Description The second Jack Taylor novel, a no-holds-barred noir thriller, a whodunnit with attitude.
“Irish writer Ken Bruen is the finest purveyor of intelligent Brit-noir.” The Big Issue
'There is something strangely compulsive about turning the pages of The Killing of the Tinkers, Bruen's twelfth novel." Sunday Tribune
"The Killing of the Tinkers is not so much a thriller as a raw slice of life." Irish Independent
"Ken Bruen's second Jack Taylor novel upholds his reputation for edgy, intelligent, thriller noirs." Rí Rá Magazine
Publishing News backs Ken Bruen as one of their "Six of the best - independently published authors tipped to succeed".
"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
“An acute and compassionate study of rage and loneliness... a true original.” Irish Independent
Jack Taylor, a disgraced ex-cop in Galway, has slid further down the slope of despair. After a year in London he returns to his home town of Galway with a leather coat and a coke habit. Someone is systematically slaughtering young travellers and dumping their bodies in the city centre. Even in the state he’s in, Jack Taylor has an uncanny ability to know where to look, what questions to ask, and with the aid of an English policeman, apparently solves the case. Now he stands poised on the precipice of the most devastating decision of his career, while at the same time a rare opportunity of real and enduring love also materialises. As with "The Guards", the city of Galway dances, jeers, consoles, threatens, entices, near kills and yet continues to be the ultimate ground of Jack Taylor’s transcendence, all he understands of heaven and hell.
Author 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 highly acclaimed first Jack Taylor novel.
"An elegiac novel of despair and redemption. Bleak, amoral and disturbing, The Guards breaks new ground in the Irish thriller genre, replacing furious fantasy with acute observation of humanfrailty." Irish Independent
The third Jack Taylor novel. Traumatised, bitter and hurting from his last case, Jack has resolved to give up the finding business. However, he owes the local hard man a debt of honour and it appears easy enough: find “the Angel of the Magdalen”.
