A Fifth of Bruen: Early Crime Fiction of Ken Bruen

by Ken Bruen, Allan Guthrie (Introduction)

A collection of novellas and stories from Shamus Award winner Ken Bruen, author of the Jack Taylor series and the “godfather of the modern Irish crime novel” (The Irish Times).

An Irishman with an ebullient love of life draws inspiration from the literature and poetry of death. A born loser with an “ex-wife, an ex-child, and no excuses” accompanies his alcoholic brother on a startling plunge into liberating despair. A self-styled vigilante avenges the death of his wife and child by waging a one-man war against the London underworld. A whiskey-sotted cleric sets out to battle his sexual demons with a resolve that borders on the malevolent.

“Nobody writes like Ken Bruen,” says the New York Times Book Review, and here, the author of The Emerald Lie and The Guards offers a taste of his wide-ranging skills. With his acrid barstool wit, literary allusions, and gut-punching twists, Bruen captures the Irish state of mind with bracing authenticity. Now, enthusiasts of his long-running series featuring Irish PI Jack Taylor—seven of which have been adapted for the screen—and new fans alike can discover Bruen’s early works in an omnibus shaded with the crazy, violent, and melancholy poetry that has become his trademark.

Hailed by the Los Angeles Book Review as one of “the most original and innovative noir voices of the last two decades,” Bruen is a two-time Shamus Award winner, an Edgar Award finalist, and a recipient of the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.

A Fifth of Bruen includes: Funeral: Tales of Irish Morbidities, Martyrs, Shades of Grace, Sherry and Other Stories, All the Old Songs and Nothing to Lose, and The Time of Serena May &Upon the Third Cross.
 

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Ireland

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Ken Bruen was an Irish writer of hardboiled and noir crime fiction.

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer/editor/agent Alan Guthrie compiled a list of the 200 most significant noir fictions. On his list were three stories from this anthology of the early writings of Ken Bruen: "Martyrs," Shades of Grace," and "The Time of Serena-May." None of these stories is noir, although there is mayhem in some of them. Guthrie wrote the intro to this collection, and his affection for Bruen is noteworthy. However, the stories are early work, unpolished and in need of editing. There are so many allusions (literary, film, music)that they sometimes seem like a list of quotes held together by narrative. The themes are similar -- alcoholism, alienation, AIDS, The Irish in Britain -- and he hangs on to certain images (the term "Mule-kick" pops up in just about all of the stories). The first story deals with an absolute shit who rebels violently against his mother and his ex-wife. The second is about an absolute shit who contrives a vicious vengeance plot to get back at his old friend because the user he was dating has left him. Only the third story has any charm to it; It tells the story of a loving couple whose lives are changed dramatically by the birth of their daughter. That sounds cliched but it is the best story of the lot. Ken Bruen is worthy of respect and these early works deserve to be collected. However, this is proof that writers evolve.

[Trent Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

#13/2011 ... For Bruen aficionados. I, being a ravenous reader of all things Bruen, loved these early tales. See a brilliant author's early style bloom into what is arguably the most stylistically inventive crime writer of the past decade and a half.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, no, not at all. I don't think Irish noir works for me. At least not of Bruen's ink. Thing is I enjoyed BBC's Jack Taylor series, which are adaptations of Bruen's books and then saw this one on Netgalley and thought why not. Well, here's why not...the style just didn't work for me at all. Choppy, unengaging narratives liberally seasoned with quotes and poetry presenting majority of the characters as basically well read alcoholics of aimless desultory persuasion. Some quotes were actually quite good, but then again should a book ever be outdone by its sampling of other famous literary wares. The progression was interesting to watch, the writing does mature with years, the stories got progressively more readable, but never reached the level of enjoyable. This I believe to be a very subjective view, since this is a highly stylized acquired taste sort of thing. Just really didn't sing for me. Bruen might be one of those singular authors best enjoyed in cinematic form, owning in no small way to the talents behind BBC adaptations (for my money best in the world) and the not insignificant roguish charm of Iain Glen. Thanks Netgalley.

[Dinas_shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor series and was hardcore MISSING the Irish PI.
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Que me looking for more of Bruen’s work.
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After reading A White Arrest (and hating it) I was scared that maybe I wouldn’t like the rest of his books. Maybe I just liked the JT series...which would be fine, but if I’m going to claim someone as one of my favorite authors I feel like I should like more.
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Well rest assured, I ADORED this collection of early short stories.
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The writing was reminiscent of how it was in JT. Short, descriptive, flowing. HUMOR. The humor was back in full Irish force.
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Bruen wrote this before JT. And you can tell that he pieced together aspects of main characters in these short stories to form his future PI. Even some of the passages are the same.
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All in all, this collection was classic Bruen, literally. And the type of effortless, blue collar writing that made me notch him at the top of my list in the first place.
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[Socal444 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it if you love Bruen. Shades of Grace and Priest I and II are the best. Overall:
1. The anthology is way too depressing.
2. I'm glad my ancestors left Ireland
3. The men all seem to be depressed alcoholics.
One amusing excerpt:
"Sixty-two percent of Australians prefer surfing to sex. Eighty percent think of sex while surfing. And fifty percent think of surfing while having sex."

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ken Bruen's early short stories and novellas are Irish delights. He has a way of manipulating words and poems in 'jig' time that are wonderful to read. Ken Bruen is definitely the master of Irish crime and this novel is filled with crime, revenge, humour, pain, chaos and life. Well worth the rating of five stars.

[Lynn Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow - so, so disappointing

I had expected to read crime stories by the author. Instead it is almost a stream of consciousness, punctuated by bad poetry, and a lot of that! No no no no no.

[Zoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martyrs

[michael heavisides · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical Ken Bruen style of book,very good read.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection of stories, held together by

Lists
Alcohol
Quotations
Ireland
Crime...

After reading one of his Jack Taylor "thrillers," I like this even better. It's more carefully written, with more heart.

[Ian Mapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hit the bottle when reading this short story in an evening and the bottle hit back. This is one of his lines that appears, along with curling being a cross between hockey and murder.

Not really sure what the point of the story was - it had something to do with families and parenting and typical bruen lists and quotes from other writers. A couple of times I had a chuckle to myself and it was quite enjoyable.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruen's beginnings. Like most writer's early works, lacks the focus and range of later books but an interesting look at how the writer thinks. His genius peeks out from behind the mundane which becomes his great skill later in his great career. This book is for Bruen completists (like me.)

[Foreign]

French acquiring editor: Patrick Raynal

[Mozilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of all of his books.