Warning Explicit Language.



Like Bruen's first novel, The Guards, this novel focuses on Jack Taylor, a middle-aged alcoholic and cocaine addict who once was a policeman and now intermittently makes a living as a private investigator. In this instance, he is been hired to find out who has been killing young male tinkers and mutilating the corpses. The tinkers are also known as Irish gypsies, the travelers, and the clans. So Taylor is very much operating in his element, on the underside of Irish society.

The killings that Taylor investigates are ghoulish and mysterious, but they are not really front and center in the story. Bruen is much more interested in what goes on inside of Taylor's head and in his relationships with other characters than in how he detects. Taylor seems largely self-educated and is very knowledgeable about serious and popular literature, films, television shows, and popular music.

near the skating rink