Cross
A Jack Taylor Novel
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4.3 • 23개의 평가
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- US$14.99
출판사 설명
In Cross, the sixth installment of Ken Bruen's award-winning series, Jack Taylor investigates a gruesome crucifixion in Galway, but first he must face his own demons.
Jack Taylor brings death and pain to everyone he loves. His only hope of redemption - his surrogate son, Cody - is lying in the hospital in a coma. At least he still has Ridge, his old friend from the Guards, though theirs is an unorthodox relationship. When she tells him that a boy has been crucified in Galway city, he agrees to help her search for the killer.
Jack's investigations take him to many of his old haunts where he encounters ghosts, both dead and living. Everyone wants something from him, but Jack is not sure he has anything left to give. Maybe he should disappear--pocket his money and get the hell out of Galway like everyone else seems to be doing. But when the sister of the murdered boy is burned to death, Jack decides he must hunt down the killer, if only to administer his own brand of justice. Ken Bruen's Cross is a suspenseful and deeply moving mystery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Shamus-winner Bruen's brilliant sixth Jack Taylor novel (after 2007's Priest), the tormented Galway detective feels like a ghost in a newly prosperous city that little resembles his birthplace. Years of alcoholic dissipation have taken their toll. Jack's apprentice and surrogate son, Cody, lies in hospital, the victim of bullets meant for Jack. His only real friend is Ridge, a lesbian Ban Gardai (female cop), and their relationship is a complicated mixture of affection and hostility. Jack decides to cut his losses and move to America, but first he agrees to help Ridge solve a series of heinous murders. A young man's crucifixion is followed by his sister being burned to death. As Jack investigates, he squares off against a 20-year-old girl whose grief over her religious fanatic mother's death in a hit-and-run accident has become a black insanity that demands biblical vengeance. Bruen riffs on different meanings and implications of the word cross throughout, and his insights into pain, loss and Irishness are unforgettable.
사용자 리뷰
Lighten up, Jack
Bruen’s top notch prose, distinct POV, and deep characterization make up for occasional (or frequent) plot deficiencies and improbabilities. I’m more than fine with that, but over the last three books the writing feels less inspired, and Cross is so far the worst offender in this regard. On top of that, the relentless tragedies Bruen has inflicted upon Jack have skidded into melodrama. That and the self pity that results are starting to get on my nerves. Bruen, were he alive, would probably say that’s the American in me but so be it. Darkness needs some light once in a while to be appreciated.
If this is his “worst” it’s still better than 99% of crime fic out there and thus 4 stars. But as I move on to Sanctuary I really hope things brighten up a bit, and that Bruen gets his mojo back regarding the writing itself.