His beloved teenage sidekick just took some bullets on his behalf, so he’s got bona fide grief to add to all the other grief that he seems to effortlessly attract, one of which is premature old age. When a teenage boy is crucified and his sister is later immolated in her car, Taylor is asked to investigate by Ridge - an old friend from the force - in order to give her a better shot at promotion. His investigation unravels a vengeance killing that subsequently opened a Pandora’s box of unstoppable malevolence and Bruen cleverly references various snippets from Irish history, culture and folklore that parallel this. The murders and investigation themselves, as well as the murderer, aren’t quite fleshed out enough though, and seem almost incidental to Bruen’s walking tour of an ancient city - and, by extension, country - which have belatedly collided with the modern world. The old strangleholds of religion and poverty are gone, but the hypothesis throughout the novel appears to be that evil is immutable. Bruen has now deservedly established an international reputation, and although Cross dawdles at times, he more than makes up for the lack of pace with tension, atmosphere and humour. – Claire Coughlan
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Nobody Move, This Is A Review: Cross by Ken Bruen
Another outing for disgraced ex-Guard Jack Taylor: he’s on the PI trail in Galway, mainly looking into disappearing dogs, and while he’s off the sauce, he often feels that he might be better back on it. 
His beloved teenage sidekick just took some bullets on his behalf, so he’s got bona fide grief to add to all the other grief that he seems to effortlessly attract, one of which is premature old age. When a teenage boy is crucified and his sister is later immolated in her car, Taylor is asked to investigate by Ridge - an old friend from the force - in order to give her a better shot at promotion. His investigation unravels a vengeance killing that subsequently opened a Pandora’s box of unstoppable malevolence and Bruen cleverly references various snippets from Irish history, culture and folklore that parallel this. The murders and investigation themselves, as well as the murderer, aren’t quite fleshed out enough though, and seem almost incidental to Bruen’s walking tour of an ancient city - and, by extension, country - which have belatedly collided with the modern world. The old strangleholds of religion and poverty are gone, but the hypothesis throughout the novel appears to be that evil is immutable. Bruen has now deservedly established an international reputation, and although Cross dawdles at times, he more than makes up for the lack of pace with tension, atmosphere and humour. – Claire Coughlan
His beloved teenage sidekick just took some bullets on his behalf, so he’s got bona fide grief to add to all the other grief that he seems to effortlessly attract, one of which is premature old age. When a teenage boy is crucified and his sister is later immolated in her car, Taylor is asked to investigate by Ridge - an old friend from the force - in order to give her a better shot at promotion. His investigation unravels a vengeance killing that subsequently opened a Pandora’s box of unstoppable malevolence and Bruen cleverly references various snippets from Irish history, culture and folklore that parallel this. The murders and investigation themselves, as well as the murderer, aren’t quite fleshed out enough though, and seem almost incidental to Bruen’s walking tour of an ancient city - and, by extension, country - which have belatedly collided with the modern world. The old strangleholds of religion and poverty are gone, but the hypothesis throughout the novel appears to be that evil is immutable. Bruen has now deservedly established an international reputation, and although Cross dawdles at times, he more than makes up for the lack of pace with tension, atmosphere and humour. – Claire Coughlan
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Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.
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