Review by Booklist Review
On learning that he has three months to live, former PI Jack Taylor says, Least now I never have to read Salman Rushdie. Veteran Bruen readers will sense that something's off with Jack even before the diagnosis comes in: his rants about present-day Ireland, the Catholic Church, and his own failings are muted, almost perfunctory. He's comfortable and happy walking his new Labrador puppy and watching American TV shows like Breaking Bad and The Wire, even opining that the latter is the Great American Novel. Jack has become an old man, his screeds lacking his characteristic splenetic panache. He even seems to be drinking less. But Jack's Galway remains chock-a-block with madness. A serial killer known as the Grammarian is murdering people on the street who use incorrect grammar, then going home for a refreshing DIY electroconvulsive-therapy session. But charming, crazy, murderous Emily/Emerald reappears; she knows the Grammarian and wants him dead. Will this be the final Jack Taylor novel? Bruen aficionados will be eagerly waiting for a second opinion.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brooding thoughts of suicide and loss haunt Jack Taylor in Irish author Bruen's desultory 12th novel featuring the Galway PI and former Garda officer (after 2015's Green Hell). Of course, Jack is also preoccupied with lists of the authors he has been reading, the music he listens to, and the TV shows he binge watches. The main menace this round may be the Grammarian, who kills over gaffes in speech. But a side trip to London puts Jack in the sphere of another criminal with an interest in young children. Series regulars such as the deadly Emily/Emerald and Sergeant Ridge, a former police colleague of Jack's, make the scene, though Galway and its living history trumps the players that strut across the stage. With his easy episodic survey of the moment-to-moment in Jack's life-each sip of Jameson, every walking of the dog, the sudden beatings and murders-Bruen remains on the mountaintop of contemporary Irish noir. Sprightly, elliptical prose is a plus ("the ubiquitous McDonald's bag. In my time, weapons are always delivered thus"). Agent: Lukas Ortiz, Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The 12th entry in Bruen's Jack Taylor series shows the former cop nominally dealing with two cases-the first finds him approached by a devastated and well-connected father to look into the rape and murder of his daughter, while the second involves a serial killer, nicknamed "the Grammarian," who chooses victims based on their poor use of language. Also keeping Jack busy is Emily (Emerald, from Green Hell), and her return has an unsettling impact. Plot is relatively unimportant here, as the first case is wrapped up in the book's first third, and "the Grammarian" is identified before the halfway mark. Rather, this is a long, meandering novel with a worn-out, beaten-down man, who has lost all of his meaningful relationships and given into his demons, finding peace only in the form of his dog and musings on literature and popular culture. Jack is a memorable protagonist, and Bruen fleshes out minor characters to excellent effect. Less successful are the not-quite-credible interludes involving the Grammarian that distract from the narrative of Jack's decline. Verdict Readers unfamiliar with the series probably could start here without confusion but would be better served by reading earlier entries first. Fans of the series will be delighted, although the book ends with questions about where things will go next. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/16; library marketing.]-Julie Elliott, Indiana Univ. Lib., South Bend © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
