Calibre

I'm quite used to the Jack Taylor series of books written by Ken Bruen, so this one took me by a bit of surprise. Instead of all the angst and trouble in Taylor's life, the police depicted here don't have that situation. Perhaps it's because the setting is England rather than Ireland, but I don't know. This is a book that quick flashes from one person's story to another's, and at first I found it a bit difficult to follow. Once I got the hang of it (and I think my initial difficulty was my own fault) I just went along with the changes, and thoroughly enjoyed them. The book doesn't show the police in the most perfect light, but by their own standards of morality they are keeping the people safe from criminals, even if it requires them to commit some crimes themselves. This is quite a cynical attitude, but I think that's Mr. Bruen's style and I will not fault him for it. The characters grab your interest and don't let go until the end. You even find yourself rooting for a policeman to commit a crime to help his floundering career, and in addition rid the streets of two dangerous criminals. Vigilante justice by the law: what a novel concept! Trust me, you will enjoy this book.

It's impossible to categorize Ken Bruen. His jarring, disjointed chronicles of crime follow no convention, and while his respect for the masters of pulp fiction: McBain Chandler Thompson is faithfully imbedded in his prose, Bruen mimics none of them. His style and his formulae are all his own: Fresh Brutal In your face No apologies "Calibre" is the latest Bruen masterpiece from Hell. A serial killer is on the loose, reaping vengeance on the rude, the inconsiderate, the boorish clods that spread their venom often and indiscriminately. The killer, "Ford", follows Jim Thompson's classic, "The Killer Inside Me", like it were the holy writ, a student of CSI dispatching his random and manner-less victims with vicious and intelligent efficiency. The perfect criminal - or so he thinks... Back to crack the case is the incorrigible sergeant Brant of the Southeast London police, a character as unconventional and unique as Bruen himself. Brant's disregard for authority is legendary, but Dirty Harry is perfectly prissy compared to Brant's distain for rules and the law, which he routinely breaks with impunity. And while Brant's superiors would like to see him on the other side of the bars, he keeps his tracks covered while solving crime with methods guaranteed to keep the self-appointed watchdogs of politically correct police procedure in an uncomfortable state of apoplexy. Take note: Ken Bruen and Sergeant Brant are not for all tastes. If you're looking for a clean police procedural with cool crime scene forensics, intricate plots, and a tidy conclusion, Bruen's rapid-fire dialog and sketchy story development may leave you wanting. Bruen, like his anti-hero Brant, are more suited to writing with a Molotov cocktail than a typewriter. But if you're looking for a new definition of noir, of grit and reality and black humor that is told without apology that could not care less who or what it offends, well, what are you waiting for?

This is the latest in Bruen's Southeast London series, and, no surprise, he again delivers the goods. As dependable as the Ramones or AC-DC in their prime, Bruen's series of ultraviolent "police procedurals" never fails to satisfy. These novels, featuring the ever charismatic Sargeant Brant, are deceptively simple on the surface, but Bruen's terse ultra-honed prose is more like poetry in disguise. On the surface you have basically a fabulously entertaining Road Runner cartoon or 2-minute punk rock song. But read them carefully and hear how the language sings. Not as dark or overtly existentialist as his Galway novels, these little gems are like nothing before them. No one else's writing is this hip, this smart and this good all at the same time. A 21st century Irish Jim Thompson with the writing chops of a poet. Think the young Van Morrison wired on crank fronting the Sex Pistols...

Many American readers are familiar with Ken Bruen from his four acclaimed hard-boiled mysteries featuring Jack Taylor, a drug and booze addicted Galway private eye. If you only know Bruen's work from the Taylor series, you're in for a treat. For Bruen is also the author of a police procedural series set in southeast London, featuring the amoral Sergeant Brant. CALIBRE is the sixth entry in the series that began in 1998. This is one of those books that once you read it, you immediately will have to search out and buy all the other books featuring Brant and his fellow constables. It's so enjoyable and fast-paced that if you're like me, you'll want to catch up with everything you missed. Bruen, who lives in Galway, Ireland, is a brilliant, creative, original voice. He is a writer clearly seeped in the American hard-boiled and noir tradition; he had been called a "Celtic Dashiell Hammett." And indeed, if you are Irish, you instinctively know about the dark side of life even before you learn to read. History resonates. But part of being Irish is to leaven the bad stuff with a caustic, fatalistic, often-hilarious sense of humor. And that is evident in Bruen's work. The constables in CALIBRE work in a section of London where the kids view the police in an atmosphere of "hostility on speed" and cops carry around "simmering rage." This social tension is bound to produce trouble. Enter the "manners psycho." In a letter taunting the cops, he makes clear his goals: "Anyone, and I mean anyone, who behaves like an a------ in public shall be terminated." This mission, he writes in his journal, is "my reality TV." Now here is a serial killer for modern times. This is a serial killer who would require weapons of mass destruction and a large appointment book. His first victim viciously berates his girlfriend in a café, reducing her to tears. He meets his grim fate when he is pushed in front of a Brit Rail train. Victim number two is a harried female executive who curses out a cab driver. The killer simply follows her into her office building and tosses her out the window. The constables of the Southeast London "Met" who get the case have issues of their own. Brant, we learn, "was heavily built with a black Irish face that wasn't so much lived in as squatted upon." Inspector Roberts is trying to keep alive his perfect record of solving cases while finding the funds to buy clothes he thinks are stylish but aren't. Female Constable Falls is trying to resurrect her career after a disastrous earlier case lands her literally in the basement. Porter Nash has to deal with being both diabetic and gay. PC McDonald is badly burned out, terrified after being shot on the job. Throughout this book, Bruen pays homage to the American masters of noir, which Brant likes to call "Nora." At one point, the serial killer, a crooked accountant by trade, tells us, "America appreciates a decent killer." It is probably something that won't make the travel brochures, but both our kil

I opened this book early this afternoon, and couldn't put it down until I finished it. Calibre is both a tribute to Ed McBain and Jim Thompson, and once again establishes Ken Bruen as one of the top crime-fiction writers working today. Fast-paced, immensely enjoyable, this is one of Bruen's Brant books, and involves among other things, a killer who idolizes Jim Thompson's Lou Ford, and wants to help install better manners in London by killing people displaying bad manners. The book also takes a clever poke at the publishing industry in general. In short, any fan of Bruen's will love this book, and anyone who hasn't discovered Bruen yet, will become a fan after reading Calibre.