American Skin
by Ken Bruen
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 45)
Read in December, 2006
"Cross this bloody river to the other side"
If Ken Bruen isn't the premier writer of noir pulp fiction today, he is certainly the most brutal. "American Skin" is Bruen's latest release, probably his most violent, and quite possibly his best - assuming you have a stomach for carnage and an appreciation for black Irish fatalism.
Yeah, this is darker than black, the nonlinear tale of Steven Blake, a Blake of infamous the Irish Galway Brakes, an ex-soldier and current drif...more
If Ken Bruen isn't the premier writer of noir pulp fiction today, he is certainly the most brutal. "American Skin" is Bruen's latest release, probably his most violent, and quite possibly his best - assuming you have a stomach for carnage and an appreciation for black Irish fatalism.
Yeah, this is darker than black, the nonlinear tale of Steven Blake, a Blake of infamous the Irish Galway Brakes, an ex-soldier and current drif...more
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Read in August, 2008
I wanted to like American Skin much more than I did. Its (black) heart is in the right place, but it badly needs a good editor. The plot develops largely in flashbacks prompted by the free associations of its characters, and these sometimes redundant intrusions prevent the plot from ever gaining the momentum that it should. Perhaps more annoying, though, is the way that the book is slavered in pop-culture references for the sake of pop-culture references. For example, one of the book'...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Crime fans
Wow, was this book ever a downer. Here's my main problem: I love Dennis Lehane's work, because even though there's horrid depraved shit in every book, Patrick Kenzie (the main character) is easy to like, as is Angie, his partner. They're fully-developed characters who we grow to care about. There's no character like that in this book. Stephen Blake is, truthfully, not that interesting. He doesn't do much, and most of what happens to him of note is told in flashback. Dade and Sherry are fa...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
no one really
Just a bunch of Irish miscreants who somehow get together, rob a bank, and shoot each other - in the face. Lots of people getting shot, run off the road into trees, babies thrown from cars, etc. One of the characters makes Cormac McCarthy's evil personified seem like a nancy boy. Would be better if it was black comedy, but unfortunately it seems to try to be serious. Pretty quick read though.
Dropped it from a 2 to a 1 as the ending was stupid.
Dropped it from a 2 to a 1 as the ending was stupid.
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Christina Krieg
While not Bruen's absolute best, American Skin stands out because Bruen steps out.
Not content to amlinger in galway or London, the hardbitten character Bruen has perfected for the last ten years walks that tightrope between American culture and tawdry reality. With locales such as New York City, Las Vegas and Tucson, Bruen tweaks the american mythos with a dangerous, shuddering appreciation.
Not content to amlinger in galway or London, the hardbitten character Bruen has perfected for the last ten years walks that tightrope between American culture and tawdry reality. With locales such as New York City, Las Vegas and Tucson, Bruen tweaks the american mythos with a dangerous, shuddering appreciation.
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