Book #31 Cross

Cross by Ken Bruen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cannot get enough of Jack Taylor. This series by Ken Bruen is so darned good. Jack is vulnerable, a reforming alcoholic, a haunted man. So many events in his life since being kicked out of the Guards have left him in a bad place. Cannot say too much - so many threads run through this series and I don't want to spoil it for any reader who is thinking about embarking on it.

In Cross a boy has been crucified in Galway City. People are shocked; the Irish Church is scandalised - and no further action is taken. Then the sister of the murdered boy is burned alive and Jack decides to take matters into his own hands...

This is a dark, compelling portrait of a man who continues to seek redemption, who has few friends - if any. The dialogue crackles with authenticity, dark, powerful, often humorous. We see Jack deciding on a move to America, selling up in Galway and moving on. And then Bruen gives the reader another kick in the gonads, right there on the last page, that leaves Jack devastated. And you just know - you have to move onto book #7....

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