Ken Bruen: The Guards (UK 2010)

From the Publisher:
The first title in the acclaimed and bestselling crime series featuring Jack Taylor, a disgraced former police detective from Galway. Mourning the death of his father, Jack is slowly drinking himself into oblivion when he is asked to investigate a teenage suicide. Plunged into a dangerous confrontation with a powerful businessman and with the Irish police - The Guards - who have an unhealthy interest in Jack's past, he finds that all is not as simple as it at first seemed and a dark conspiracy unfolds.

Ken Bruen: The Guards. A Jack Taylor Novel. Brandon, ISBN: 9780863224102 (February, 2010), 303 p., £7.99.

Ken Bruen: The Guards (USA 2004)

From the Publisher:
Still stinging from his unceremonious ouster from the Garda Síochana -- the Guards, Ireland's police force -- and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look forward to. In his sober moments Jack aspires to become Ireland's best private investigator, not to mention its first -- Irish history, full of betrayal and espionage, discourages any profession so closely related to informing. But in truth Jack is teetering on the brink of his life's sharpest edges, his memories of the past cutting deep into his soul and his prospects for the future nonexistent.

Nonexistent, that is, until a dazzling woman walks into the bar with a strange request and a rumor about Jack's talent for finding things. Odds are he won't be able to climb off his barstool long enough to get involved with his radiant new client, but when he surprises himself by getting hired, Jack has little idea of what he's getting into.

Stark, violent, sharp, and funny, The Guards is an exceptional novel, one that leaves you stunned and breathless, flipping back to the beginning in a mad dash to find Jack Taylor and enter his world all over again. It's an unforgettable story that's gritty, absorbing, and saturated with the rough-edged rhythms of the Galway streets. Praised by authors and critics around the globe, The Guards heralds the arrival of an essential new novelist in contemporary crime fiction.

Ken Bruen: The Guards. A Novel. St. Martin's Minotaur, ISBN: 0312320272 (January, 2004), 304 p., $14.99.

Ken Bruen: The Guards (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
Still stinging from his unceremonious ouster from the Garda Síochana -- the Guards, Ireland's police force -- and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look forward to. In his sober moments Jack aspires to become Ireland's best private investigator, not to mention its first -- Irish history, full of betrayal and espionage, discourages any profession so closely related to informing. But in truth Jack is teetering on the brink of his life's sharpest edges, his memories of the past cutting deep into his soul and his prospects for the future nonexistent.

Nonexistent, that is, until a dazzling woman walks into the bar with a strange request and a rumor about Jack's talent for finding things. Odds are he won't be able to climb off his barstool long enough to get involved with his radiant new client, but when he surprises himself by getting hired, Jack has little idea of what he's getting into.

Stark, violent, sharp, and funny, The Guards is an exceptional novel, one that leaves you stunned and breathless, flipping back to the beginning in a mad dash to find Jack Taylor and enter his world all over again. It's an unforgettable story that's gritty, absorbing, and saturated with the rough-edged rhythms of the Galway streets. Praised by authors and critics around the globe, The Guards heralds the arrival of an essential new novelist in contemporary crime fiction.

Ken Bruen: The Guards. A Novel. St. Martin's Minotaur, ISBN: 0312303556 (January, 2003), 291 p., $23.95.