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Ken Bruen


Ireland (b.1951)

Ken Bruen, born in Galway in 1951, is the author of The Guards (2001), the highly acclaimed first Jack Taylor novel. He spent twenty-five years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, S.E. Asia and South America. His novel Her Last Call to Louis Mac Niece (1997) is in production for Pilgrim Pictures, his "White Trilogy" has been bought by Channel 4, and The Guards is to be filmed in Ireland by De Facto Films.
 

Awards: Macavity (2010), Shamus (2007), Barry (2007)  see all

Genres: Mystery
 
New and upcoming books
March 2025

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Galway's Edge
(Jack Taylor, book 18)
Series
Inspector Brant
   1. A White Arrest (1998)
   2. Taming the Alien (1999)
   3. The McDead (2000)
   4. Blitz (2002)
   5. Vixen (2003)
   6. Calibre (2006)
   7. Ammunition (2007)
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Jack Taylor
   1. The Guards (2001)
   2. The Killing of the Tinkers (2002)
   3. The Magdalen Martyrs (2003)
   4. The Dramatist (2004)
   The Dead Room (2005)
   5. Priest (2006)
   6. Cross (2007)
   7. Sanctuary (2008)
   8. The Devil (2010)
   9. Headstone (2011)
   10. Purgatory (2013)
   11. Green Hell (2015)
   12. Emerald Lie (2016)
   13. The Ghosts of Galway (2017)
   14. In the Galway Silence (2018)
   15. Galway Girl (2019)
   16. A Galway Epiphany (2020)
   Jack Taylor: A Mysterious Profile (2022)
   17. Galway Confidential (2024)
   18. Galway's Edge (2025)
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Max and Angela (with Jason Starr)
   1. Bust (2006)
   2. Slide (2007)
   3. The Max (2008)
   4. Pimp (2016)
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Novels
   Shades of Grace (1993)
   Martyrs (1994)
   Rilke on Black (1996)
   The Hackman Blues (1997)
   Her Last Call to Louis MacNeice (1998)
   London Boulevard (2001)
   Dispatching Baudelaire (2004)
   American Skin (2006)
   Once Were Cops (2008)
   Tower (2009) (with Reed Farrel Coleman)
   Inherit the Dead (2013) (with others)
   Merrick (2014)
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Collections
   Funeral (1992)
   Sherry (1994)
   Time of Serena-May and Upon the Third Cross (1995)
   A Fifth of Bruen (2006)
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Novellas and Short Stories
   Murder by the Book (2005)
   Callous (2021)
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Books containing stories by Ken Bruen
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Silent Night, Deadly Night (2016)
Classic Christmas Carols with a Twist of Crime
edited by
Otto Penzler

More books 


Awards
2010 Macavity Award for Best Novel : Tower
2007 Shamus Award for Best PI Novel : The Dramatist
2007 Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel : Priest
2005 Macavity Award for Best Novel : The Killing of the Tinkers
2004 Shamus Award for Best PI Novel : The Guards

Award nominations
2018 CrimeFest: eDunnit Award (nominee) : The Ghosts of Galway
2017 CrimeFest: Last Laugh Award (nominee) : Pimp
2010 Barry Award for Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade (nominee) : The Guards
2010 Anthony Award for Best Paperback original (nominee) : Tower
2008 Edgar Award for Best Novel (nominee) : Priest
2008 Anthony Award for Best Paperback original (nominee) : Slide
2007 Barry Award for Best Paperback original (nominee) : Bust
2005 Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel (nominee) : The Dramatist
2005 Anthony Award for Best Novel (nominee) : The Killing of the Tinkers
2004 Macavity Award for Best Novel (nominee) : The Guards
2004 Edgar Award for Best Novel (nominee) : The Guards
2004 Barry Award for Best Novel (nominee) : The Guards


Ken Bruen recommends
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Small Town Sins (2023)
Ken Jaworowski
"A stunning novel. Think Peter Dexter blended with James Sallis. It is that good and beautifully written. The sort of novel where you want to underline whole passages. I'm going to be pressing this book on those I care about. It restored my joy in the mystery genre."
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Sometimes People Die (2022)
Simon Stephenson
"Sometimes People Die blew me away and cost me a night's sleep as I read it on tenterhooks. Both a revelatory glimpse into the rigours and strains of medicine and a thrilling piece of entertainment, this astounding novel announces the arrival of a new Michael Crichton for the zeitgeist."
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Carbon (2019)
Andrew Vachss
"(Carbon) is a stupendous piece of work, a genre-busting masterpiece that is awhole new direction in fiction. As astonishing as it is compulsivelyreadable and as always with Andrew Vachss, the compassion and empathyfor the vulnerable and victimized is heart-wrenching. May be the finestwork yet from the master of the art."

More recommendations 


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