Had a difficult time connecting with the characters. I may have enjoyed this more had I read previous entries in the series. Definitely a gritty dark mystery well-written for the genre.

The Ghosts of Galway marks Jack Taylor's return from the dead. The last book ended with a suicide attempt, which apparently was not successful. With each book Jack is a little worse for the wear, but with this new entry it seems he has been transported into a different decade. Instead of lists of books Jack has read, The Ghosts of Galway has a list of mountaineering movies he has watched. (Apparently Jack now likes to binge watch box sets). Trump is mentioned a few times but not Thatcher. Jack limits his cigarettes to five a day, and doesn't get in near as many fights.

As usual with the Jack Taylor books, it takes a while for the main plot to get going. This one involves a small group of wanna be anarchists terrorizing the town by leaving animal carcasses around.

Long time fans of the series will be rewarded with appearances by a few of the regular characters, but sadly they all seem to be dying off and Emerald is taking a place in the regular cast.

Ken Bruen is one of my favorite authors and I have read all the Jack Taylor books. I must admit that this book was not my favorite - Jack drags the reader kicking and screaming into modern times. However, Bruen's writing is poetry as always, and I would buy a box of cereal to read the back if he wrote it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Ghosts of Galway is the thirteenth book in Bruen's series. It is a gritty, misty tale that often slips into stream-of-consciousness and reminisces. I was not particularly taken with this novel, but that may be the problem with starting a series after the first dozen books and not knowing the background of the characters. I would also note that it is surprisingly different than the Max & Angela series written with Jason Starr and one should not read this expecting anything like that series.

Read a couple chapters, and just could not get into this one at all, unfortunately.

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Ken Bruen, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

The Ghosts of Galway is the thirteenth novel in the Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen. Jack Taylor is recovering from a mistaken medical diagnosis and a failed suicide attempt. Jack works as night-shift security, but his Ukrainian boss has Jack in mind for off-the-books work. He asks Jack to find The Red Book, which is currently in the possession of a rogue priest who has fled the Vatican. Jack's pursuit of The Red Book leads to familiar faces and mysterious, lethal avenues.

This series should definitely be read in order. It's a good, fast-paced thriller with enough twists and turns to leave you guessing until the very end.

It can be difficult coming into a book series that already has twelve volumes, but to it's credit The Ghosts of Galway works well as a standalone, though I am sure that regular readers who are familiar with the backstory might glean some things that I have missed. Despite being new to the characters my enjoyment of them and their story was not negatively impacted, thanks in a large part to the unobtrusive way in which the author slipped in background details to fill in any possible blanks. The characters are easily one of the best features of the book too, particularly Jack and the enigmatic Emily, and I could see myself reading more of the series, as they really are well drawn, and sufficiently dimensional to warrant more of my time. The plot, which rests on the twin pillars of an ancient religious text and a shadow group of activists known as the Ghosts of the title , moves along at a clipping pace. The writing style also helped to make the story flow, lyrical and almost poetic at times, harsh and almost antagonistic at others.
Unfortunately the book did have some flaws. The first is that there are sudden jumps from place to place and from one perspective to another, and a little better delineation of these transitions would have made it much easier to follow the action. This may be resolved by the time the book is finally published, but in its current form it felt a little jumbled or chaotic. The second flaw is probably more noticeable to me that it might be to some other readers, I found the mangling of some of the Gaelic words and text used in the book disappointing, as they did add a nice touch of authenticity, and a small amount of research would have solved the issue. Similarly a little fact checking would have revealed an error involving the story of a Mayo team- the team in question played gaelic football not hurling. Small errors I know, but ones that could easily have been prevented with minimum effort, and again they may be before publication.
These minor niggles aside, I really enjoyed this atmospheric tale, and look forward to another encounter with Jack Taylor in the near future.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and Mysterious Press for the opportunity to read a digital galley of this novel.

I did what most followers of a certain author will tell you not to do. I began reading Ken Bruen with book thirteen in this series featuring Jack Taylor. And I survived. Actually, not just survived but thrived. Yes, the writing is dark. Everything about this book is dark and at times difficult to read. Jack has gone through some very bad times with some of it his own fault but certainly not all of it. At the beginning of this story he has just learned that he is part of a huge scandal in the Irish medical system because of dire diagnosis errors. He's not in the best of health, but he's not about to die from any of his health issues. So it's back to the cigarettes and the booze but he has learned that moderation won't kill him so Jack Taylor tries to live like most people do. He gets a job as a security guard by fudging a little on his resume and spends time reading everything that catches his interest, taking care of his dog, going to his many favorite pubs and working his job. He's not on the job long before his employer asks to see him and takes him off the clock to do a private job for him. It all starts going pretty horribly wrong from there.

Since this was my first book by this author it took me just a little while before I became comfortable with his writing style; after that the pages of the book seemed to fly by. If you've not read a Jack Taylor book before it is completely true to the environment Jack lives in so there is profanity all over the place. Irish politics play a huge part in the atmosphere, but the political references aren't confined to Ireland. The characters who return from previous novels have deep development, but even a newbie such as I could catch on to the feelings and atmosphere very quickly. Many of the things that take place in this story surprised me because the author has the courage to let them happen. Where the story goes from here, I don't know, and I'm still absorbing what I read so it will take a little time to decide if I want to check out the next book. I have to admit, though, I am intrigued.

Gloriously irreverent ,hugely funny,splendidly violent if I could explain this I would but impossible. Suffice to say I found it wildly enjoyable and recommended!

#13 in the Taylor series and Jack has been put through a lot. Jack is still recovering from the last book but with some good news he takes a legit job as a security guard. that however soon turns into an opportunity to work a side project to retrieve a coveted religious artifact. this brings him into contact with most of his surviving supporting cast including Em and some "ghosts" from his distant past as well. this wouldn't be a Taylor novel without plenty of tragedy and that abounds again in this one. as a reader I am almost numb to the amount of personal hell Jack and his mates are put thru, but events strike very close to home in this one. a good story, lots of action , and great scenes with the supporting crew as only Bruen can tell them. thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early review copy.

After the last book in this series, readers were left wondering if ex-Gardaí Jack Taylor had finally met his match. Jack’s always been his own worst enemy & it looked like years of hard living had finally caught up with him. But very little in Jack’s life ever turns out as planned which is good news for us. He’s back, with dog Storm supervising his recovery.

In the wake of his reprieve, Jack decides to take a stab at “normal” & gets a job as a security guard. But it’s not long before he’s approached by a man offering a whack of cash for a simple job. He’s looking for “The Red Book”, a controversial 9th century text that blasts “The Book of Kells”. Until recently it was hidden at the Vatican. Then a young priest snatched it & ran & rumour has it he’s holed up in Galway. Jack has zero interest in dealing with any clergy but could really use a good payday. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned…again.

Then things get weird(er). Someone is leaving animal carcasses in Eyre Square along with cryptic messages. But this is Galway. If you’re aiming for public shock and/or outrage, you’ll have to get in line behind politicians & those responsible for the water tax.

Jack’s life is further complicated by the return of Emerald, the young woman who first got his attention in “Green Hell”. Em’s always been unstable to say the least. But her tenuous grip on sanity has finally snapped & all her personalities are coming out to play. And some of them seem remarkably well informed about the book Jack is looking for.

As usual, the story is a combination of Jack’s activities & his thoughts on everything from the state of Irish politics to seeing Trump hug Sarah Palin on TV (“to see them embrace in Iowa was to see ignorance & prejudice entwined”.) Social commentary is delivered with his trademark black humour & profanity. But his recent brush with mortality has revealed a more reflective side & we catch glimpses of a lonely man taking a hard look at his life. Quotes from individuals & literature are randomly inserted throughout the book, adding to the author’s stream of consciousness style of prose.

The first half almost lulls you as several plot lines unfold & more characters take the field. Maybe that’s why a sudden act of violence at that point comes as such a shock. The story takes a much darker & deadly serious turn. You realize there’s a showdown coming & some of these characters will not survive. It’s a tough read at times but thinking back over the last couple of books, it feels inevitable & I should have seen it coming.

This is a book for true fans of the series & not one I would recommend as a starting point for a couple of reasons. First, Bruen has a distinctive style of prose that becomes looser & less linear as the series progresses. Second, there is a tremendous amount of back story that informs each book & makes for a richer reading experience if read in order.

The ending is poignant yet oddly cathartic & once again I’m wondering where Jack will turn up next. Just as an aside, two thumbs up to those responsible for the striking cover art.

The book The Ghosts of Galway is a sequel to Jack Taylor's series. If, like me, you have not read the previous twelve books, you will need some time to get used to some of it's special features. For example, Ken Bruen writes in a pretty bare style, often using elliptical sentences, which deprive them of all redundancy. And yet, he left himself plenty of room to cover various actual issues (Brexit, ISIS, Trump, Kardashian Family, Prince and Bowie's Death, Terrorist Attacks in Bataclan Hall etc.), as well as for mentioning various literary and television titles, clarifying the Irish mentality and much more. Although it looks like a very interesting style, it is much more interesting in theory than in practice. But I leave the possibility that it may just take a little longer to fit with this kind of writing so that you can freely immerse yourself in the action. Still, I admit, I did not quite succeed to do that this time.

In the book, of course, we find the main character of the series, Jack Taylor, in a rather unmanageable situation. Jack is recovering from the wrong medical diagnosis, as well as the unsuccessful attempt of suicide. As a former cop he gets a job of a night guard without much effort. He believes the job is indefatigably boring, but necessary. His boss's offering to find The Red Book, a heretic book kept by the Vatican as a great secret, until Frank Miller, the ex-priest stole it. Jack, of course, accepts the offered job and thus enters a rather complex case involving The Galway Ghosts, some kind of suspicious sect, a multitude of bad guys, but also some old Jack's „friends“, like the odd girl Em.

Jack Taylor is a typical anti-hero, so it's not surprising that it's pretty difficult to identify with him. Jack has a weird but amusing sense of humor, and a bit of that famous Irish charm, which I have to admit, I hoped to see to a greater extent in this book. Although we come across stories of different relationships from the past, it seems that Jack has no real friends, and love, same as any other emotion similar to that, are almost non-existent. The most emotional relationships are those with the puppy that follows him and sister Maeva who he occasionally visits.

If Jack Taylor is an anti-hero (and he is), I really do not know what to say about Em. Emily. Emerald. First of all, her relationship with Jack is pretty unclear and all the time it's somewhere between love and hate. Em is some kind of Marvel's female villains or at least that's what I imagine her to be like. She is familiar with everything and leaves her mark everywhere, she is also completely dehumanized and does not follow any rules of common sense and logic. To the very end, she remains a complete enigma.

In short, The Ghosts of Galway is a thriller like none you read before. You will not find too many redundant descriptions in it, and you will need to invest a lot of effort to understand the action or link the roles of particular characters. And it seems that's what Ken Bruen wants and what his fans like. Before the ending there was a big pile of dead bodies, which is not strange for such literature, and Bruen resolved them with such simplicity that I was astonished.

Although I can understand why Bruen's series of novels about Jack Taylor has a large number of fans, I was not completely delighted to read this one. I leave the possibility that it's difficult to understand the author's style when you start from the thirteenth book from the series, but it will take a long time for me to decide to prove that theorem and read the other books. Still, I have to admit, as I look at everything I have noticed and wrote about Bruen's style, I reveal a new dimension of the book I've just read. I'm still far from giving a good grade, but maybe a bit closer to understanding what's so appealing in Jack Taylor's series.

Ou l'on retrouve avec joie un de nos personnages de fiction préférés, en espérant que la traduction en français de ce titre sera bientôt dans les programmes des éditeurs français !

As usual for Bruen a well-written story, characters are again very well written. I look forward to his next installment of this gripping series.

I first became acquainted with Jack Taylor via Acorn TV. If you aren't familiar with the character, you might want to follow that same route, because presented as he is in the novels, he is likely to be a bit off-putting for those of a sensitive nature. Also, if you try to start with this book, you'll be lost.

I also, since I haven't read the previous entries, say whether the disjointed, semi-stream-of-consciousness style of this book is standard. At first, I didn't have a problem with it. However, as I kept reading, it seemed more and more as if much of it was there mostly to pad the story to bring it up to novel length. More than once I found myself thinking "Can we just get on with this, please?"

Jack is definitely a character for those who love anti-heroes, but Mr. Bruen manages him in a way that lets him be as complex as he needs to be without letting him slide overboard into caricature. Jack is who he is, and you can take him or leave him without his giving a damn either way. So, do have a look.

Ghosts of Galway is a mind-numbing trip through Jack Taylor's broken life as he seeks purpose, and possibly redemption. Through a more poetry than prose writing style, we follow Taylor's life shortly after a failed suicide attempt. His brushes with the Church cause both comfort and consternation, while his encounters with the elusive Emily drive him to the edge of madness. Balancing out Emily's bipolar displays of love and hatred is the stalwart Sergeant Ridge, who seems to stand in Taylor's path, but deep down, resonates with a feeling of safety and companionship unrivaled in Taylor's other acquaintances. Taylor's involvement in the fringes of a radical religious-political group take him to the doorstop of both priest and tavern, police and deviant, and ultimately, to the decision to take life or be taken. Ultimately, he finds that his life is not necessarily a reflection of the character of the man, and he is able to appreciate the goodness in both himself, and others...until one last moment threatens to destroy it all.

It was, admittedly, the cover that first piqued my interest. The description sounded like something I might enjoy and I wasn’t wrong with that notion. It did take me a few pages to get into the unique writing style and adjust to the (ahem) colourful language. I don’t have a problem with swear words as per se (on the contrary) but there were loads of those.
It was my first encounter with Jack Taylor and his “verse” but the author managed the balancing act of briefly explaining to new readers who is who and what the dealings with the respective character and Jack had been in the preceding 12 books without boring readers who already knew about it.
Just like the writing itself the storytelling is unique. Where other authors of the genre dwell on building suspense, strew in details and try to lay false trails, Ken Bruen is refreshingly “not sh*t and f*cks given”. That too needs a little getting used too since it was something else. Despite a lack of “building up” the characters get their unique personas even in the brief descriptions and encounters the reader is granted. For more depth I suspect I would have (will have, more likely) to read the entire series – beginning with book #1 called ‘The Guards’.
Jack Taylor probably belongs to the category “love or hate” with nothing in between.
The unique writing, the characters, the swearing and the many deaths (no spoilers hence keeping this rather vague) and the entire lack of keeping somewhat the protocol of police work up or at least the pretence thereof might be major put offs for many but despite my love for protocol and storybuilding, I enjoyed this book immensely.
The things that I didn’t like was the fast pace towards the end. It felt rushed through to get to a quick end before running out of pages (or time?) and at times I would have liked a tad more of what is going on in Jack and the other persons. A few times Ken Bruen seemed to have lost the golden thread and picked up lose ends here and there along the way which made it confusing and took me a moment or two longer to swing back into the narration and keep track of what is going on.
I didn’t expect the hint of X Files vipe at the very end but loved it all the same.
Same goes for the – in my eyes – smart use of news headlines (such as the deaths of David Bowie or Prince or President Cheetos’ run for his current job) to establish a time line and show the reader how much time has passed between events. It helped that those events are still relatively fresh in my memory – a different story for someone who might read the book in a couple of years from now.
Anyway a surprisingly great read I hadn’t expected to be so “on point” with its own narration when I started reading it.

I should mention right off the bat that the publisher was kind enough to send me a digital copy of ‘The Ghosts of Galway’ through Netgalley for review.

I honestly had no expectations when I started reading the book. In fact, I wasn’t even aware that it is the latest in a series of books centred around the character of Jack Taylor, so much so, I’m not entirely clear on his history. Only that he used to be a Guard, and things have been on the downward spiral for a while.

He’s a security guard when the story begins, but the name Jack Taylor apparently still commands respect. His employer sets him on the task of tracking down a rare anti-Biblical book, but things go sideways pretty soon.

The story itself is a rather simple tale of revenge with an odd cult thrown into the mix.

Most of the characters are barely developed, though I suspect it is by design, as we read the story from the point of view of the protagonist. Due to that, we only come to know as much about any character as Jack Taylor cared to share.

The narrative has a thick noir-style to it, with our hardboiled cynic of a protagonist barely even making an effort to pick himself up. He stumbles from folly to folly before feeling enough anger to do something about his life.

I must spend a little more time on the cynical worldview Jack Taylor has. I could easily relate to it, though I suspect it says more about me than it does the character himself.

It is frustrating to see Taylor not give a damn when his world is collapsing about him. In fact, at one point, he suffers a deeply personal tragedy, but so lost is he that he cannot bring himself to do anything about it.

The antagonist of the story, Emily (who fancies emeralds) is a rather complex, unhinged and scary young girl. She has a penchant for dramatic, showy and deliberate violence.

One of Emily's many shocking actions is a straw that broke the camel’s back, and it directly sets up the novel’s conclusion.

And what a brilliant, dark and richly satisfying ending it is, too.

The author pulls no punches. His staccato style of prose makes for lines that are the equivalent of an emotional gut punch. His penchant for breaking sentences up over several lines makes it easier for him to write lines that carry great shock value.

I may be only a recent initiate to the seedy world that Jack Taylor inhabits, but there is little doubt in my mind that this is a world I’m eager to discover from the start.

A solid tale, darkly told.

The Ghosts of Galway is an interesting story told in a most unique way. You could call it author drunk or author stoned or author crazy. But crazy doesn't really describe the writing so much as it does the story. We get a view of the life of one Jack Taylor, a life that is not for me to describe now having seen how author Ken Bruen does it. It's a very unpredictable story, but I did enjoy it, even if at times I thought I was the crazy one. You won't read another novel like it any time soon.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

The description of this book interested me greatly. Though I had a difficult time following the plot line, the writing kept me going. But the characters and their motivations I found unsatisfying and confusing, and felt that the author just didn't give me enough to go on to understand them better.