Rating: 
Summary: Good "Kinda Detective but Mostly Drinking" Novel
Review: A gritty, alcohol-fuelled private investigator novel set in Galway, Ireland. This is very much in the vein of the 'down and out" detective novels I have read, but transplanted to Ireland and better written than most. There are some differences however as the main character, does not really solve or investigate anything but rather just goes from one drunken, blacked-out binge to another stirring up trouble that eventually solves many of the problems itself. I enjoyed the literary interest of the main character and the author uses this to add some great background flavour to the story. The Irish setting also provides for some unique characters, interestingly different local practices and settings.
It's a short book. I don't think I've read a book this fast before but haven't said that much of the quick finish was that I didn't want to put it down, enjoying the bleak but real world the author had created.
Rating:
Summary: This Is Black Irish
Review: As the other reviews have said, if you like noir private eye tales, you'll probably like this one. I did and I'm not even that fond of the noir genre. Jack Taylor, the "hero", is a man constantly battling (pretty much unsuccessfully)the bottle. He is a very human protagonist with elements of many other P.I.'s--the intelligence vs. the addiction; the toughness vs. the sensitivity (poetry, books, etc.)and so on. What sets this book apart in my view is its Irishness and it's easy readability. It seems to me to capture the Irish character particularly well-- the dark, brooding, violence juxtiposed with the witty, sardonic fatalism. It does help to know something about Ireland and the Irish because there are references and language you will miss if you don't. However, it is not fatal to enjoying the book if you are new to all things Irish. The writing style is spare and fast-moving and the hero, who is a disaster waiting to happen, some how very appealing. I'm looking forward to reading my second Ken Bruen book.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty Novel
Review: If you like George Pelecanos' early work, you almost certainly will like this writer. Bruen's writing style takes sparse to a whole new level. Most of these chapters are 2-3 pages at most but this is not a criticism. The book is very focused. If you are looking for a travelogue of Galway, Ireland disguised as a mystery, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a well-written, sparse but focused, dark (and reading the other reviews I don't really need to expound on this) novel. This is a great way to spend a couple of days.
Rating:
Summary: This Is Black Irish
Review: If you like Ian Rankin, you will like Ken Bruen. Mr. Bruen is just a bit more...brutal, I think, although both really get into the dark aspects of their characters and subjects. I have read five of Mr. Bruen's books, and look forward to more, even though they make me afraid of what is possible in our world.
Rating: 
Summary: Brutally good
Review: If you like Ian Rankin, you will like Ken Bruen. Mr. Bruen is just a bit more...brutal, I think, although both really get into the dark aspects of their characters and subjects. I have read five of Mr. Bruen's books, and look forward to more, even though they make me afraid of what is possible in our world.
Rating:
Summary: The Guards is nearly impossible to put down!
Review: Jack Taylor has become his own worst enemy. Relieved from duty with the Irish Garda Siochana in Galway due to frequent bouts of alcoholic indiscretions --- and trouble controlling a smart mouth --- he now holds himself out as a PI, an extremely rare breed in Ireland. The Irish don't like squealers and they view private investigators as close kin to squealers. But one night in a pub, a desperate mother, Ann Henderson, seeks Jack's help. She believes her daughter's death, which has been officially slated as a teenage suicide, was more like murder. Jack takes on the job. Using an unlikely group of his misfit cronies, he employs some questionable techniques. In doing so, he stirs up a wasp's nest of unwelcome interest. What at first seemed a quick look-into turns deadly serious.Crying his downtrodden Irish blues, Jack comes across as caustic, often disingenuous and mostly well meaning --- at least, I think. I'm not sure and I'm not sure he's sure. In his lucid spells, meaning when he's not totally wrecked by the booze, he has moments of grand profundity, although any gems that come along he tersely delivers. His life feels bleak, always on the verge of one disaster or another, but he has moments of relative contentment. Literary quotes --- some classic, some contemporary --- are woven throughout the chapters, demonstrating our questionable hero's intellectual side. While a wee bit distracting, it adds a playful dimension to the tale. The abundant dialogue proves Jack a fellow who is quick on his feet with a sassy comeback always close at hand. In fact, the dialogue is so engaging that you hardly notice the plot slowly advancing. It seems that Jack dabbles at working on the case, becomes sidetracked for a few short chapters and then pokes around at a few more clues. His methods, however, yield results --- just not always positive ones. Ken Bruen writes with an economy of words. He doesn't use very many in this 291-page book, but he makes every one of them count. Simply put, he delivers all meat and no fat. I never read a book in a day. I always savor. However, THE GUARDS is nearly impossible to stretch over more than one sitting. Mr. Bruen's style, unique and near poetic, commands a literary orgy once you start. It reads so fast that it will leave your head spinning. And the twists the story takes --- and there are plenty of them --- will leave your entire being stunned. Now, excuse me, I have to go and find more of Ken Bruen's books. One was definitely not enough. --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
Rating:
Summary: A fine well written work
Review: Jack Taylor was recently thrown out of the Irish Police Force, AKA The Guards. He now functions as a PI when he manages to remain sober. He is asked by a beautiful woman to look into the apparent suicide of the woman's sixteen year old daughter. She feels it is likely to be murder. To find out the answer, Jack must walk the mean streets of Galway.
Short, chapters that serve almost as vignettes are the principal form of this impressive work. Dialogue alone makes up quite a bit of the novel. Characters are quite realistic, yet little action occurs. The personal angst the main protagonist undergoes is quite reminiscent of a James Crumbley novel. Crumbley actually provides a testimonial on the back cover. I really don't enjoy the depressing realism of Crumbley and the same holds true for this novel. I fully realize this is a fine, well written work. It just isn't to my personal taste.
Rating:
Summary: No Guarded Humor
Review: Ken Bruen's The Guards is an Irish noir narrated by Jack Taylor, ex-Garda and struggling alcoholic, who, in between pints, finds himself investigating the suicide of a Galaway teenager. Even though Jack spends very little time unraveling the mysterious cause of the suicide, the story is redeemed by its incredible dialog and dark wit.
Jack is funny. His interactions with other characters make his drunkenness and procrastination forgivable:
"The traveler is mid-twenties, bangled in every conceivable area. She says, 'Caffeine will kill you, man.'
I don't figure this requires a reply. She says, 'Did you hear me, man?'
'Yeah, so what.'
She scoots a little closer, asks,
'What's with the negative waves?'
A cloud of patchouli envelopes me. I decide to cut through the hippy pose, say, '%#@ off.'
'Oh man, you're transmitting some serious hostility.'
My coffee's gone cold and I put it down. She asks,
'Did you have red carpets in your home as a child?'
'What?'
'Feng Shui says it makes a child aggressive.'
'We had lino. Brown, puke-tinged shade. It came with the house.'
'Oh.'
I stand up and she cries,
'Where were you when John died?'
'In bed.'
'The Walrus will never die.'
'Perish the thought.'"
The above scene is typical of The Guards: well written, entertaining dialog that has nothing to do with a criminal investigation. Throughout the novel, we watch Jack drink, walk to the pub, move out of an apartment, and get a haircut--all of which stray from the book's main event. However, Bruen is such a remarkable writer that all of Jack's mundane activities seem engaging.
The Guards is a crime novel that does not focus on the crime. Instead, the author entertains readers with sharp dialog and a sarcastic narrator.
Rating:
Summary: Dark, funny and tragic
Review: More tragic poetry than mystery, it explores the pain of withdrawl, both from alcohol and society. Also, betrayal and murder. I loved this book and can't wait to start Tinkers....
Rating:
Summary: A gritty view of Ireland
Review: Private investigators, that staple of American literature and criminal justice, do not exist in Ireland. The Irish will not tolerate informers. That leaves only fools--and drunks--to look into cases the Guard have closed or ignored. To the Irish, truth is not as important as silence. The Guards is at first glance a little tale with an anti-hero, but proves to be much more.
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