|
Cross: A Novel (Jack Taylor Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Ken Bruen
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $14.37
You Save: $9.58 (40%)
New (25) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $11.00
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 63591
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312341423
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780312341428
ASIN: 0312341423
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, March 2008: In Cross, the sixth book in Ken Bruen's brutal and brilliant Jack Taylor series, the Galway private investigator (think a more tortured and tragic--and Irish--Jack Reacher) is on the hunt for a psychopath, while his surrogate son/mentee, victim of a shooting meant to kill Jack, lies near death in a hospital. Fair warning: even for Bruen fans, this is seriously dark stuff (the killer crucifies one victim and burns another alive), brimming with violence, guilt, and a brooding morality akin to the best of Dennis Lehane. We have been in love with Bruen's sharp, spare prose since first stumbling across The Killing of the Tinkers, and we're certain that his dark, reluctant hero will draw many a hard-boiled fan from the likes of Jim Thompson and James Ellroy, as well new favorites Charlie Huston and Duane Swierczynski. --Daphne Durham
Questions for Ken Bruen Amazon.com: Now that you ve been writing about him for six books, how do you approach a new Jack Taylor novel. Do you think "I'm going to make this darker and grislier than the last?"  Bruen: I mostly think about how I'm going to keep him fresh and interesting and deepen his character, I don't deliberately try to be dark, it's the way he is. Amazon.com: What is the best thing about writing about a character like Jack Taylor? Who would win in a fight, Brant or Taylor? Bruen: He continually surprises me and I get to see how deep the abyss can be. Brant would easily win the fight: Jack would be getting ready and Brant would just instantly take him down. Amazon.com: Clearly you are a big reader, you reference books so often in your novels. What books or authors do you find yourself recommending to readers again and again? Bruen: C.J. Box, Jason Starr, Daniel Woodrell, Megan Abbot, and Vicki Hendricks are among my favorites. Amazon.com: Is there an author or artist you've read or listened to lately whose work surprised or inspired you? Bruen: Elizabeth Zelvin is the light to Jack's dark. Craig McDonald wrote a hell of a debut. Alex Sokoloff scares the living daylights out of me. Louise Ure...she is just poetry in motion. Tom Piccirilli--the man is noir personified. Alan Flynn is going to be huge and find lots of readers outside of Scotland. Amazon.com: If you had to give up books or music for one year which would you give up? Bruen: Music. I can live with silence but...no reading? Shoot me now. Amazon.com: How would you describe your work to someone who has no idea what you do? Bruen: Imagine terrible circumstances that will make you laugh out loud and then want to hang yourself. Best of all, when you're a writer, you can read the work with little effort; it comes over like a chat in your favorite pub. It's like a kick in the head and a blast of Jameson, no ice, with a group of friends who are going to keep you right on the edge. (photo credit: Andrew Downes)
Product Description
Jack Taylor brings death and pain to everyone he loves. His only hope of redemption - his surrogate son, Cody - is lying in the hospital in a coma. At least he still has Ridge, his old friend from the Guards, though theirs is an unorthodox relationship. When she tells him that a boy has been crucified in Galway city, he agrees to help her search for the killer.
Jack's investigations take him to many of his old haunts where he encounters ghosts, both dead and living. Everyone wants something from him, but Jack is not sure he has anything left to give. Maybe he should disappear--pocket his money and get the hell out of Galway like everyone else seems to be doing. But when the sister of the murdered boy is burned to death, Jack decides he must hunt down the killer, if only to administer his own brand of justice.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Exceptional - it doesn't get better than Bruen June 12, 2007
L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
First Sentence: It took them a time to crucify the kid.
There is a lot going on in Jack Taylor's life. He is off the drink; thinking of selling his apartment and moving to the US.
The young man, who became his protegee, and who Jack came to love as a son, is in a coma having taken a gunshot meant for Jack. Now another ex-Guarda, fired for drunkenness, comes asking for work so Jack sets him off on a case of dog-napping. And current Guarda friend, Ridge, asks Jack's help on a case where a young man has been crucified.
Bruen's writing is incomparable. Jack reminds me of a car stuck on the rail tracks with the train coming; you don't want to watch but can't turn away in desperate hope he get off before the train hits. You feel his desperate attempts to improve his situation but life constantly challenges his resolve. No matter what, Jack is one of the most compelling characters I read. Bruen also gives the reader a real sense of being Irish, including the religious, cultural and historic influences on their lives. On the flyleaf of Cross it says "Do not expect to put it down unscathed." As opposed to be usual marketing hype, I'd say that's a true statement for reading any of the Jack Taylor books. They may not be for everyone because of the profanity and violence, but I find them exceptional.
 Irish Coffee March 14, 2008
Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Jack Taylor has gone through a lot in his native Galway, Ireland, causing distress to many as well as himself in the previous five books in the series. In the current novel, he continues to suffer, especially since he maintains his sobriety and contemplates leaving Ireland altogether for the United States.
But first he has to solve some killings and bring justice to the killers. While he wanders around seeking clues, we are treated to the dark corners of Galway and insight into the development of the city and its people. The author's ability to let us look into Taylor's psyche is unique, as is his writing and descriptions. The book is definitely different, but is highly recommended.
Excellent Irish thriller March 15, 2008
Harriet Klausner
4 out of 12 found this review helpful
In Galway detective Jack Taylor feels his past has caught up with him as the years of boozing has wracked his body. A loner due to his alcoholism, he is emotionally shattered when his apprentice Cody was shot when Jack was the intended victim. Jack decides it is time to cross the pond and start anew in America.
While Cody remains in the hospital, Jack's solo friend lesbian Gardai Ridge persuades him to help her on a monstrous series of murders. The first victim was crucified alive followed by the burning at the stake of his sister. Jack's investigation leads him to a grieving twenty year old woman screaming for fire and brimstone against those involved in a hit and run that killed her bible thumping mother.
The Jack Taylor Irish thrillers are some of the most exciting tales on the market, but CROSS may be the best yet as Ken Bruen plays brilliant word games with connotations, denotations, and implications of the title word. The story line is filled with action yet enables the reader to know Jack who personally understands crippling grief as he believes suffering is as Irish as stew.
Harriet Klausner
Noir at its Best March 23, 2008
Neal Bonrud (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Cross is modern noir at its best. Ken Bruen continues the saga of Jack Taylor and picks up right where he left off in Priest. There are no winners in Cross, only survivors. I highly recommend the entire Taylor series which started with The Guards. Mr. Bruen received a well-deserved Edgar nomination for The Guards and has been nominated again for Priest. He has also written several other entertaining books both on his own and in collaboration with Jason Starr. I recommend them all.
Share the pain April 8, 2008
Victor da la Tnalag
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
One of the great writes of our time. He makes you feel the pain and in a strange way it is uplifting. This may be the best of the Taylor series. Taylors world is so ugly that as you read, you wish the guy gets a break.
It almost feels wrong to like a story about a guy so burdened by life.
|
|
|
|
| |
