In Galway Confidential, the hard-hitting 17th novel in the brilliant Jack Taylor mystery series by Ken Bruen (Green Hell; Purgatory; Headstone), private detective Jack Taylor wakes from a coma to find someone posing as his brother at his bedside and an ex-nun begging for his help.
Eighteen months have passed since private detective Jack Taylor was stabbed on a bridge and ended up in a coma. The doctor who treated Jack while he was unconscious is dumbstruck when his newly revived patient chooses a gulp of Irish moonshine as the best course of action upon waking. But Jack is a local legend in Galway, Ireland, and never one for taking good advice. Raftery, the person plying the detective with drink, claims to have saved Jack by tossing his attacker off the aforementioned bridge and has managed to convince hospital staff he is Jack's brother. In return for his heroics, Raftery wants to partner up and solve cases. Jack thinks Raftery mysterious--but harmless. Meanwhile an ex-nun hires Jack to stop whoever is randomly killing nuns. Another client needs Jack to catch the two teens roaming the streets burning homeless people. Galway's favorite Jameson-drinking crime-solver is barely out of hospital from almost dying and immediately puts himself right back into danger. Because it is exactly what people expect from the private investigator.
Like his main character's favorite whiskey, Ken Bruen's strong prose demands savoring. The abundance of brutality in his stories is matched with such wit that it's impossible for readers to avoid becoming blissfully intoxicated. --Paul Dinh-McCrillis, freelance reviewer