Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Ken Bruen's THE GUARDS

My comments as posted to DetecToday:

I've just finished this, my first Bruen, and can't say enough about it. It's the novel with a bit of everything--mystery, noir, hardboiled, humor, poetry--delivered at the right times, in just the right amounts.

Bruen's chosen narrative style brings us right into Jack Taylor's head. I pitied him as I do most noir protags. But while some of these protags depress me to the point of detachment, Jack kept me rooting for him. He seemed to know his own low points so well as to not let any of them *keep* him down. He finds self-worth not by happy accident, but by plain persistence. His journey felt entirely genuine.

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