The Galway Silence. A Jack Taylor Novel. Ken Bruen. 2018. Poor Jack. He longs for peace, but cannot seem to get it. His girl friend’s son is kidnapped, his wife and daughter are involved with a sadist, and he is hired to find the killer of twin boys. Armed with an unending supply of Jameson and his wit, Jack manages to survive, sort of. As usual Bruen has you laughing one minute and crying the next. I love these books, but they are not for everyone because of the violence and because he never lets up on his criticism of the Catholic Church. He has added Trump to his hate list. They should be read in order ( )

I've read other Irish authors, but this is my first go for Ken Bruen and his Jack Taylor series. While I enjoyed the literary quotes sprinkled throughout, I didn't find much more to like. Characters were shallow, sometimes extraneous, easily disposable and the local color consists mostly of alcohol and sports. Overall a thin book, 310 pages, many sparsely populated.
Additionally, Taylor's drug of choice is not an "upper" as claimed in the front synopsis. ( )

For once in his life Jack Taylor is, if not actually happy, then at least content with his current lot. There’s a new woman in his life and other than her spoilt nine-year-old son which he would be happier not getting involved with, things are going pretty well. His alcohol, drugs and cigarette intake are way down and he’s even pretty much given up helping other people out with their problems. Until that is when a grieving father asks him to find out who killed his twin sons. Thinking vague inquiries couldn’t hurt, Jack disregards his reluctance and goes back to what he does best. Not long after he’s busy getting up in people’s faces he meets an old acquaintance. It seems his ex-wife is in town and she has a little surprise in tow.

I was less emotionally engaged with the characters and events in this 14th book of the series probably because they’ve only just appeared. So when the inevitable bad things happen to those who’ve become entangled in Jack’s life I didn’t really care as much as I usually would. However, all the usual elements were there from Bruen’s inimitable writing style and the sarcasm and black humour of the main character to the pop-culture references and political messages of the day. So all-in-all, it’s not a bad book, just not the best of the Jack Taylor series so far as I’m concerned. ( )

This is a Jack Taylor novel. I have seen the TV series and have visited Galway, a lovely city. Readers do not need to have read the earlier novels to understand fully Jack Taylor. He tells you who he is and his sufferings throughout the novel. The novel is written in the form of a poem. Jack is an alcoholic, child abuse survivor, and general sad sack. He lets things happen to him, rarely exercising agency. When he takes initiative, it often back fires, leaving him in the sad state he was in before. There is no movement forward, no improvement in his lot in life. Oddly, the novel begins with him declaring that he is happy, which seems to be self-deception. Mixed in the novel are musings about current events including Trump, Brexit, and the Grace case where the remains of over 100 babies and children were found in a septic tank on the former ground of a now defunct religious order. The novel also features senseless violence, arrogant and stupid police, child rape and child murder. Still, Jack Taylor endures and lives to see another day. ( )

If you like mysteries that are dark, bleak and, at times, humorous, the Jack Taylor novels by Ken Bruen in general, and In the Galway Silence in particular, are just the ticket. Jack Taylor is his own worst enemy, as he attempts to solve a double-murder while managing his often chaotic personal life, with his usual Irish charm and blarney. Where Jack goes, confusion follows. Ken Bruen's prose quite often reads like poetry and the staggered style loosely imitates Jack's human condition as he goes from one problem to another. This is a quick and enjoyable read and transports the reader to Ireland, as sure as being there. Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the e-ARC of In the Galway Silence by Ken Bruen in exchange for an honest review. ( )