Here we are, at installment number five of the Jack Taylor series. First, let me say that I've read a number of reviews of this book in which it was the first Taylor book the reviewer had read -- this is probably not the best one to start with. There's so much of Jack's character that begins with book one (The Guards) that starting at book five leaves you with big holes to be filled in only by sketchy references to events from the others.
brief look (no spoilers, I promise)
Like its predecessors in this series, Priest finds us once again watching the train wreck that you just know is going to happen, from which you are unable to avert your eyes. After the tragic events in The Dramatist (the book just prior to this one), Jack completely loses it and eventually finds his way into a mental hospital. After some time, an encounter with another patient puts him back on the road to recovery (as if one can ever recover from what put Jack there in the first place), and he is released, back to the streets of Galway. His old nemesis, Father Malachy, has a job for him: he wants him to find out who decapitated a priest who has a penchant for molesting young children. But (and faithful readers know there's always a but) he has a lot more on his plate: a young man who wants to team up with him in the role of a Watson to his Sherlock; his relationship with Ridge his Garda friend; his realization that his actions in the previous book also had tragic consequences for those closest to him, and last but not least, the fact that the Galway he's known since a child is changing right in front of him, and not for the better.
As I've said previously about these books, don't look to them for your daily dose of warm and fuzzy. I think that one reason I enjoy these books so much is because Bruen (through the voice of Taylor) just sort of tells it like it is -- no holds barred. I tend to get very involved while I read these; I find myself wincing at stuff Jack said, or I sit and despair over whether the poor guy's going to ever have a decent life again. In fact, I think at the end of each and every book I wonder what could possibly happen next.
Definitely a no-miss if you like Irish crime fiction, but you should know that the mystery here sits in second place to the characters. These novels are definitely the most character driven of any that I've read. I'd definitely recommend these to anyone who has a taste for noir, and a taste for Irish authors. But for pete's sake, don't start with this one as your introduction to Jack Taylor. Go back to the beginning, start with The Guards, and work your way through.
As for me...onward to #6, Cross.
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