About the Author

Ken Bruen has been a finalist for the Edgar and Anthony Awards, and has won a Macavity Award, a Barry Award, and two Shamus Awards for the Jack Taylor series. He is also the author of the Inspector Brant series. Several of Bruen's novels have been adapted for the screen: The first six Jack Taylor novels were adapted into a television series starring Iain Glen; Blitz was adapted into a movie starring Jason Statham; and London Boulevard was adapted into a film starring Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley. Bruen lives in Galway, Ireland.

Reviews

"Readers will appreciate Bruen's trademark stripped-down noir poetry, his superbly rendered sense of place and his evocative portrait of a person balanced on the razor's edge." --Publishers Weekly "Even with an alcoholic's penchant for violence and manipulation, Taylor is a deeply compassionate man with a strong sense of humanity and justice. Bruen, who never wastes a word, combines a superb crime novel with a serious cautionary tale, told with unnerving, crystalline precision." --Portland Oregonian "A relentlessly dark yet never dreary series. An array of good writers, from Ralph W. Emerson to George P. Pelecanos, are quoted throughout. It's a class of writer that includes Bruen himself." --Kirkus Reviews "This third entry in Bruen's Jack Taylor series is arguably the bleakest to date, but also the best. Completely compelling....One of the best current crime series." --Library Journal "Fans of Roddy Doyle, James Sallis, Samuel Beckett, Irvine Welsh, Frederick Exley, Patrick McCabe, George Pelecanos, Ian Rankin, and Chuch Palahniuk will all find something to like, love, or obsess over in this stiff shot of evil chased with heart-breaking irony. Highly recommended." --Booklist (starred review) "Raw and fiercely funny. [Jack] Taylor's not much of a detective and he's a mess of a human being, but he's also fabulous company." --Seattle Times

This third entry in Bruen's Jack Taylor series (The Killing of the Tinkers) is arguably the bleakest to date, but also the best. When a local thug hires Jack to track down a woman, it seems like an easy way to repay an outstanding debt. Not until he's in too deep does Taylor realize that it's not a simple identity trace, and that his client may have been playing him all along. While flashbacks in time are kept to a minimum, it's clear that Jack's search is somehow related to events that happened decades ago at a home for wayward girls. Jack juggles his search with another case, one in which he becomes involved with the woman he's hired to investigate. Jack is often a hard man to like, and he spends a great deal of the book hitting potholes on his meandering path to redemption. For all that, he remains completely compelling, and Bruen continues one of the best current crime series. Recommended for most public libraries. Bruen lives in Galway, Ireland.-Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Oxford, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

"Readers will appreciate Bruen's trademark stripped-down noir poetry, his superbly rendered sense of place and his evocative portrait of a person balanced on the razor's edge." --Publishers Weekly "Even with an alcoholic's penchant for violence and manipulation, Taylor is a deeply compassionate man with a strong sense of humanity and justice. Bruen, who never wastes a word, combines a superb crime novel with a serious cautionary tale, told with unnerving, crystalline precision." --Portland Oregonian "A relentlessly dark yet never dreary series. An array of good writers, from Ralph W. Emerson to George P. Pelecanos, are quoted throughout. It's a class of writer that includes Bruen himself." --Kirkus Reviews "This third entry in Bruen's Jack Taylor series is arguably the bleakest to date, but also the best. Completely compelling....One of the best current crime series." --Library Journal "Fans of Roddy Doyle, James Sallis, Samuel Beckett, Irvine Welsh, Frederick Exley, Patrick McCabe, George Pelecanos, Ian Rankin, and Chuch Palahniuk will all find something to like, love, or obsess over in this stiff shot of evil chased with heart-breaking irony. Highly recommended." --Booklist (starred review) "Raw and fiercely funny. [Jack] Taylor's not much of a detective and he's a mess of a human being, but he's also fabulous company." --Seattle Times