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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Tenth in the Jack Taylor mystery series about an ex-Garda private investigator who lives in Galway, Ireland.
My Take
This is a stroll down memory lane, looking back over past cases and events, and per usual, Bruen includes an increasing selection of book titles…and I’m adding to my TBR as well as my TBV---to be viewed.
I felt a detachment in reading this, as if everyone were simply going through the motions. A few loose threads in this including what Reardon is up to in this. What happened with Westbury’s daughter? ‘Cause I can’t see him allowing anyone to get away with hurting her! Once you learn who C33 is, you’ll wonder at the choices this vigilante has made. What’s the rhyme or reason to making these choices…no…Bruen did provide the clue to this one as I think on it. But I still have to wonder because such a person doesn’t normally make choices for other people’s good.
This was definitely an odd one. More disconnected than the earlier nine Jack Taylors and possibly a reflection on Jack’s sudden sobriety. Yeah, can you believe it? No drugs, no booze, no smokes. Strangely enough, for all its disjointed words, it was a relatively easy follow. One I wish I had avoided. I just can’t bear it, especially with that bloody ending Bruen has left us hanging with. What the hell!!?! All I can say is…Bruen better get on with book 11 and either finish me off or allow me to sigh with relief, for there’s just too much loss. A loss that I suspect will suddenly hit me in the middle of the night and leave me weeping.
Part of me wonders if Stewart undertook this task because he’s missing Jack’s usual modus operandi. NOT that I’m saying any of this is Jack’s fault.
We get more about the type of woman his mother was…definitely, we need parents to be licensed.
Oh god, this was awful. Absolutely awful. I wish I hadn’t read it, and I do have to wonder if this is the end of the Jack Taylor series, if only because I can’t imagine how it can continue as the story steps from Purgatory into a potential Hell.
The Story
It’s a sober Jack who’s mystifying Galway and his few friends with his new habits. No one can believe this tearaway can possibly behave this well, especially C33 who leaves him notes taunting him with the possibilities, egged on by the past cases he’s solved which have righted many wrongs.
The Characters
Jack Taylor has been ex-Garda for years and an addict using alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes for much longer. Except now. He’s worked a long time as a private investigator and has a long string of successes. More than he has friends that’s for certain.
A former dope dealer and now a yuppie Zen-entrepreneur, Stewart has been Jack’s friend for quite a while. Ridge is a sergeant in the Garda and another friend of Jack’s. She’s no longer married to, as Jack calls him, that bollix.
C33 is a vigilante taking out the bad guys and addressing notes of invitation to Jack.
Daniel Reardon is a dot-com billionaire who has arrived in Galway to set up his business and buy up the town. I must say, I don’t like him. Kelly is Reardon’s PR director. And wife. Skylar and Stan are a couple of Americans working for Reardon. Moore is a short-term babysitter.
Gerald “Roy” Westbury is the lawyer to the criminal element.
Tim Rourke is a raping thug; Sister Maeve’s loss of Our Lady of Galway gets Jack and Ridge in trouble and sets Stewart up for an attack of nerves; Peg Ramsay is a nasty moneylender; FX are her two bodyguards; Brennan Jr doesn’t have the smarts to follow in his daddy’s footsteps — thank god; Len Waters is another psychopath; and, Dr. James seems to be in charge of the nuthouse.
Lee, Clancy, and Sharkey are the negative side of the Garda with a brief appearance while Tremlin is slightly better. He has a daughter, Oonagh, who needs a job.
The Cover
The cover has a cozy, pub sort of feel with its wooden table and a hint of light at the back, a couple of shot glasses rolling on its surface and one of the notes addressed to Jack.
The title is where Jack lives, in Purgatory.
My Take
This is a stroll down memory lane, looking back over past cases and events, and per usual, Bruen includes an increasing selection of book titles…and I’m adding to my TBR as well as my TBV---to be viewed.
I felt a detachment in reading this, as if everyone were simply going through the motions. A few loose threads in this including what Reardon is up to in this. What happened with Westbury’s daughter? ‘Cause I can’t see him allowing anyone to get away with hurting her! Once you learn who C33 is, you’ll wonder at the choices this vigilante has made. What’s the rhyme or reason to making these choices…no…Bruen did provide the clue to this one as I think on it. But I still have to wonder because such a person doesn’t normally make choices for other people’s good.
This was definitely an odd one. More disconnected than the earlier nine Jack Taylors and possibly a reflection on Jack’s sudden sobriety. Yeah, can you believe it? No drugs, no booze, no smokes. Strangely enough, for all its disjointed words, it was a relatively easy follow. One I wish I had avoided. I just can’t bear it, especially with that bloody ending Bruen has left us hanging with. What the hell!!?! All I can say is…Bruen better get on with book 11 and either finish me off or allow me to sigh with relief, for there’s just too much loss. A loss that I suspect will suddenly hit me in the middle of the night and leave me weeping.
Part of me wonders if Stewart undertook this task because he’s missing Jack’s usual modus operandi. NOT that I’m saying any of this is Jack’s fault.
We get more about the type of woman his mother was…definitely, we need parents to be licensed.
Oh god, this was awful. Absolutely awful. I wish I hadn’t read it, and I do have to wonder if this is the end of the Jack Taylor series, if only because I can’t imagine how it can continue as the story steps from Purgatory into a potential Hell.
The Story
It’s a sober Jack who’s mystifying Galway and his few friends with his new habits. No one can believe this tearaway can possibly behave this well, especially C33 who leaves him notes taunting him with the possibilities, egged on by the past cases he’s solved which have righted many wrongs.
The Characters
Jack Taylor has been ex-Garda for years and an addict using alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes for much longer. Except now. He’s worked a long time as a private investigator and has a long string of successes. More than he has friends that’s for certain.
A former dope dealer and now a yuppie Zen-entrepreneur, Stewart has been Jack’s friend for quite a while. Ridge is a sergeant in the Garda and another friend of Jack’s. She’s no longer married to, as Jack calls him, that bollix.
C33 is a vigilante taking out the bad guys and addressing notes of invitation to Jack.
Daniel Reardon is a dot-com billionaire who has arrived in Galway to set up his business and buy up the town. I must say, I don’t like him. Kelly is Reardon’s PR director. And wife. Skylar and Stan are a couple of Americans working for Reardon. Moore is a short-term babysitter.
Gerald “Roy” Westbury is the lawyer to the criminal element.
Tim Rourke is a raping thug; Sister Maeve’s loss of Our Lady of Galway gets Jack and Ridge in trouble and sets Stewart up for an attack of nerves; Peg Ramsay is a nasty moneylender; FX are her two bodyguards; Brennan Jr doesn’t have the smarts to follow in his daddy’s footsteps — thank god; Len Waters is another psychopath; and, Dr. James seems to be in charge of the nuthouse.
Lee, Clancy, and Sharkey are the negative side of the Garda with a brief appearance while Tremlin is slightly better. He has a daughter, Oonagh, who needs a job.
The Cover
The cover has a cozy, pub sort of feel with its wooden table and a hint of light at the back, a couple of shot glasses rolling on its surface and one of the notes addressed to Jack.
The title is where Jack lives, in Purgatory.
greenblack's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
yorugua1891's review against another edition
5.0
Another gem in my favorite mystery series.
I absolutely love this dark and gritty series, and this last installment was no exception. Bruen has the ability to take us into the darkest depths of Irish society by using Jack Taylor as the tour guide. The ex-garda is as usual battling his many addictions and hoping his luck will finally change for the better.
This book has a very similar flow to what we are used to get from Bruen. The hope crushed by awful developments. The falling into the jaws of despair. The use of lists of books and authors that should be known by everyone. In this case Bruen also decided to share with the reader his favorite TV series, focusing on those that were cancelled after only a couple of seasons and that he considers should not have been.
The main storyline has to do with a vigilante that is cleaning up the trash in Galway and sends messages to Jack in order to get him involved in the game. There is a new love interest, and of course Jack loses things that are important to him throughout the story. If you have read Bruen before, it will probably be pretty easy to figure out who the mysterious vigilante, called C33, is. But even if you can spot this, it won't really take away from the enjoyment of the story. There are quite a few surprises in store for you, or maybe shocks would be a better way.
Even though I loved the book, there is one thing that almost made me take a star away, but in the end I could not bring myself to do it. I really dislike when authors include a cliff-hanger at the end of a book, and it happens with this one. Now I will have to wait several months to find out how that gets resolved. I really wish Bruen stays away from this tactic in the future. We loyal readers do not need cliff-hangers to buy his next book.
I absolutely love this dark and gritty series, and this last installment was no exception. Bruen has the ability to take us into the darkest depths of Irish society by using Jack Taylor as the tour guide. The ex-garda is as usual battling his many addictions and hoping his luck will finally change for the better.
This book has a very similar flow to what we are used to get from Bruen. The hope crushed by awful developments. The falling into the jaws of despair. The use of lists of books and authors that should be known by everyone. In this case Bruen also decided to share with the reader his favorite TV series, focusing on those that were cancelled after only a couple of seasons and that he considers should not have been.
The main storyline has to do with a vigilante that is cleaning up the trash in Galway and sends messages to Jack in order to get him involved in the game. There is a new love interest, and of course Jack loses things that are important to him throughout the story. If you have read Bruen before, it will probably be pretty easy to figure out who the mysterious vigilante, called C33, is. But even if you can spot this, it won't really take away from the enjoyment of the story. There are quite a few surprises in store for you, or maybe shocks would be a better way.
Even though I loved the book, there is one thing that almost made me take a star away, but in the end I could not bring myself to do it. I really dislike when authors include a cliff-hanger at the end of a book, and it happens with this one. Now I will have to wait several months to find out how that gets resolved. I really wish Bruen stays away from this tactic in the future. We loyal readers do not need cliff-hangers to buy his next book.
slhandy45's review against another edition
3.0
My second Ken Bruen book. Maybe this one came a little too soon after the first one... did not feel nearly so fresh and even had a vigilante plot line in common. I'll take a break.
raven88's review against another edition
5.0
Ken Bruen, being a personal favourite of mine, would mean that I could wax lyrical for hours about Purgatory, the tenth outing for Jack Taylor, a man destined for melancholy punctuated by acts of random violence. I could draw attention to the pitch perfect characterisation of Jack, with his regular mounting and dismounting of the wagon of physical pleasures, the booze and the fags, and his less than harmonious forays into the pleasures of the flesh. Always the wrong woman Jack. I could highlight the intrinsic morality buried deep in his soul, that manifests itself at times in observations of an almost lyrical beauty and his steadfast engagement with books, culture and current events that Bruen effortlessly weaves into the plot. At the same time it would be foolish to ignore the dark side of our erstwhile hero though, and the black places he inhabits mentally, and gets taken to, in the demands of this case all beautifully rendered by the sparsity yet richness of Bruen’s language which ebbs and flows with laconic perfection throughout Jack’s travails. I could mention the twisted, yet ultimately affectionate, relationship between Jack and his native Galway, as the seedier aspects of this community and those that wish to exploit it, come to bear in this tale of avarice and murder…
Or I could keep it simple in a homage to Jack himself with his honest, sweary nature and gravitation to the simple pronouncement. Purgatory? Feckin’ great.
Or I could keep it simple in a homage to Jack himself with his honest, sweary nature and gravitation to the simple pronouncement. Purgatory? Feckin’ great.
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