Priest [Hardcover]

'Bruen should be valued as one of the most challenging and memorable writers in the genre at the moment.'

‘Bruen’s tightly coiled prose strikes like a piss-soaked rattler.’

‘Sharp, punch and unsettling, Priest is a masterpiece.’

‘Gritty and unsettling. A good read.’ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Priest is hardboiled in the best way, unforgiving and unforgettable.’ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

‘Grim and elegiac by turns ... powerful, original and controversial.’ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Ireland is no longer the land of saints and scholars. Now, in an era of prosperity, the sexual scandals surrounding the church have caused its people to lose faith in the one institution that seemed invulnerable. But, the decapitation of Father Joyce in a Galway church brings a gasp to the most hardened cynics. Not to Jack Taylor. Emotionally bruised, battered, and still struggling with the demon drink, he's back in town, trying to get his life on course after the traumatic trauma of personal loss. And, it seems that Jack has a job: he's been asked to investigate the murder of Fr Joyce, but to proceed with caution and discretion; no further scandals must destabilize the Roman Catholic Church. Discretion is not a word Jack understands however, especially when the dead priest has a long history of abusing small boys, and is responsible for a terrible crime...Bleak, unsettling and totally original, Ken Bruen's writing captures the brooding landscape of Irish society at a time of social and economic upheaval. Here is evidence of an unmistakeable talent in the ascendant.

PRAISE FOR KEN BRUEN

‘For years, those of us in the know have read Ken Bruen.
Now the rest of the world is catching on.’
Mark Billingham

‘With Jack Taylor, Bruen has created a true original.’
Sunday Tribune

‘Bruen is an original, grimly hilarious and gloriously Irish. I await the further adventures of the incorrigible Jack Taylor.’
Washington Post

‘With Bruen's trademark terse prose, dialogue as hard as Connemara marble and as sharp as an icy wind off the Irish Sea, this one will - to borrow a line from James Ellroy - leave you "reamed, steamed and dry-cleaned."’
Mystery News

Ken Bruen was born in Galway.Having spent 25 years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, South East Asia and South America, he now lives in Galway city with his wife and daughter. Ken Bruen's earlier Jack Taylor novels are published by Brandon Press in Ireland.