We lost Ken Bruen recently, which is sad. He brought me many great reading hours. I have read several of the wonderful Jack Taylor novels, They all are imbued with great dialogue, poetry, action, angst, Ireland, literary and musical references, quirky characters.
In a word, they are all special. But THE DRAMATIST is my favorite.
Jack Taylor is newly sober in this entry in the series and finding it a chore. Bruen turns the heat up by placing Jack in harm's way in a number of ways. Taylor finds it especially hard to keep things on an even keel when his ex-drug-dealer, now in jail, asks him to find the murderer of his daughter. He also becomes involved with an old lover and her scary husband, a vigilante group, and the usual assortment of Bruen characters and temptations.
Bruen's books are outstanding because of the fully-realized life he invests Taylor with. Oh, and the plots are great, too. But he generously allows you to enter into Jack Taylor's world in a way few authors pull off. You know him. You root for him.
The end of this book will send you over the edge. I guarantee it. I am not much for crying but this one made me bawl.
8 comments:
Yeah, Bruen was great. I've read all the Jack Taylor books as well as the Brants and some others. I'm glad I got to tell him at a Bouchercon how much I enjoyed his books.
Apparently he mentioned me in one of his novels-as he mentioned many starting writers. Quite a thrill but I can't remember which one. Also he gave me a blurb for my story collections. A lot of heart as had Bill and Ed.
Bruen is definitely much missed, Patti. And you're right; he does invite the reader to really be a part of Jack Taylor's life, so that you care what happens to him. I do like the Galway setting, too.
Condolences to all who knew him; the Dramatist, indeed (at least in terms of making his fiction come alive). I seem to recall him being very gregarious, or at least very much sought out, at the one Bouchercon I've made it to thus far...you think you mentioned being cited on the blog here at time of discovery?
I recently read the 2nd book in the Jack Taylor series, and it was an excellent read, although dark and sad. Since The Dramatist is the 4th book, I should be getting to it soon (relatively). I love the references to reading and books throughout his novels.
He was unique. And the Jack Taylor series on TV was pretty good.
In checking my book lists, I see that I have either owned or read about 20 books by Bruen. While I liked most of the early books in the Jack Taylor series, I have found some of the more recent ones not as good. Have a couple of more in my to-be-read pile. Did anyone watch the Taylor TV series?
Kent--Patti recs the TV series in the comment before yours.
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