From the "Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel" (
Irish Independent),
The Emerald Lie introduces a villain of the most unusual type: an Eton and Cambridge graduate who becomes murderous over split infinitives, improper punctuation, and any other sign of bad grammar. Ken Bruen's irascible protagonist, ex-cop Jack Taylor, is meanwhile approached by a grieving father with a pocketful of cash on offer if Jack will help exact revenge on those responsible for his daughter's brutal rape and murder. Jack agrees to get a read on the likely perpetrators but is soon derailed by the appearance of Emily (also known as Em, Emerald), a chameleon-like young woman who is by turns passionate, clever, and utterly homicidal. She is ready to use any sort of coercion to get Jack to conspire with her against the serial killer the Garda have nicknamed "the Grammarian," but her most destructive obsession just might be Jack himself.
From the wry master of Irish noir, The Emerald Lie is the latest novel featuring the vigilante antihero Jack Taylor, along with his lethal new sidekick Emily, a troublesomely lovable pup named Storm, and a serial killer with a singular fixation: bad grammar
Praise for The Emerald Lie:
“Nobody writes like Ken Bruen, with his ear for lilting Irish prose and his taste for the kind of gallows humor heard only at the foot of the gallows. The Emerald Lie is pure Bruen, with its verbal tics, weird typography and unorthodox wordplay.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“No one writes crime novels quite like Ken Bruen . . . He has tinkered with the classic building blocks of the novel, rearranging things here and there and creating a narrative that becomes more unique book by book . . . I picture Bruen not so much writing as transcribing the words of a sweet fallen angel that are whispered feverishly into his ear. The result manifests itself in books that are often sad but frequently funny, so real that one is compelled to keep reading . . . And you should read every one of them.”—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter
“Bruen remains on the mountaintop of contemporary Irish noir. Sprightly, elliptical prose is a plus.”—Publishers Weekly
“To simply describe the setup of the plot is to pay short shrift to Bruen’s prodigious writing skills . . . Not to be missed.”—BookPage
“The most entertaining of Bruen’s Jack Taylor books . . . [A] fresh reading pleasure.”—Toronto Star (Canada)
“Bruen is brilliant.”—Galway Advertiser (Ireland)
