His “Cross” to Bear

Three months ago, long before Ken Bruen Appreciation Day, I wrote here about how fond I am of his latest private eye Jack Taylor novel, Cross. Last week, I had the opportunity to meet once more with Bruen himself, when he visited London (from his home in Galway, Ireland) to help celebrate the launch of Cross.

It was a lively affair, held in Kilburn (North London) at the Prince Albert Pub. Transworld, Bruen’s UK publisher, had reserved a bar area for the festivities. Among those in attendance was American actor-musician David Soul (former star of the TV series Starsky and Hutch). It seems that the Irish wordsmith and he have become close friends over the years, and Bruen dedicated Cross to Soul (“For ... a Beautiful Mind”). There’s even a rumor that Soul is interested in bringing Jack Taylor to the big screen. (Click here for details.)

Also on hand were London-based writers Cathi Unsworth, Martyn Waites, and Nick Stone. This was the first time that Stone and Bruen had met in person, yet it was Bruen who (during last year’s launch of his 2006 book, Priest) had tipped me off to Stone’s mesmerizing debut novel, Mr. Clarinet. I reduced Bruen to fits of laughter when I told him how outraged I was by the fact that he, and not I, had first “discovered” Stone--since it’s technically my job to find such new and exceptional talent. In turn, though, Bruen admitted that I had bested him this year, by tipping him off to Michael Marshall’s The Intruders, which he had only just finished--and which had enchanted him with its chillingly paranoiac look at reality.

I’ve known Bruen for a number of years now, and have always been struck by how his kindly demeanour is at sharp odds with the grim, despairing world he portrays in his fiction. This dichotomy is very evident in a video clip of him reading the brutal opening chapter from Cross. I was able to capture this video (hosted by Crimespace) during his most recent London appearance. Click here to see and hear the man from Galway in action. But be warned: this is noir at its darkest, with brutality and harsh language right from the start.

If you’ve not read this award-winning novelist, pick up Cross, or maybe Priest--his most recently published novel in the States. When it comes to Irish existential angst and Irish atmospherics, Ken Bruen’s your man.

BONUS: Click here to find a video introduction to Cross.