There's something about the job that leads (fictional) cops and PIs to drink, which is why booze always seems to be a minor character in the genre....
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May 13, 2011
Harmonybites
rated it: 
This is hard-boiled private detective with an Irish lilt--and alcoholic slur. Jack Taylor was once in the Garda Siochana--the Irish police--but self-destructed with the aid of drink. As he himself describes his life and behavior, "I could say it was the booze, but that's not true. There's a self-destruct button in me. I keep returning to it." He does--throughout the book, and the novel is as much about that--in fact more about that--than his investigation of a young teen who seemingly
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Feb 12, 2012
Pamela
rated it: 
I found this book to be
predictable
boring
derivative.
(Insert a random passage from some other mystery novel here.)
The main character is the jaw-dropping original (yeah, right)
alcoholic
lonely
ex-cop.
(Insert lyrics from a random song here.)
The writer's style of using lists is
annoying
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predictable
boring
derivative.
(Insert a random passage from some other mystery novel here.)
The main character is the jaw-dropping original (yeah, right)
alcoholic
lonely
ex-cop.
(Insert lyrics from a random song here.)
The writer's style of using lists is
annoying
More...
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Apr 08, 2008
Brooke
rated it: 
It isn't often that you get to read a book by someone who writes in a completely original manner, yet is still intelligible. Ken Bruen has such an interesting writing style and gets so much across with so few words, that I was kept turning pages just from enjoying his style. That said, the stories are also great in the manner of hard-boiled ex-cop alcoholic down-and-out private eyes. His other book that I have read, The White Trilogy, was a little harder to get into but worthwhile once I was
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Feb 26, 2009
S.D.
rated it:
Jack Taylor is a former Guard on Ireland's police force. It's tough to drag himself away from the bottle long enough to take a case. But he's a bit of a softie and sometimes his curiosity gets the best of him, especially when it seems that somehow the Guards are trying to prevent him from investigating the suicide of a young woman. I usually steer away from the plots involving the theme of the drunk cop or former cop. But there is something about the way Bruen writes that drags you into Tayl
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Dec 08, 2011
Eric_W
rated it: 
Jack Taylor has been kicked out the Gardia and submerged himself into a non-stop series of drinking binges. Making some kind of living as a “person who finds things” -- private eyes being too tinged in Ireland with the suspicion of being an informant, he is approached by Anne Henderson who wants Jack to investigate her daughter Sarah’s ostensible suicide. (“They say you’re good because you have nothing else in your life.”)
A cursory look around has Jack convinced it’s no more than th More...
A cursory look around has Jack convinced it’s no more than th More...
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Aug 29, 2011
Bob
rated it:
For the first time in about 6 months, a book 'hit the wall' -- just could NOT finish it. I got up to page 100 or so out of 300. Didn't like it ... at ALL. I am simply amazed at the glowing positive ratings, wondering 'is there something wrong with me?' Plus, I really don't like giving negative reviews. But this one deserves it, so ... it's getting it!
I suspect the author is playing a little word game here - trying to be as sparse with the writing as is humanly possible. This book is More...
I suspect the author is playing a little word game here - trying to be as sparse with the writing as is humanly possible. This book is More...
Jul 22, 2010
Tim
rated it:
Kicked out of The Guards (the Irish Police force) for habitual drunkenness, Jack Taylor has blundered into becoming an unlicensed private investigator in Galway, in the west of Ireland. Contacted by the mother of a young girl who supposedly killed herself, Jack blunders into a web of danger and intrigue that he is totally unprepared for, as he tries to understand the true nature of the girl's death. This is the first in the Jack Taylor series, one of my favorites, and I am re-reading it in prepa
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Mar 11, 2010
Steve
rated it:
The blurbs on the back of Ken Bruen's novel The Guards are impressive: Boston Teran, James Crumley, and T. Jefferson Parker, who all weigh in with thumbs up. And these are wonderful writers who have written fine books that I really admire. So I'm mystified over their enthusiasm. In contrast, what I found in The Guards was a loosely told story about a drunk cop who pretty much stays that way. Oh, there's a story nibbling around the edges regarding some missing women and the bad men who did them i
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Nov 09, 2009
Mark
rated it:
"There are no private eyes in Ireland. The Irish wouldn't wear it. The concept brushes perilously close to the hated 'informer.'" And yet this Irish booze-noir mystery begins in the standard way: the smoking hot dame seeks ex-Guard Jack Taylor out (in his pub, rather than a Spade & Archer style office as per Amerikay) with tales of her teenage daughter's mysterious suicide. Things get thick and strange, Taylor stumbles about taking and depositing clues (while citing several great obscu
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Sep 23, 2009
The Guards, by Ken Bruen, B-plus, narrated by Jerry O’brien, produced by Isis Publishing, downloaded from audible.com.
Jack Taylor, a former Guard (read cop) has blown his chances at staying in the Guard because of his temper. He takes on work as a private eye, but he calls himself a finder of people and things. He would be good at his job, but he is more and more buried in the bottle. He’s trapped in Galway, Ireland, with no future. Then a beautiful woman walks into the bar and a More...
Jack Taylor, a former Guard (read cop) has blown his chances at staying in the Guard because of his temper. He takes on work as a private eye, but he calls himself a finder of people and things. He would be good at his job, but he is more and more buried in the bottle. He’s trapped in Galway, Ireland, with no future. Then a beautiful woman walks into the bar and a More...
Jan 06, 2009
Marlowe
rated it: 
Ah, Ken Bruen. Some writers plagarise, some writers pay homage, some hint and nod and tip the hat. Ken Bruen's characters just go on about other books all the time, whether it's in-character or not.
Eg, "Have you read Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me? It's really good."
I don't know how he gets away with it. Well, actually I suspect I do. He has very good pacing, and his books are very short, which accentuates this - so despite being in places tired and preten More...
Eg, "Have you read Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me? It's really good."
I don't know how he gets away with it. Well, actually I suspect I do. He has very good pacing, and his books are very short, which accentuates this - so despite being in places tired and preten More...
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Apr 02, 2011
Mark
rated it:
Spare, funny, quick and dark, "The Guards" is a gem. Yes, Jack Taylor's interest in the bottle and his dear Guinness is a bit cliché but Taylor's struggles feel so real, so palpable you have to admire how Bruen pulls this off. "The Guards" skips fast and to me it's a bit of magic how Bruen manages so much depth and yet at the same time the page contains so much white space, so much air. "The Guards" is precious little plot interwoven with the story of a man trying t
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Jul 15, 2009
Bob
rated it:
This was one of the more interesting books I have ever read. As I have stated previousley, Bruen's style is most unique. I found myself initially having to read, then re-read some passages to grasp to meaning. This didn't take long though and I adjusted. For those that read mostly crime/P.I. fiction like me the character has a basic resemblance to Robert Parker's "Jesse Stone" character. I mean very basic. Jake Taylor is a raging alcoholic who used to be a "guard" which
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May 31, 2009
Johnny
rated it:
A good book. By an obviously skilled writer. But flawed in its choices. The book has a great reputation, a Shamus Award Winner, but I don't think I saw what those other readers saw. To me, it was good, not great.
More Bukowski than Chandler. To call this a Private Eye novel is a stretch, as his profession (like his "case") is an afterthought. I liked that aspect of it. To put the genre story on the fringes and to let it be about something else.
But the book was ju More...
More Bukowski than Chandler. To call this a Private Eye novel is a stretch, as his profession (like his "case") is an afterthought. I liked that aspect of it. To put the genre story on the fringes and to let it be about something else.
But the book was ju More...
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Mar 11, 2009
Megan
rated it:
Set in Galway, Ireland, the hero of this dark mystery is a former member of the Guards, or police. After Jack Taylor gets kicked out of the guards for drunkeness (in Ireland no less!), he supports himself with his questionable talents at finding things as a PI. When a woman hires him to investigate the apparent suicide of her daughter, Jack finds a connection between the dead girl and several other recent suicides. The investigation puts him at odd with his former colleagues in the Garda, as he
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May 08, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
A drunk Irish ex-cop. A drunk Irish ex-cop that becomes a private detective. A drunk Irish ex-cop private detective that tries to stop drinking, but he can't. And then there's a murder. But it's a suicide. There's a love interest. Except it doesn't happen - because he can't stop drinking. Plus she's related to the victim/possible suicide/sexually abused woman/girl. Awh fook, the whole bleeding damn thing is confusing. And then, just to make it even more so, there's a priest. His mum. A dead Da.
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Jan 18, 2012
James
rated it:
Well, it is a quick read. Like lightning fast. I did like it. Jack Taylor was great and so were the side characters of Cathy, Sean, Ann, and Padrig.
However, Bruen's writing style is sparse. VERY sparse. Pared down to the barest essential. And the book is VERY Irish, which is not a bad thing, but between the sparseness of the style and the Irishness, there were times I felt like I was missing stuff. I am not a dumb reader, I can keep up, but like I said, in this it felt like I didn't g More...
However, Bruen's writing style is sparse. VERY sparse. Pared down to the barest essential. And the book is VERY Irish, which is not a bad thing, but between the sparseness of the style and the Irishness, there were times I felt like I was missing stuff. I am not a dumb reader, I can keep up, but like I said, in this it felt like I didn't g More...
Jun 25, 2011
Jeff
rated it:
Pretty great Irish noir. He's got a good style--minimalist like latter-day Ellroy but not as abstract, with good Irish wit and pathos mixed in. This is a super quick read--I did it in a couple hours, as opposed to four months for The Wise Man's Fear. Bruen has a whole bunch of novels, but this is first in the "Jack Taylor" series, which, I've been told, is one of his better series. Bruen plays a little bit with standard detective noir elements, but then quickly veers off to focus far
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Sep 05, 2010
Pam
rated it:
Well, I love Ken Bruen. It's all about Jack Taylor and the plot is secondary...but compelling. Morally ambiguous if you call that good guys who act like bad guys, peacekeepers that are vigilantes,with a moral stance not recognized by any religion or philosophical group but only moving to the tune in their head. Jack is usually drunk or on pills...always violent. Irish jargon takes a little time to get use to but well worth the effort. I rip through these books and lines, incidents stick with me.
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Dec 04, 2011
Ed
rated it:
Jack Taylor is the only PI in Ireland. The Irish don't really go in for that PI stuff, too close to snitching. Taylor pretty much has to do it, however, because he is a non-functioning alcoholic who was booted from the Guarda (the national Irish police force) for chronic drunkenness (That would take some doing you would think).
This novel is ostensibly a story of Taylor investigating the "suicide" of the daughter of his client. In fact this story is all about Taylor, his alco More...
This novel is ostensibly a story of Taylor investigating the "suicide" of the daughter of his client. In fact this story is all about Taylor, his alco More...
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Jan 31, 2011
Corky
rated it:
Melancholy Irishman Jack Taylor has been kicked out of Ireland's Garda Siochna for drinking on the job. So he decides to try his hand at PI work to keep him in beer money. When the mother of a young suicide victim asks him to investigate her daughter's death, Taylor discovers that Sarah Henderson isn't the only teenager to take a long walk off a short Galway pier. His search for the perpetrator gets his best friend killed and sets him up for a final betrayal.
Written with an abundanc More...
Written with an abundanc More...
Aug 14, 2009
Matt
rated it:
Read this essentially on the plane. Fast read, fast paced, interesting characters. Some of the twists I saw coming. I read Priest before this, so I had already met Jack Taylor. This was definitely better - you get to learn a little about where he comes from. This was a Private Eye novel, where the case at hand definitely took a back seat to the development of Jack Taylor. Seemingly an after thought. He is definitely a flawed character, which makes him seem real. I will definitely try to
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Aug 08, 2011
Clifdisc
rated it:
This book came highly recommended to me and it did not disappoint.
Jack Taylor is an alcoholic ex-cop in Ireland who uses his experience, connections and bullheadedness to get answers for folks in need. But don't call him a private eye.
Bruen is obviously a fan of the crime genre. Jack Taylor feels like he just stepped out of a David Goodis book but Bruen's style is entirely his own. It's stark, funny and brutal as hell.
Some of the Irish references were lo More...
Jack Taylor is an alcoholic ex-cop in Ireland who uses his experience, connections and bullheadedness to get answers for folks in need. But don't call him a private eye.
Bruen is obviously a fan of the crime genre. Jack Taylor feels like he just stepped out of a David Goodis book but Bruen's style is entirely his own. It's stark, funny and brutal as hell.
Some of the Irish references were lo More...
Feb 04, 2012
Frank
rated it:
This one is like a throw back to the hard-case noir novels of the 40s and 50s but set in Galway, Ireland. The writing is very sparse consisting mostly of dialog making it a very fast read. It was a very dark novel about an ex-Irish Guardsman (policeman) who sort of works as a private investigator. Throughout the book he is fighting alcoholism and his past. He agrees to take the case of a mother who doesn't believe her daughter committed suicide; and along the way, alienates his client and jeopar
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Apr 17, 2009
Ryan
rated it:
Unfortunately I haven't read this series in order so I know of some things that have yet to take place in this one. But it's nice to have a more complete background now. This one wasn't my favorite Jack Taylor novel, but it certainly was one of the fastest ones to read as of yet. Wonderfully written, as always, it really lends itself to ripping right through it.
I've enjoyed all the JT books I've read/heard and will definitely get to them all sooner or later. Actually sooner rathe More...
I've enjoyed all the JT books I've read/heard and will definitely get to them all sooner or later. Actually sooner rathe More...
Oct 22, 2011
Kath
rated it:
I LOVED this book! So glad I discovered Ken Bruen; have the next book in the Jack Taylor series,The Killing of the Tinkers, on hold at my local library. CAN'T WAIT! In the meantime, I'm going to start on London Boulevard which is not part of a series but will still give me my Ken Bruen fix!
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Jan 16, 2012
Brandi
rated it:
I hate writing about style issues, because I always feel like I’m quibbling around the edges of a text, unfairly and to the author’s disadvantage. But when your style is so damn annoying that it becomes a reason to put down that text, I think it warrants open discussion. So Bruen has a habit of writing things out in lists; for example, “Used to excuse everything from
Wife battering
To
Drunk driving” (84).
When I saw this technique on the first page of the book, I thought More...
Wife battering
To
Drunk driving” (84).
When I saw this technique on the first page of the book, I thought More...
Aug 25, 2008
Gary
rated it:
"A twisted mix of grace and savagery"
If the Irish didn't invent the warrior-poet, Ken Bruen is certainly the modern day chronicler of the breed. "The Guards" is another Bruen classic of Irish fatalism, a beautifully written novel of extremes and contradictions told in Bruen's staccato chapters and jarring prose.
Jack Taylor is a retired cop from Galway, a private investigator where, according to Bruen's Taylor, "There are no private eyes in Irela More...
If the Irish didn't invent the warrior-poet, Ken Bruen is certainly the modern day chronicler of the breed. "The Guards" is another Bruen classic of Irish fatalism, a beautifully written novel of extremes and contradictions told in Bruen's staccato chapters and jarring prose.
Jack Taylor is a retired cop from Galway, a private investigator where, according to Bruen's Taylor, "There are no private eyes in Irela More...
Aug 19, 2008
Tony
rated it:
I finally got around to reading this (having first tried Bruen with "Priest" - which I though to be a tad better), and I'm glad I did. This is the first in the Jack Taylor series, and in Taylor, Bruen has managed the neat trick of taking a tired genre archetype, the lonewolf, alcoholic P.I., and bringing a freshness not see since Hammett and Chandler among others birthed the American detective story in the early 20th century. Bruen and Taylor are torch bearers for the American detec
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Mar 05, 2008
Nancy
rated it:
Rarely, if ever, do I give a series opener 5 stars, but I just couldn't help myself. I started this book last night, stayed up way too late and finished it and was totally blown away. What a great book; what a great author. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something different in the mystery field, but with a caution: the plot isn't the central focus here -- it is most definitely the characters, especially that of Jack Taylor, the main character.
Jack Taylor lives in Gal More...
Jack Taylor lives in Gal More...
