The Emerald Lie

Ken Bruen, the “Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel” (Irish Independent), is beloved for his black humor, verse-like prose, and irascible protagonist Jack Taylor, an ex-cop who is as addicted to trouble as he is to Jameson, pills, and pop culture.

In The Emerald Lie, the latest terror to be visited upon the dark Galway streets arrives in a most unusual form: a Cambridge graduate who becomes murderous over split infinitives, dangling modifiers, and any other sign of bad grammar. Meanwhile, Jack is approached by a grieving father with a pocketful of cash on offer if Jack will help exact revenge on those responsible for his daughter’s brutal rape and murder. Though hesitant to get involved, Jack agrees to get a read on the likely perpetrators. But Jack is soon derailed by the reappearance of Emily (previous alias: Emerald), the chameleon-like young woman who joined forces with Jack to take down her pedophile father in Green Hell and who remains passionate, clever, and utterly homicidal. She will use any sort of coercion to get Jack to conspire with her against the serial killer the Garda have nicknamed “the Grammarian,” but her most destructive obsession just might be Jack himself.

About the author

Ken Bruen (b. 1951) is one of the most prominent Irish crime writers of the last two decades. Born in Galway, he spent twenty-five years traveling the world before he began writing in the mid 1990s. As an English teacher, Bruen worked in South Africa, Japan, and South America, where he once spent a short time in a Brazilian jail. He has two long-running series: one starring a disgraced former policeman named Jack Taylor, the other a London police detective named Inspector Brant. Praised for their sharp insight into the darker side of today's prosperous Ireland, Bruen's novels are marked by grim atmosphere and clipped prose. Among the best known are his White Trilogy (1998-2000) and The Guards (2001), the Shamus award-winning first novel in the Jack Taylor series. Bruen continues to live and work in Galway.

Summary

Ken Bruen, the “Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel” (Irish Independent), is beloved for his black humor, verse-like prose, and irascible protagonist Jack Taylor, an ex-cop who is as addicted to trouble as he is to Jameson, pills, and pop culture.

In The Emerald Lie, the latest terror to be visited upon the dark Galway streets arrives in a most unusual form: a Cambridge graduate who becomes murderous over split infinitives, dangling modifiers, and any other sign of bad grammar. Meanwhile, Jack is approached by a grieving father with a pocketful of cash on offer if Jack will help exact revenge on those responsible for his daughter’s brutal rape and murder. Though hesitant to get involved, Jack agrees to get a read on the likely perpetrators. But Jack is soon derailed by the reappearance of Emily (previous alias: Emerald), the chameleon-like young woman who joined forces with Jack to take down her pedophile father in Green Hell and who remains passionate, clever, and utterly homicidal. She will use any sort of coercion to get Jack to conspire with her against the serial killer the Garda have nicknamed “the Grammarian,” but her most destructive obsession just might be Jack himself.

Additional text

Praise for The Emerald Lie:

“Nobody writes like Ken Bruen, with his ear for lilting Irish prose and his taste for the kind of gallows humor heard only at the foot of the gallows. The Emerald Lie is pure Bruen, with its verbal tics, weird typography and unorthodox wordplay.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

“No one writes crime novels quite like Ken Bruen . . . He has tinkered with the classic building blocks of the novel, rearranging things here and there and creating a narrative that becomes more unique book by book . . . I picture Bruen not so much writing as transcribing the words of a sweet fallen angel that are whispered feverishly into his ear. The result manifests itself in books that are often sad but frequently funny, so real that one is compelled to keep reading . . . And you should read every one of them.”—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter

“Bruen remains on the mountaintop of contemporary Irish noir. Sprightly, elliptical prose is a plus.”—Publishers Weekly

“To simply describe the setup of the plot is to pay short shrift to Bruen’s prodigious writing skills . . . Not to be missed.”—BookPage

“The most entertaining of Bruen’s Jack Taylor books . . . [A] fresh reading pleasure.”—Toronto Star (Canada)

“Bruen is brilliant.”—Galway Advertiser (Ireland)

Product details

• Authors: Ken Bruen, Bruen Ken
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.08.2016
• EAN: 9780802125460
• ISBN: 978-0-8021-2546-0
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 149 mm x 218 mm x 31 mm
• Weight: 521 g
• Series: Jack Taylor Novels; Jack Taylor
• Subjects: Fiction > Suspense; FICTION / Thrillers / Crime, Crime & mystery fiction, Ireland, c 2010 to c 2019, Father’s Day, CULTURAL HERITAGE / Irish