Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. Ken received the best series award in February 2007 for the Jack Taylor novels from The Crime Writers Association of America. The Dramatist was nominated in March 2007 for a Gumshoe Award for the BEST EUROPEAN CRIME NOVEL of 2006.
Ken Bruen was born in Galway in 1951, where he now lives. After turning down a place at RADA and completing a MA in English he spent twenty-five years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, S.E. Asia and South America.
The Guards, Ken's first Jack Taylor novel was published to glowing reviews in 2001 and has become a international bestseller. It was followed by The Killing of the Tinkers, The Magdalen
Martyrs and The Dramatist.
THE BREAKTHROUGH SERIES BY THE IRISH MASTER OF NOIR
“Collectively, the Jack Taylor novels are Bruen's masterwork, and The Dramatist is the darkest and most profound installment of the series to date.” This Week
"Ken Bruen is hard to resist, with his aching Irish heart, silvery tongue and bleak noir sensibility – all on display in The Dramatist.... Bruen... writes with extraordinary delicacy about a man driven to acts of violence out of wild grief and a fierce sense of guilt." The New York Times
"[D]eserving of five stars is Ken Bruen's The Dramatist... This is the fourth outing for the failed cop, and probably the best since The Guards." Time Out
"What is so fascinating about Ken Bruen's latest book is its layered lines of narrative: the life and (failed) loves of Jack Taylor and the seamier side of life in the cosmopolitan city of Galway, all set against events in the past, and in the world at large." What's on in London
Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. Ken received the best series award in February 2007 for the Jack Taylor novels from The Crime Writers Association of America. The Dramatist was nominated in March 2007 for a Gumshoe Award for the BEST EUROPEAN CRIME NOVEL of 2006.
THE BREAKTHROUGH SERIES BY THE IRISH MASTER OF NOIR
“Collectively, the Jack Taylor novels are Bruen’s masterwork.” This Week
“With his second Jack Taylor novel, Irish author Bruen confirms his rightful place among the finest noir stylists of his generation.” Publisher’s Weekly
"Anything by the Irish writer Ken Bruen is well worth checking out." Sunday Independent
"Ken Bruen's second Jack Taylor novel is fast-moving and immensely readable." Irish Emigrant
“Edgy, pitch-black humour.” Guardian
“A masterful black novel, full of unforgettable characters and a never dissipating cloud of menace that mirrors the persistent Galway rain, coming down hard on all concerned.” Bizarre
Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. Ken received the best series award in February 2007 for the Jack Taylor novels from The Crime Writers Association of America. The Dramatist was nominated in March 2007 for a Gumshoe Award for the BEST EUROPEAN CRIME NOVEL of 2006.
THE BREAKTHROUGH SERIES BY THE IRISH MASTER OF NOIR
“Collectively, the Jack Taylor novels are Bruen’s masterwork.” This Week
“With his second Jack Taylor novel, Irish author Bruen confirms his rightful place among the finest noir stylists of his generation.” Publisher’s Weekly
"Anything by the Irish writer Ken Bruen is well worth checking out." Sunday Independent
"Ken Bruen's second Jack Taylor novel is fast-moving and immensely readable." Irish Emigrant
“Edgy, pitch-black humour.” Guardian
“A masterful black novel, full of unforgettable characters and a never dissipating cloud of menace that mirrors the persistent Galway rain, coming down hard on all concerned.” Bizarre
Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. Ken received the best series award in February 2007 for the Jack Taylor novels from The Crime Writers Association of America. The Dramatist was nominated in March 2007 for a Gumshoe Award for the BEST EUROPEAN CRIME NOVEL of 2006.
THE BREAKTHROUGH SERIES BY THE IRISH MASTER OF NOIR
“Collectively, the Jack Taylor novels are Bruen’s masterwork.” This Week
“Bleak, unsettling and unmistakably original, Bruen seems to be alone in writing entertaining Irish noir.” Time Out
“Irish writer Ken Bruen is the finest purveyor of intelligent Brit-noir.” The Big Issue
Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. Ken received the best series award in February 2007 for the Jack Taylor novels from The Crime Writers Association of America. The Dramatist was nominated in March 2007 for a Gumshoe Award for the BEST EUROPEAN CRIME NOVEL of 2006.
“IRELAND’S VERSION OF SCOTLAND’S IAN RANKIN.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“By turns hard-boiled, sentimental, and lurid, this is Irish novelist Bruen's enthralling valentine to America's heart of noir.” Entertainment Weekly
“Ken Bruen’s artfully violent and distinctly human voice is in full effect with American Skin. There are few crime novelists today who write with such passion and bravado.” George Pelecanos
“A dark, hilarious nightmare of a book that stretches genres and concepts... This is a significant work loaded with memorable characters, electrifying incidents and walking nightmares. Very highly recommended.” Bookreporter.com
“Irish author Bruen tells a story that's exquisitely circuitous. All the brooding characters wind up in Tucson. It's here that the mayhem reaches its climax but with plenty of guarantees it won't end there. In Skin, evil always has the upper hand.” USA Today
“Ken Bruen's biggest, boldest, most sweeping and heartfelt novel yet.” C. J. Box
“Noir master Bruen (The Guards) effortlessly moves his story line back and forth in time, all his trademark pop culture references in place, the banshee of existential agony wailing loud.” Publishers Weekly
