represent the private sector.”

He measured me, definitely found me wanting, but decided further tussle was wasted. Said,

“The book is gone.”

So I did what you do with a stubborn priest; I walloped him.

Twice.

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/11/2017
Jack Taylor, Bruen’s perennially tortured protagonist, suffers new levels of angst in his 13th noir outing (after 2016’s The Emerald Lie). Recovering from a failed suicide attempt after a mistaken diagnosis of terminal cancer, Taylor is trying to live the quiet life in Galway, working as a security guard and looking after his dog, Storm. Trouble, however, has a way of finding him. When his boss offers him a job searching for The Red Book, a lost heretical text apparently in the possession of an ex-priest hiding in Ireland, Taylor initially scoffs at the “Dan Brown lite” scheme, but he needs the money and ultimately accepts. Meanwhile, a series of slain animals are found in Galway’s Eyre Square accompanied by cryptic notes left by an ultra–right-wing group that aims to return to an earlier era of conservative religion. When Emily, the chameleonlike sociopath who’s flitted in and out of Jack’s life, turns out to be mixed up in the plot, things get really nasty. Bruen is in top form, and, although everything Taylor touches seems to turn to ash, he embodies such humanity that readers will be unable to resist rooting for him. Agent: Lukas Ortiz, Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Ghosts of Galway:

“[Bruen] writes short, rat-a-tat sentences that suggest a meeting of Samuel Beckett and Ogden Nash . . . For all of Taylor's affectations, his confessions of guilt and regret can be downright lyrical.”—Chicago Tribune

“[A] dark and often hilarious . . . series.”—Toronto Star

“One does not read Ken Bruen to be uplifted and hopeful for humanity. One reads him for the stylistic beauty of his prose and his ability to capture powerful emotion in few words. That is especially true of his latest mystery, The Ghosts of Galway. This is an intense read where the past and the toll this mortal coil takes on the living is the story from the first to the last page . . . Blending pop culture references and a steady pace with the mystery, author Ken Bruen creates an intense and very emotional read. The Ghosts of Galway is a very good book and one you should read.”—Killer Nashville

“Bruen’s prose has the immediacy you would expect from a noir novel. Many people are choosing non-genre fiction to help them deal with the current horrific political reality, but books like The Ghosts of Galway, and noir specifically, should really be at the top of their reading lists. Noir is uniquely capable of responding to the intersections of criminality and politics, of sucking the grime to the surface while pulling the seamy superstructure back down to earth. While Bruen doesn’t offer much hope or solutions, there is nothing fake in his unfiltered vision of our violent world.”—Lucas Spiro, Arts Fuse

“Bruen is in top form, and, although everything Taylor touches seems to turn to ash, he embodies such humanity that readers will be unable to resist rooting for him.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“No one writes like Ken Bruen . . . Brilliantly and darkly told, a sweet mother’s milk that is terminally poisonous but nearly irresistible after one taste. It does not take an especially long time to read, but should be lingered over. Once you are finished, you will want to visit or revisit its predecessors, as the case may be, in order to prepare yourself for the next installment. But be ready to have your skull fractured and your heart broken.”—Bookreporter

“Jack Taylor is easily one of the most compelling protagonists in modern crime fiction.”—BookPage

“Events unfold in the most mannered prose since the glory days of James Ellroy against the distant echoes of Donald Trump's shockingly successful presidential campaign . . . Dispensing with the genre's customary pleasures . . . Bruen still manages to deliver prose that's both tough and elegiac.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Galway is darker than ever here, and the ghosts that haunt Jack—all the people he ever cared for—grow in number.”—Booklist

“Bruen’s visceral writing and anger (at politicians and clergy) brings a fierce, almost surreal intensity to this mad story of a missing heretical book, stolen from the Vatican, that turns up in Galway.”—Metro News (UK), “The killer thrillers: it’s been a great year for crime novels”

Praise for Ken Bruen and the Jack Taylor series:

“Nobody writes like Ken Bruen, with his ear for lilting Irish prose and his taste for the kind of gallows humor heard only at the foot of the gallows. The Emerald Lie is pure Bruen, with its verbal tics, weird typography and unorthodox wordplay.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review, on The Emerald Lie

“Taylor is a classic figure: an ex-cop turned seedy private eye . . . The book’s pleasure comes from listening to Taylor’s eloquent rants, studded with references to songs and books. His voice is wry and bittersweet, but somehow always hopeful.”—Adam Woog, Seattle Times, on Green Hell

“Bruen’s voice is unmistakable: finely chiseled paragraphs that more closely resemble verse than prose . . . Bleaker than David Goodis, colder than Derek Raymond, and funnier and more violent than Richard Stark, Ken Bruen is among the most original and innovative noir voices of the last two decades.”—Los Angeles Review of Books, on Headstone

“One of the most sublime pleasures in crime fiction is reading a new book by Ken Bruen. For almost twenty years now, he’s been delighting mystery and noir audiences with his stunning, poetic books of the shadowy side of life . . . This is real writing, the likes of which we are blessed to behold.”—David J. Montgomery, Strand Magazine, on Purgatory

“No one writes crime novels quite like Ken Bruen . . . I picture Bruen not so much writing as transcribing the words of a sweet fallen angel that are whispered feverishly into his ear.”—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter, on The Emerald Lie

“Bruen gets more done in a paragraph, a word, even a fragment of a word, than most writers get in an entire four-hundred-page doorstop. If his prose was any sharper, your eyeballs would bleed.”—Mystery Scene, on Green Hell

“The Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel.”—Irish Independent, on Green Hell

“Bruen is brilliant.”—Galway Advertiser (Ireland), on The Emerald Lie

From the Publisher

10/01/2017
Following a failed suicide attempt, Bruen's profane Jack Taylor (The Emerald Lie) is down on his luck—as usual—and working as a security guard. His boss offers him a temptingly large sum of money to find a heretical book rumored to be in the possession of a priest hiding in Galway, Ireland, after fleeing the Vatican in Rome. The elusive and captivating Em, who has preoccupied Jack's heart and soul since being introduced in Green Hell, is also entangled in the hunt for The Red Book as the darkness that surrounds Jack threatens to overwhelm him. VERDICT Employing elegantly poetic brevity and exploring religion's dark side, a favored motif, this is another strong addition to Bruen's noirish canon. Jack Taylor is an iconic character, a charming reprobate whose plaintive booze-drenched rants are the perfect vehicle for Bruen's black humor and insights related to pop culture, music, and literature. [See Prepub Alert, 5/7/17.]—ACT

Library Journal

Those who enjoy the lilt of an Irish accent and contemporary Irish prose will enjoy this audiobook. Narrator Gerry O’Brien takes listeners on a wild ride that includes a terrific blend of pop culture, politics, and the search for a mysterious book. After experiencing some issues with a mistaken medical diagnosis, Jack Taylor finds a boring job as a night security guard in Galway. Then he's offered money to find "the book." O'Brien finds a comfortable, gravelly voice for Jack—and for the author’s literary and musical recommendations—and delivers unique tones for a sociopath, crooked cops, and various priests. Fast-paced action, cynical commentary on life, dry humor, and O'Brien's skillful narration add up to a terrific listen. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

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