Headstone (Jack Taylor Novel), written by Ken Bruen

Headstone (2011) by Ken Bruen is a welcome entry in the Jack Taylor series that first introduced him in The Guards (2004). Jack Taylor is an ex-cop now practicing part-time private investigator. He’s an alcoholic and yes that had something to do with his leaving the Guards. The total of his life experiences between these pages is best described as days filled with binges, black-outs, anger, sorrow and loneliness. He tries to ground himself with his books and music.

What draws me to Ken Bruen’s work is his depiction of modern Ireland, its culture, crime, politics and social injustices, church corruption especially. As the lead protagonist of this series, Jack Taylor is a world-weary, fifty-something loner who’s had to tangle with hoodlums and extremists who are often people of the privileged class.

The group of four labeling/calling themselves “Headstone” are targeting the feeble and disabled. Their background is one of wealth and privilege. The doctrine behind their ethnic cleansing is their misinterpreted, twisted understanding of Charles Darwin’s work to target the weak. A priest, Jack’s chain-smoking nemesis, is beaten and left in a coma. That incident jump starts the wave of random attacks on the frail and the vulnerable. Included/targeted in those attacks are Jack and his two side-kicks Stewart, an ex-drug dealer/ex-convict now practicing Zen and Ban Garda Ridge, a lesbian cop who married a man to move up in her career while struggling with the day-to-day grief she gets from her male colleagues in the Irish police department.

This was a fast and good read. I love the author’s prose style. He’s a poet and tends to write short sentences and phrases and it’s in evidence in here. There are usually several threads going at once within the story and the author sometimes ties them up. One of the sub-threads that was intriguing to me included a priest heading up an organization called “The Brethren” that’s supposed to help clean up the image and restore people’s faith in the church. Yes, Jack did *LOL* at this. The leader of the group, Father Gabriel, approaches Jack and hires him to find a thieving priest. The two men work together but Jack can’t stand him. There’s a bit of a dark twist to this story. Another sub-thread has Jack doing something to help out an acquaintance and the outcome of that had me re-evaluating his character.

Often Ken Bruen will quote/mention works from other crime fiction writers and the recommendations are appreciated. I’m usually stopping and looking these authors up, too. I will admit to not knowing more than half. Also, I don’t know why, but I am often surprised and amused at his constant use of American pop culture (love it) and his liberal use of Gaelic mostly reserved for affection or serious moments. This story like his others is short but he manages to pack a lot of substance/characterizations in here and the denouement ends as usual, in an abrupt way, like the story could have continued on.

There is also a lot more back story about Stewart and Ridge, more on the former being that Stewart no longer sells drugs but invests in head shops that mainly sell drug paraphernalia. Yes, I had to look that one up. All the books in the series are connected but I think Bruen provides enough background information to bring a new reader up to date but I do urge readers to read this series in order. You’ll be the better for it. He effortlessly switches back/forth between third and first person narrative. His prose has some bite and one out of several of my favorite quotes was this one: “The banks will lend you millions but crush you if you owe a paltry sum.” So true.

Ken Bruen novels are set in modern day Ireland. The tone/feel can sometimes be bleak. Often he contrasts the new/old Ireland and laments the old Ireland. His work speaks about people and society overall which is what draws me back to his books. While his own lead protagonist is flawed, he is not without some redeeming qualities. The stories are dark and edgy. You don’t know what to expect in here and nothing is off limits.

There’s an recent interview with Ken Bruen, promoting his new book, that I found interesting about Jack and his many run ins with psychopaths. I mean how can one man sustain so many injuries? To take stock, he has a limp, he has a hearing aid and a new set of teeth. In Headstone, he incurs even more serious injuries. I say enough is enough already. *g* To wrap up, good entry and I look forward to (and fear) the next adventure for Jack. Will he ever be happy? At least in here he was partly happy but as usual, it doesn’t last very long. B+.