Series
Publication
ISIS Audio Books (2009)
Original publication date
2001
Collections
Genres
Subjects
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Novel — 2004)
Barry Award (Nominee — Novel — 2004)
Macavity Award (Nominee — Novel — 2004)
Deutscher Krimi Preis (2010)
Shamus Award (Winner — 2004)
Description
Stuck in a rut after his dismissal from the Irish police force and still grieving over the death of his father, Jack Taylor finds renewal when an intriguing woman hires him based on his rumored talent for finding things.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The Guards by Ken Bruen is the first entry in his original series featuring Jack Taylor. Jack, currently living in Galway has the dubious record of having been expelled from the Irish police force, the Guardia for excessive drunkenness. He does the work of a PI but doesn’t like to refer to
This book is so much more than a crime story. In fact the crime is very much a secondary story, given to us in small doses. Instead it reads more like a diary, filled with Jack’s personal references, thoughts on life and on being Irish. With his unique writing style, Bruen has produced a intelligent, character driven story that has left me hungry for more.
A lot of books give you flawed heroes, but Jack Taylor stands heads and shoulders above them all. Stumbling through life, addicted to alcohol , prone to blackouts, creating one mess after another, Jack still has the ability to make you root for him. No matter how down and out he gets (and he seems to get pretty low), he manages to pick himself up and carry on. Jack is a book lover, or as he would say, “a hoor for books” and always has the appropriate quote for whatever situation he finds himself in.
I think this is the type of book one either loves or hates. It has a strong, hard-boiled style than may not appeal to everyone. As for me, Jack Taylor is a character I’m looking forward to reading more about. Irreverent and gritty, funny and wise, The Guards has just whetted my appetite.
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himself in that term as, in Ireland, it can be confused with the word “informer” which is mightily frowned upon.This book is so much more than a crime story. In fact the crime is very much a secondary story, given to us in small doses. Instead it reads more like a diary, filled with Jack’s personal references, thoughts on life and on being Irish. With his unique writing style, Bruen has produced a intelligent, character driven story that has left me hungry for more.
A lot of books give you flawed heroes, but Jack Taylor stands heads and shoulders above them all. Stumbling through life, addicted to alcohol , prone to blackouts, creating one mess after another, Jack still has the ability to make you root for him. No matter how down and out he gets (and he seems to get pretty low), he manages to pick himself up and carry on. Jack is a book lover, or as he would say, “a hoor for books” and always has the appropriate quote for whatever situation he finds himself in.
I think this is the type of book one either loves or hates. It has a strong, hard-boiled style than may not appeal to everyone. As for me, Jack Taylor is a character I’m looking forward to reading more about. Irreverent and gritty, funny and wise, The Guards has just whetted my appetite.
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LibraryThing member msf59
According to this author there are no private eyes in Ireland ,so what Jack Taylor, a hard-drinking ex-cop, does is look for things. In this case he is hired by a distraught woman , to look into the "questionable" suicide of her daughter and of course this leads him into some down-right nasty
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places. You might be thinking, another drunken, tortured antihero? Tired and cliched, right? Well wrong, because this fine crime novelist has managed to put a fresh face on this well-traveled genre. His prose is fast, lean and lyrical at times and who couldn't love a broken hero who has a passion for books that equals ours! This is only book one and I'll be back for the rest, you can bet on it! Show Less
LibraryThing member CharlesBoyd
Do you want to read a mystery that is fun, one you can blow through in a couple of hours? Ken Bruen’s THE GUARDS is the one for you. His dialogue is killer. Funny, aggressive, witty. Jack Taylor is a former guard in Ireland, guard being what we in the USA would call a policeman. He solves crimes
The other characters are often quirky, including his first landlady, a young woman, then an old landlady later in the story. Plus, there’s the required, for a mystery, bartender, another former guard, and Taylor’s client, the mother of a young girl who was murdered, but listed as a suicide.
I love it that Taylor is a reader who often mentions books and quotes from them.
I’d rate this novel five stars except it gives no sense of place. Ireland is a country an author could really “show” the reader, could really make the story seem real to the reader with a sense of place. For most of my life I’d been indifferent to description, preferring to just get on with reading the story. But after years of having the idea that description, a sense of place, makes a story seem real pounded into my head by James Sallis,* I’ve come to appreciate it, though it’s still not the most important part of a story to me. I also came to understand that novels that I’ve read over the years that are mostly dialogue seemed “lightweight” to me, though I didn‘t realize it at the time. Bruen has written a story that is, in literary terms, “talking heads,” people floating on the page, somehow not solidly of this world.
That said, THE GUARDS makes me want to read the next novel, THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS in the Jack Taylor series.
*James Sallis is a novelist who has had numerous novels published for over forty years. He is the author of the “Lew Griffin” mystery novels among others. He teaches novel writing in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been told by another Lter that Bruen mentions Sallis and some of his novels in THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS.
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in a bumbling, almost accidental way. The other characters are often quirky, including his first landlady, a young woman, then an old landlady later in the story. Plus, there’s the required, for a mystery, bartender, another former guard, and Taylor’s client, the mother of a young girl who was murdered, but listed as a suicide.
I love it that Taylor is a reader who often mentions books and quotes from them.
I’d rate this novel five stars except it gives no sense of place. Ireland is a country an author could really “show” the reader, could really make the story seem real to the reader with a sense of place. For most of my life I’d been indifferent to description, preferring to just get on with reading the story. But after years of having the idea that description, a sense of place, makes a story seem real pounded into my head by James Sallis,* I’ve come to appreciate it, though it’s still not the most important part of a story to me. I also came to understand that novels that I’ve read over the years that are mostly dialogue seemed “lightweight” to me, though I didn‘t realize it at the time. Bruen has written a story that is, in literary terms, “talking heads,” people floating on the page, somehow not solidly of this world.
That said, THE GUARDS makes me want to read the next novel, THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS in the Jack Taylor series.
*James Sallis is a novelist who has had numerous novels published for over forty years. He is the author of the “Lew Griffin” mystery novels among others. He teaches novel writing in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been told by another Lter that Bruen mentions Sallis and some of his novels in THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is hard-boiled private detective with an Irish lilt--and alcoholic slur. Jack Taylor was once in the Garda Siochana--the Irish police--but self-destructed with the aid of drink. As he himself describes his life and behavior, "I could say it was the booze, but that's not true. There's a
The book is set in Galway, where, kicked off the force, Jack works intermittently as a "finder." As he puts it:
There are no private eyes in Ireland. The Irish wouldn't wear it. The concept brushes perilously close to the hated "informer"... What I began to do was find things.
This is written first person with great style and voice. Somehow it kept me sympathetic and rooting for Jack despite him being a screwup. And the ending involves a frequent, even cliche element in hard-boiled detective fiction that usually is a deal breaker, and in a strange way it's because Jack is so damaged, it comes off less cold-blooded than it usually would. Jack's voice, the overall pacing and short chapters full of snappy dialogue made this a fast read at one sitting and left me feeling I wouldn't mind more, despite this being that dark and cynical blend you find in hard-boiled fiction that usually leaves me cold. But there's a wit and humor in the narrator that somehow made that darkness bearable.
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self-destruct button in me. I keep returning to it." He does--throughout the book, and the novel is as much about that--in fact more about that--than his investigation of a young teen who seemingly committed suicide. The book is set in Galway, where, kicked off the force, Jack works intermittently as a "finder." As he puts it:
There are no private eyes in Ireland. The Irish wouldn't wear it. The concept brushes perilously close to the hated "informer"... What I began to do was find things.
This is written first person with great style and voice. Somehow it kept me sympathetic and rooting for Jack despite him being a screwup. And the ending involves a frequent, even cliche element in hard-boiled detective fiction that usually is a deal breaker, and in a strange way it's because Jack is so damaged, it comes off less cold-blooded than it usually would. Jack's voice, the overall pacing and short chapters full of snappy dialogue made this a fast read at one sitting and left me feeling I wouldn't mind more, despite this being that dark and cynical blend you find in hard-boiled fiction that usually leaves me cold. But there's a wit and humor in the narrator that somehow made that darkness bearable.
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LibraryThing member Romonko
This is the first book in the Jack Taylor series. I had seen the television series earlier this year, and I wanted to read this book to see if I enjoyed it as much as the TV series. The answer is a resounding yes. Jack Taylor knows Galway, Ireland like John Rebus knows his Edinburgh. And Jack
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Taylor thinks he does his best work while he's blind-drunk, until he decides to sober up when it comes to crunch time when solving a case. Then he solves the case in Jack Taylor style. Bruen's writing style is so spare and bare-bones it's almost poetic. And yes these books are hard-boiled crime. You need to know that going in, or else the seedy and sometimes vulgar language and action will put you off. In this book Jack is asked by a very attractive woman (the femme fatale) to prove that her daughter was killed and did not commit suicide. After some rather gruesome run-ins with some of Jack's ex-Guarda colleagues (Irish National Police Force), he knows that there is more to Sarah Henderson's death than what meets the eye, and certainly more than the scant attention that the police paid to it when it happened. This is hard-boiled crime at its best. Never have I read a book in this genre that so thrillingly portrays this style. You bet I'm going to read the other books in this series. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Show Less
LibraryThing member ecw0647
Jack Taylor has been kicked out the Gardia and submerged himself into a non-stop series of drinking binges. Making some kind of living as a “person who finds things” -- private eyes being too tinged in Ireland with the suspicion of being an informant, he is approached by Anne Henderson who
A cursory look around has Jack convinced it’s no more than that until he gets beaten up and warned off the case. Classic bad guy dumb move, right?
Bruen has a unique style of writing that reeks of Ireland, an almost poetic style that after a bit I found quite appealing. So you get scenes like this: He has just been turned down for a date by the hot girl upstairs because she doesn’t break her golden rule which is to never date drunkards.
“Time later, her car had a flat and I changed the tyre. She said,
“Listen, that other time--I was outa line.”
Outa line!
Everyone is quasi-American in the worst way.
I stood up, grease covering my hands, waited. She continued,
“I shouldn’t have said, you know. . .the awful thing.”
“Hey, forget it.”
Forgiveness is a heady fix. It makes you stupid. I said,
“So you want to go out, grab a bite?”
“Oh, I couldn’t.”
“What?”
“You’re too old.”
That evening, under darkness, I crept out, punctured her tyre again.”
While there is an investigation, the book is more about Jack’s soul. Very dark, lots of illusions to Irish poetry and bands, but very lyrical, too. As Jack is addicted to drink, so you will become addicted to the prose.
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wants Jack to investigate her daughter Sarah’s ostensible suicide. (“They say you’re good because you have nothing else in your life.”)A cursory look around has Jack convinced it’s no more than that until he gets beaten up and warned off the case. Classic bad guy dumb move, right?
Bruen has a unique style of writing that reeks of Ireland, an almost poetic style that after a bit I found quite appealing. So you get scenes like this: He has just been turned down for a date by the hot girl upstairs because she doesn’t break her golden rule which is to never date drunkards.
“Time later, her car had a flat and I changed the tyre. She said,
“Listen, that other time--I was outa line.”
Outa line!
Everyone is quasi-American in the worst way.
I stood up, grease covering my hands, waited. She continued,
“I shouldn’t have said, you know. . .the awful thing.”
“Hey, forget it.”
Forgiveness is a heady fix. It makes you stupid. I said,
“So you want to go out, grab a bite?”
“Oh, I couldn’t.”
“What?”
“You’re too old.”
That evening, under darkness, I crept out, punctured her tyre again.”
While there is an investigation, the book is more about Jack’s soul. Very dark, lots of illusions to Irish poetry and bands, but very lyrical, too. As Jack is addicted to drink, so you will become addicted to the prose.
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LibraryThing member pescatello
Not nearly as good as the reviews would have you believe. Just ok
LibraryThing member -Eva-
Trying to get enough money to leave Galway after his dismissal from the Garda Síochána, Jack Taylor works as a private investigator and is hired to prove a series of suicides are in fact murders. This story is mainly about alcohol and violence and only a little bit about murder detection - it's
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almost a pastiche of the noir genre with all its hard-man accoutrements, but stops short of being silly. It certainly isn't the mystery that is at the forefront here, but rather Jack Taylor's addiction, his turbulent past, his current - somewhat mad - relationships, his propensity for violence, and his quite hilarious voice. There are some discussions on music, books, and pop culture that are interesting - and quite a few reading suggestions for the noir fan - but it's really the alcohol-induced events that get the most space, along with numerous complaints about the Gardaí's lack of ethics. I enjoyed spending time getting to know Taylor and his sarky voice, but I hope that he gets to be more hands-on in the crime-resolution portion of the next installment in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member PennyAnne
I read this book because it was recommended in a Book Blog I frequent. Crime novels are not my first choice but I was interested enough to try this one and I was pleasantly surprised. Alcoholic ex-cop Jack Taylor is hired by a beautiful woman to find out who really killed her daughter (her death
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has been deemed suicide). Very little of the story ends up being about the crime but it is rather a book which looks into Jack's life. Other reviewers have thrown around the terms 'noir'and 'hard-boiled'and I guess this is what this story is - I like what the Sunday Tribune said about the book "an acute and compassionate study of rage and loneliness". I think I will look for other books in this series. Show Less
LibraryThing member maneekuhi
SPOILERS, BUT NOT REALLY. Jack Taylor has been thrown out of The Guard in this first of a series of eight books, and I intend to read them all. This is a short book, about 300 pages, but then all of the books in the series are about this length. Jack is now a finder, and he is a drinker. He has
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very few friends and one of them is, guess what, a bartender. Jack is hired by a gorgeous single mom to prove that her deceased daughter was not a suicide. By the time the story is finished, a child abuser has been identified and dealt with, JT has quit drinking twice, he's bedded the mom, his two friends are dead, he's gone to London for a year, and he has just returned to Dublin, and sits at his new pub. I'm not sure about the daughter - was she real? was she a suicide? if she was murdered who did it? is mom a cop? (I have to re-reread the last 20 pages which I thought I understood, but in writing this review it is abundantly clear to me that's not the case). Really like the whole Irish thing in this book, done very well, feel like I'm there. Show Less
LibraryThing member cindysprocket
I am ready to go back for more of Jack Taylor. What I found very interesting was the way the book was printed.
LibraryThing member karen_o
I'm amazed by all the high ratings and positive reviews for this book. This one definitely received the "Dorothy Parker rating" from me as I did, quite literally, throw it across the room when I was done. A very rare occurence from me, especially with a library book!
The fault could, of course, be
Whatever the reason, I can't for the life of me understand why this is on some short-list for Best Mystery of the Decade and I will definitely NOT be looking for the sequel.
Despite the few chuckles I got along the way -- and I admit there were a few -- I won't be looking for either a sequel or a backlist. If it were possible, this book would get a negative 1 rating for me. Can't remember the last time I let a book land on the floor.
The fault could, of course, be
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entirely mine. Maybe I just don't care for a main character who is an uber_alcoholic; maybe I'm just not that fond of esoteric poetry; maybe I hated it because there was no freaking mystery! Whatever the reason, I can't for the life of me understand why this is on some short-list for Best Mystery of the Decade and I will definitely NOT be looking for the sequel.
Despite the few chuckles I got along the way -- and I admit there were a few -- I won't be looking for either a sequel or a backlist. If it were possible, this book would get a negative 1 rating for me. Can't remember the last time I let a book land on the floor.
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LibraryThing member kanata
Where has this author been hiding from me?! Unique prose, a wonderful hard Irish character that now has me eager to search down everything with him in it.
LibraryThing member rwt42
Been a while. Computer problems. Anyhow, still looking for my next Michael Connelly. Bruen's first Jack Taylor certainly was an interesting start to a series. An awful lot of this one was about being an alcoholic. In sum I think he paints it as heroic personal drama for those afflicted. As many
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drinkers do. It will be interesting to see if Bruen can fill a book with anything else. Meanwhile, his detective appears about as ineffective as can be. What's to like about him? Bruen is otherwise a really good writer. Inventive. Excellent prose. Enjoy the Irish slant. Show Less
LibraryThing member markatread
I read 27 books in 2008; this was the best one I read. The mystery is not the primary focus of the book. The book tells us the story of the hero, Jack Taylor, who just happens to be hired to prove a woman's daughter did not commit suicide. It is the telling of his story that is in fact the purpose
Other mystery series started off well with great hero's or at least one's that could be felt and recoginized a being truly human, even if they were fictional characters. Only to then become caricatures of themselves in later books as the need to continue telling some kind of story trapped the author into repeating the same story over and over. Other author's were not able to solve the mystery of how to have a such a flawed hero and have the story continue to resonanat each time. James Lee Burke and Ian Rankin were not able to do so. The story remains the same for the most part, lots of really bad guys; one good guy; good guy wins in spite of his flaws. But at least in the beginning, Ken Bruen has written a great book about his hero. One that will resonant over time.
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of the book. He is not a particularly fascinating person nor has his life been a fascinating life, yet the author's ability to tell Jack's story is fascinating. Many of the other characters in the book, including his mother, his best friend (who dies), his new wannabe best friend and his new girlfriend, all are painful attachments that remind him of the isolation and hoplessness he feels. But as in so many great tragedies, he knows, and we learn, that the person who is most responsible for the pain and isolation he feels is himself. This is not a feel good book where the solving of the mystery reassures the reader that all is well in the world. But it is a great book, one where you can feel the blood coursing through the veins of Jack Taylor.Other mystery series started off well with great hero's or at least one's that could be felt and recoginized a being truly human, even if they were fictional characters. Only to then become caricatures of themselves in later books as the need to continue telling some kind of story trapped the author into repeating the same story over and over. Other author's were not able to solve the mystery of how to have a such a flawed hero and have the story continue to resonanat each time. James Lee Burke and Ian Rankin were not able to do so. The story remains the same for the most part, lots of really bad guys; one good guy; good guy wins in spite of his flaws. But at least in the beginning, Ken Bruen has written a great book about his hero. One that will resonant over time.
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
Rarely, if ever, do I give a series opener 5 stars, but I just couldn't help myself. I started this book last night, stayed up way too late and finished it and was totally blown away. What a great book; what a great author. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something different in the
Jack Taylor lives in Galway, Ireland, is a serious alcoholic and has lost his job with the Gardia. He has set himself up as a private detective, knows his is prone to self-destruction, has issues with his mother, and may be one of the most darkly-tormented individuals in crime fiction. But on the other hand, he turns to reading and poetry for comfort and has a soft spot for people he truly cares about.
His office a pub, he gets involved in the case of a suicidal teen whose mother hires him to prove that her daughter's death was murder rather than self-inflicted. The only real lead he has is that she worked in a place with other girls, a few of whom have also committed suicide.
But as I noted above, the plot is not the real story here, so this novel shouldn't be read for the mystery storyline. Jack Taylor stands out as an incredibly fascinating character, one for whom you can't help but feel sorry. The other characters surrounding him really help to draw out Jack's personality; they are also very well drawn. And the writing ...the book is divided into very short chapters that don't always have very much to say, but what's there is to the point and absolutely necessary. I love how the author is able to be very understated yet can get Jack's story out just as if Jack was a real-life, personal friend and the author's telling you all about him. The style is very original; sparse, but yet packs a punch.
I definitely, most highly recommend this book and plan to read all of the Jack Taylor series here shortly. A great read!
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mystery field, but with a caution: the plot isn't the central focus here -- it is most definitely the characters, especially that of Jack Taylor, the main character. Jack Taylor lives in Galway, Ireland, is a serious alcoholic and has lost his job with the Gardia. He has set himself up as a private detective, knows his is prone to self-destruction, has issues with his mother, and may be one of the most darkly-tormented individuals in crime fiction. But on the other hand, he turns to reading and poetry for comfort and has a soft spot for people he truly cares about.
His office a pub, he gets involved in the case of a suicidal teen whose mother hires him to prove that her daughter's death was murder rather than self-inflicted. The only real lead he has is that she worked in a place with other girls, a few of whom have also committed suicide.
But as I noted above, the plot is not the real story here, so this novel shouldn't be read for the mystery storyline. Jack Taylor stands out as an incredibly fascinating character, one for whom you can't help but feel sorry. The other characters surrounding him really help to draw out Jack's personality; they are also very well drawn. And the writing ...the book is divided into very short chapters that don't always have very much to say, but what's there is to the point and absolutely necessary. I love how the author is able to be very understated yet can get Jack's story out just as if Jack was a real-life, personal friend and the author's telling you all about him. The style is very original; sparse, but yet packs a punch.
I definitely, most highly recommend this book and plan to read all of the Jack Taylor series here shortly. A great read!
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LibraryThing member swl
I think I should have read this before another in the series - it give some backstory for later - but on the other hand I'm not sure it matters. What did matter, and what I should have done from the first, was look up a bit about the garda; the information did help me appreciate the text more.
As with the Magdalen Martyrs - and I expect with KB's books I read in the future - I felt at peace every moment of reading this book which is a strange contrast to its landscape of addiction, thumping repeatedly on rock bottom. SUCH compassion for people (and contempt where it's deserved); such exquisite revelations in such few words. All the questions it left rattling around in my head...and this with me a not-normally high-thinking individual...the relationship of violence, justice, personal adequacy, and faith/redemption or more accurately grace. Yes! That's it, the word I want to use to sum up my feelings about KB - he drags grace around with him, perhaps unwillingly.
favorite lines...
"I sat in the living room, finishing the beer. I didn't really want to put wine down on top but thought, "Fuckit." Which is the short version of the Serenity Prayer."
"Sleep gave grudgingly and with conditions."
"What I knew...was if I drank, chaos reigned. I was no longer under any illusion. Yet I'd have given anything to crack the seal on a bottle of Scotch and fly."
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OTOH, there are dozens of references (irish references, authors, etc.) that I did not look up; I had to accept that some were beyond me and I would just accept them on faith. Feels just a little like cheating - I might now compulsively wiki it all. :)As with the Magdalen Martyrs - and I expect with KB's books I read in the future - I felt at peace every moment of reading this book which is a strange contrast to its landscape of addiction, thumping repeatedly on rock bottom. SUCH compassion for people (and contempt where it's deserved); such exquisite revelations in such few words. All the questions it left rattling around in my head...and this with me a not-normally high-thinking individual...the relationship of violence, justice, personal adequacy, and faith/redemption or more accurately grace. Yes! That's it, the word I want to use to sum up my feelings about KB - he drags grace around with him, perhaps unwillingly.
favorite lines...
"I sat in the living room, finishing the beer. I didn't really want to put wine down on top but thought, "Fuckit." Which is the short version of the Serenity Prayer."
"Sleep gave grudgingly and with conditions."
"What I knew...was if I drank, chaos reigned. I was no longer under any illusion. Yet I'd have given anything to crack the seal on a bottle of Scotch and fly."
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LibraryThing member asxz
Bruen's been in my radar for a while but this was my first. I loved it. Jack Taylor's an alcoholic but he loves to read and that's good enough for me. Riddled with psychos and corrupt cops and pedophiles and random acts of brutality, this was a treat. I'll look for the next couple in the series
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just to see where he can go from here. Show Less
LibraryThing member Condorena
Beautiful, just beautiful!
LibraryThing member Carol420
[The Guards] by Ken Bruen
Jack Taylor series Book #1
3 ★’s
From the Book:
Still stinging from his unceremonious ouster from the Garda Siochana--The Guards, Ireland's police force--and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look
My Thoughts:
Jack Taylor is the tough cop who loves books; the beating victim who insists on checking himself out of a hospital too soon…everyone’s and no one ones friend. The Irish seaside city of Galway is the setting for all of these books. Sometimes you can’t figure out if Bruen loves the town or hates it…but he has certainly put it on the literary map. His character of Jack Taylor is Galway born and bred and is such an unusual character. Taylor is a former member of the Garda Síochána, the Guards, Ireland's shadowy police force. Drink…not an unusual thing in Ireland… and general attitude has gotten Jack removed from their ranks and this has not made him exactly a bosom pal to the rest of the Guards. To support himself and also if the truth is told…his habit…Jack takes on the role of a private detective.
I have read several of the other books in this series and found them to be much better than this first attempt which is often the case. If I had not ROO (read out of order) and this had been the first one that I had read…I fear it would have also been the last one. It’s full of very predictable, standard crime novel cop cliques and several very nasty characters. Jack Taylor goes from a drunken cop to a drunken P.I. that meets his clients in a bar and laces his morning breakfast…also in the bar… with coffee. The one thing this book served to do was build the character of Jack Taylor…a man tormented by his demons and searching for something that seems to have evaded him his entire life. Believe me when I say that the series does get better and even Jack shows some promise.
Jack Taylor series Book #1
3 ★’s
From the Book:
Still stinging from his unceremonious ouster from the Garda Siochana--The Guards, Ireland's police force--and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look
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forward to. In his sober moments Jack aspires to become Ireland's best private investigator, not to mention its first--Irish history, full of betrayal and espionage, discourages any profession so closely related to informing. But in truth Jack is teetering on the brink of his life's sharpest edges, his memories of the past cutting deep into his soul and his prospects for the future nonexistent. Nonexistent, that is, until a dazzling woman walks into the bar with a strange request and a rumor about Jack's talent for finding things. Odds are he won't be able to climb off his barstool long enough to get involved with his radiant new client, but when he surprises himself by getting hired, Jack has little idea of what he's getting into.My Thoughts:
Jack Taylor is the tough cop who loves books; the beating victim who insists on checking himself out of a hospital too soon…everyone’s and no one ones friend. The Irish seaside city of Galway is the setting for all of these books. Sometimes you can’t figure out if Bruen loves the town or hates it…but he has certainly put it on the literary map. His character of Jack Taylor is Galway born and bred and is such an unusual character. Taylor is a former member of the Garda Síochána, the Guards, Ireland's shadowy police force. Drink…not an unusual thing in Ireland… and general attitude has gotten Jack removed from their ranks and this has not made him exactly a bosom pal to the rest of the Guards. To support himself and also if the truth is told…his habit…Jack takes on the role of a private detective.
I have read several of the other books in this series and found them to be much better than this first attempt which is often the case. If I had not ROO (read out of order) and this had been the first one that I had read…I fear it would have also been the last one. It’s full of very predictable, standard crime novel cop cliques and several very nasty characters. Jack Taylor goes from a drunken cop to a drunken P.I. that meets his clients in a bar and laces his morning breakfast…also in the bar… with coffee. The one thing this book served to do was build the character of Jack Taylor…a man tormented by his demons and searching for something that seems to have evaded him his entire life. Believe me when I say that the series does get better and even Jack shows some promise.
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LibraryThing member dh-writer
Loved the TV show. Hated the book. Disjointed. Hard to follow. Many of Jack's musings just didn't make sense. And after thoroughly enjoying the TV show, the book was seriously disappointing. Only got through the first two chapters.
LibraryThing member kerns222
More about being an alcoholic than being a detective. About the fringe life in Ireland--those sleeping under the bridges, drinking cheap, and hassled by cops. Breun does not waste words, but borrows from others. You get a review of the century's detective fiction thrown in. And some poetry. With
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murders scattered about. Not too gory or nasty, but cleanly depressing. Show Less
LibraryThing member gmmartz
'The Guards' is Ken Bruen's first in his Jack Taylor series. Its setting is Galway, Ireland and 'stars' Jack Taylor, ex-police (Guard or Garda) and current big-time alkie. He claims to be the only private detective in Ireland and supposedly excels in 'finding stuff'. He's approached by a mother to
I enjoy Bruen's writing, especially the dialogue and Irish colloquialisms, and the plot is OK. However, a couple things are readily apparent: The stuff Jack excels in finding usually comes in a bottle, and he's not a very good detective, private or otherwise. Until he's forced to clean himself up, he mostly meanders through the days getting more and more wasted, trading quips with various other ne'er do wells, and making glacially slow progress on his case since he has no contacts left in the Guard who'll talk to him and nobody else who can help. He and a fellow waste-oid discover some evidence and take matters into their own hands.
This is a mediocre mystery with decent writing and an unrelenting description of how alcoholism can affect a person's psyche. I'll check out later books in this series but I'm not sure I can take much more of the star's antics.
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investigate the suicide of her daughter, which she insists was instead a murder. I enjoy Bruen's writing, especially the dialogue and Irish colloquialisms, and the plot is OK. However, a couple things are readily apparent: The stuff Jack excels in finding usually comes in a bottle, and he's not a very good detective, private or otherwise. Until he's forced to clean himself up, he mostly meanders through the days getting more and more wasted, trading quips with various other ne'er do wells, and making glacially slow progress on his case since he has no contacts left in the Guard who'll talk to him and nobody else who can help. He and a fellow waste-oid discover some evidence and take matters into their own hands.
This is a mediocre mystery with decent writing and an unrelenting description of how alcoholism can affect a person's psyche. I'll check out later books in this series but I'm not sure I can take much more of the star's antics.
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LibraryThing member zmagic69
I didn't know this was a book series, I saw the cover and it looked intriguing.
The author can sure write. It is a little heavy on Irish slang, but the story was so easy to get into.
Not really a mystery, but the writing is amazing.
I look forward to continuing reading the other books in the series.
The author can sure write. It is a little heavy on Irish slang, but the story was so easy to get into.
Not really a mystery, but the writing is amazing.
I look forward to continuing reading the other books in the series.
LibraryThing member Hellen0
Jack Taylor is a rather depressing character and everything you don’t want in a police officer, although he’s not with the police anymore. He drinks a lot, takes drugs and is violent. The longest he’s sober in this novel are 13 days, twelve of them in a rehab centre.
Even if you disregard all
Although the character is less than ideal, the writing is good. Ken Bruen manages to get the reader to see everything without extremely long descriptions. He uses enough words to make you understand how all the places are (city, pubs, streets...), but nothing is long enough to be boring.
The story is interesting enough to be read even if you don’t like the character too much... until you find out how it ends. The main problem I had with the ending is that the case solves itself. Jack doesn’t really do much, other than nagging a few people. The case is great and the progress Jack makes is very good, considering that he has close to no resources, but the ending was disappointing.
Even if you disregard all
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this things, his life is still pretty bad. All the people he cares about are either dead or die during the novel or leave him for someone else.Although the character is less than ideal, the writing is good. Ken Bruen manages to get the reader to see everything without extremely long descriptions. He uses enough words to make you understand how all the places are (city, pubs, streets...), but nothing is long enough to be boring.
The story is interesting enough to be read even if you don’t like the character too much... until you find out how it ends. The main problem I had with the ending is that the case solves itself. Jack doesn’t really do much, other than nagging a few people. The case is great and the progress Jack makes is very good, considering that he has close to no resources, but the ending was disappointing.
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Language
Original language
English
Other editions
The Guards by Ken Bruen (Paperback)