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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Ken Bruen's writing style is no different than great rock and roll. His sentences are short. He's clearly well read. He's elegant. He stuffs a load and a half into each brief but enduring heartwrench. |
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“My Rating: 4.2/5
StormnAngel1 wrote this review Friday, June 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The dialogue is fast. Events and surprising details jump out at me and sometimes I have to re-read making sure I've got the meaning. Brilliant.”
“Dark, dark protagonist with serious self-destructive addictions. He bungles his investigation (I use the term investigation loosely). While well written in a stacatto style, it's difficult to deal about the lost hours and days and damaged relationships surrounding Jack Taylor. To wit: "In London, I tended to hang with the fallen. My aura of eroding decay was a beacon to those travellers of the road less survived. The drunks, dopers, cons, losers, dead angels. Come to me, all ye who are lost, and I'll give you identification." Taylor references Raymond Chandler in an essay, "The Simple Art of Murder", discussing the modern detective: "He is a lonely man and his pride is that you will treat him as a proud man or be very sorry you ever saw him." Lots of musical references: Phil Ochs, Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin, Dylan. Johnny Duhan's album Flame...perfect for Taylor's fragmented state.”
Suzy P wrote this review Tuesday, May 3, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Jack Taylor has returned from London and has managed to make even more of a mess out of his life than he had in The Guards. If you are not aware the books are a fast quick read with lots of humor and yet there is some heart wrenching stuff in here as well. The books are about a substance abuser disguised as detective novels. In this one Jack Taylor, a former cop who lives in Galway Ireland is hired by a head Tinker (gypsy) to investigate the recent rash of Tinker murders.
Jason Y wrote this review Wednesday, November 9, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
As with The Guards Jack spends little time doing what he is paid for and instead drinks heavily and ruins relationships. Tinkers is another very strong addition to the Jack Taylor series and is about as good as the original. Be aware however that while there is a lot of humor to be found in these books they are not happy stories or neatly tied up at the end. Death and sorrow abound where ever Jack Taylor goes and this book is no different. I'd very strongly suggest people give this series a try starting with The Guards.
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“Not one of the best Jack Taylor novels, very little plot, but I still enjoy Bruen's style.”
Kevin L wrote this review Saturday, April 10, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I must admit that I enjoyed this book much more than _Priest_. This one was much more about the plot - and while the characters were still strong, it made for a much better book, albeit less humourous, than _Priest_. This out-of-order reading is still driving me nuts though! [This is the 2nd book in the Jack Taylor series]”
Victoria K wrote this review Wednesday, February 10, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Not quite as good as The Guards or The Magdalen Martyrs, but still very, very good. Bruen can write like a demon. ”
Mark wrote this review Friday, November 7, 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Ken Bruen's writing style is no different than great rock and roll. His sentences are short. He's clearly well read. He's elegant. He stuffs a load and a half into each brief but enduring heartwrench.
Ben B wrote this review Friday, July 25, 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The Killing of the Tinkers continues the disastrous 'adventures' of private investigator Jack Taylor, a downward spiral type who makes the already-dead look inexperienced.
But his wit stabs through his sphere of problems, and with a vengeful speed that's not beyond the option of killing a few bad guys, Taylor makes things work.
The story is what it is, and Bruen says you can take it or leave it. But his way of telling it is what makes him the best crime writer in the world right now.
Read the first page and you're in for "a sitting." Do it now.”
“Talk about a great series:
quinnsmom wrote this review Thursday, July 10, 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
"Killing of the Tinkers" starts with the return of Jack Taylor from London. If you've read The Guards (the first novel in the series), then you're aware that at the end of that book, Taylor had sworn off drinking and had gone to London for a change. Well, now he's back, and has fallen off the wagon. He is commissioned by the head of the clans (the tinkers), a guy named Sweeper, to find out who is killing off other tinkers, then mutilating the bodies. As in the case of The Guards, the mystery is not the central focus here ... it is definitely the hard-drinking, now coke-snorting Jack. He is a very paradoxical individual; self-destructive yet erudite and extremely literate, even as he's knocking back shot after shot of Jameson to chase down his Guiness. Basically, he's a human train wreck waiting to happen, and I think Bruen's a master at getting into Taylor's soul and psyche. His characterizations of the other people that surround Jack are also realistic. In Taylor's novels there seem to be no tidy endings, so if that's what you want, then don't read this series. I'm fascinated with and can't get enough of the character of Jack Taylor, or of Bruen's writing. There were a couple of spots in this book that were laugh out loud funny, which seems incongruous given the dark and gloomy atmosphere of Jack Taylor's life. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for something good in the way of Irish crime fiction, and to anyone who started with Bruen's The Guards and is wondering whether or not to continue the series. Highly recommended.”
“Quick and entertainingread. So the ending hits you after you've finished the book, maybe days later. But what exactly hasn't Jack Taylor messed up? Spectacularly?”
C.D. Stephens wrote this review Monday, July 7, 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“second”
anysnaders wrote this review Tuesday, March 25, 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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