I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Headstone
by
Ken Bruen
noir mystery in a hardcover edition that was published by Mysterious Press on October 4, 2011 and has 256 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Devil, A White Arrest, Taming the Alien, The McDead, Blitz, Vixen, Calibre, Ammunition, Purgatory, The Ghosts of Galway
Ninth in the Jack Taylor suspense series based in Galway, Ireland and based on an alcoholic, drug-addicted, good-hearted private investigator tossed out of the Garda years ago.
My Take
This is the most depressing one yet of Bruen’s Jack Taylor series with the losses surrounding Jack and the warped interpretation of Darwin’s survival of the fittest by the Headstone gang. It’s also a pretty good reason to reinstate the death penalty!
As usual with Jack, it’s a mess of drugs and alcohol throughout the story. Not even a need to protect himself or Stewart is enough to encourage a sober moment. It’s weird. One moment Jack does something really decent; the next, something horribly wrong. And through it all, he eventually bashes through with his own sense of justice.
The Story
The story starts with the attack on Father Malachy, Jack’s nemesis, and continues with Father Gabriel hiring Jack to find yet another priest who absconded with Church funds. Jack has never been one to accept anyone’s thinking they were superior to him and he sure isn’t startin’ with Father Gabriel. Nor does he trust the good father’s word as to the eventual fate of Father Loyola Dunne.
Then it’s an attack against Ridge. Against Jack. Being whittled down piece by piece. Stewart will be next, as he got one of the headstones in the mail as well. A young man doing well despite his Downs’ syndrome. Clancy threatening his father’s memory.
And all the way through, we stagger through aided by Jameson’s and Xanax with a whiff of Players.
The Characters
Jack Taylor was a Garda once. A long time ago. Alcohol and drugs took their toll and continue to do so. Along with Jack’s addiction to cigarettes. Still hanging onto his Garda raincoat. Continuing to work as a private investigator. Jack utilizes his unique perspective to help all who apply to him with a heavy helping of cynicism. Even as he betrays others. Laura is an American writer with whom Jack met and fell in love. She’s coming to Galway to spend some time with Jack.
Stewart is a convicted drugs dealer from whom Jack has always gotten his drugs. Released from jail, Stewart and Jack have remained friends, helping each other as asked. Stewart has embraced a vegan lifestyle with lashings of green tea and a very Zen attitude. Sergeant Ridge, a.k.a., Ban Ni Ionaire, is a cop, and for some reason, Jack’s friend. A lesbian, she chose to protect herself after suffering a life-threatening beating by marrying Anthony to enhance her career. A decision she’s fast coming to question, even as she finds refuge with Stewart. Vinnie and Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop is a constant where Jack gets his books fix. It’s not necessary to read them all; it is necessary to have them. Whew, I hear that! Caz is Romany and another friend of Jack’s.
Father Gabriel is part of a reform group within the Catholic group called the Brethren and hires Jack to find their chief fundraiser. Kosta is a crook. A friend. One who uses Jack to accomplish his own aims and knowingly destroys a friend of Jack’s. A stupid chance Jack takes. One he pays back.
Superintendent Clancy is a cop, a garda. He used to be a friend of Jack’s; now he hates him with a passion. O’Brien is Clancy’s hatchet man. Mr. Mason is an English private investigator with a heavy hand and backed by Clancy.
The Headstone gang is…
…led by Bine whose agenda is the annihilation of retards, alkies, crippled, misfits, vulnerable, weak, pitiful, ah heck, anyone Bine doesn’t like or wants to hurt. A man whom Jack put away years ago, Ronan Wall. A tyrannical, sadistic leader, he uses pain and intimidation to sway his three followers. Bethany is intrigued by Bine even as she despises what he’s doing. The big attraction is that Bine gives her permission to do what she wants to do anyway. Then there’s Jimmie and Sean. A couple of useless boys with no ambition. Jimmie is willing to go along with anything at all while Sean is intelligent enough to understand it’s wrong and weak enough not to care. All four are the product of wealthy families.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a pale gray-blue background with mists hovering over headstones and crosses in a graveyard. Very icy. Very chilling.
Almost as chilling as the Headstone describing the criminal gang’s targeting misfits of society.
