Still stinging from his unceremonious ouster from the Garda Siochana, and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look forward to. He is teetering on the brink of his life's sharpest edges, his memories of the past cutting deep into his soul and his prospects for the future non-existent.

Until a dazzling woman walks into the bar with a strange request and a rumour about Jack's talent for finding things. Odds are he won't be able to climb off his barstool long enough to get involved, but when he surprises himself by getting hired, Jack has little idea of what he's getting into.

Listening Length

4 hours and 37 minutes
Author

Ken Bruen
Narrator

Gerry O'Brien
Audible release date

Sept. 9 2009
Language

English
Publisher

ISIS Audio Books
ASIN

B071YW17LX
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	4 hours and 37 minutes
Author	Ken Bruen
Narrator	Gerry O'Brien
Audible.ca Release Date	September 09 2009
Publisher	ISIS Audio Books
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B071YW17LX
Best Sellers Rank	#103,577 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #3,594 in Crime Fiction #6,604 in Suspense (Audible Books & Originals) #7,842 in Mysteries

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

1,892 global ratings

5 star		41%
4 star		32%
3 star		19%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from Canada

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spj

Bruen novel, The Guards

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

Gave this book as a gift and my son could not wait to get at the story again after work. Intriguing plot.

Helpful

aaron

Definitely not as good as the tv series.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

I was very disappointed, didn't keep me at the edge of my seat at all.

Helpful

Josephine Harris

Compelling

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 6, 2023

The Guards is the first novel in the Jack Taylor series. This is the book that got me going with Bruen. It's not a stand alone but the start of a series of intertwining stories. This is what I love about Bruen. He trusts his readers to remember and care about what has come before without rehashing the past, thereby setting up Jack to be revisited by his past and endangering his future. The tension does not subside. One particular twist in a story, coming several novels later, perhaps moved me more than I've ever been moved by a turn in a book. Be warned. He's addictive and prolific.

Helpful

Hotspur

it's a brilliant tale, well told

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 30, 2016

Verified Purchase

You have to "get" Irish to fully appreciate the book. Or maybe if you don't, this is an opportunity to get a look inside that culture.
In any case, it's a brilliant tale, well told, and I know I will be reading a lot more Ken Bruen.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Dana Brynelsen

Just great!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

Lyrical, raw, black, funny, the writing has just about everything you want in a good book with a hero whose struggles are mostly self inflicted and sometimes heartbreaking.

Helpful

Frerebois

Brilliant debut!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

Possibly the best mystery I have ever read and certainly the best debut novel.
Exceedingly clever and insightful; Jack Taylor is an inspired creation.
N.B. - Saw the TV movie version; Iain Glen is a great choice as Taylor but the writing guts the novel and leaves out the best ideas.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Great read

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

I saw the television series and wondered what the books would be like......I was not disappointed......I have not visited Eire but Must do in the near future

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Excellent series. Ken Bruen is fabulous

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent series. Ken Bruen is fabulous. The prose is pure finesse. Love all his Jack Taylor novels. Funny and smart.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Malcolm R

Amoral but strangely compulsive

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

More the life and times of Jack Taylor than an investigation Iain Glenn Our eponymous hero to a “T” but the book is much bleaker and nastier than the TV series. Sometime policeman drinks his way through Galway and life occasionally being asked to find things, this time to discover the truth behind a young girl's suicide. A lot of alcohol is consumed and some poking around with him being responsible for the death of two people - one accidental - and being party to the suicide of a third, I am not sure why he does what he does and he really is a reprehensible and repulsive man but I had to finish the book! Not sure I’ll read another.

Stephen Maher

The TV series is great. The book makes you imagine what Taylor looks ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

Bruen has provided a novel which may not win any literary awards at Oxford. The style is staccato, banging along as Taylor reels through the story seemingly without a plan and dragging along his own weaknesses meeting characters along the way who provide their own narrative on why Taylor is flawed but accepting that Taylor is what he is. The TV series is great. The book makes you imagine what Taylor looks like - some guy in an old police coat with a huge personality and the knack to tell people, and the Reader, exactly what he thinks. The writing style is minimal which fits with the character and, if you can accept the style (not everyone will like not everyone can read Kerouac) then you'll be supporting and raising your eyes at Taylor's behaviour as he walks the tired streets, barges into people's private matters, judges them and moves on to his next potential heart attack. If you met Taylor he would annoy you, upset you and you'd want to do what does happen to him which is he gets a good kicking now and then but he accepts it and moves on. Taylor is hard, uncomplicated and yet complex, making on the spot decisions to solve the case and make people involved feel uncomfortable and probably threatened by this loud-mouthed, swearing drunk who knows he is a drunk and accepts it as is and lights up another cigarette to prove that you accept him or get out of his way. In the end, you may not like him but you want to hear him talk and you know that if you start to bore him he will probably just stand up from the table, finish the Bushmills and walk out without saying goodbye.

So, the writing style takes some getting used to but Bruen is writing as Taylor so the writing is often rambling yet cut short with short, sharp passages which I often found myself re-reading because the Irish-ness, if there is such a phrase, adds to the character and I ended up almost reading it like lyrical prose, with the accent and seeing Jack button up his coat to move onto the next page. My advice, stick with it; it's not Steinbeck and Taylor seems to be some ghost you have locked away, or a rare relative who appears at the party and everyone complains about but cannot take their eyes off as they become a presence in every room; offending people and then, surprisingly, showing little moments of tenderness to remind you that although Taylor cannot be saved, is probably doomed, he is not lonely and takes charge without you noticing. Good work.

One person found this helpful

Thomas Lundmark

One note of caution:

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

I like some of his later ones even better, like Magdalen Martyrs, but The Guards is certainly entertaining. And I don't remember finding typographical errors in The Guards. Maybe the editing process was better. I found numerous errors in the other books, including Martyrs.
One note of caution: The style takes some getting used to: constant quotes (not all of them apposite); short scenes (which I like); interludes (which I don't really care for); repetitive observations (for readers who didn't start at the beginning); many cut-out characters (okay by me because they are just part of the background scenery); lots of self-analysis by Jack; etc.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

It was a natural progression to turn to the previously unheard of books that inspired the series to see if they could live up to

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 11, 2015

Verified Purchase

I first came to the Jack Taylor character and series via the Amazon Prime series and was instantly hooked ( especially by Iain Glen's masterful portrayal of the lead character). It was a natural progression to turn to the previously unheard of books that inspired the series to see if they could live up to that expectation - and I was not disappointed. The author's prose is lean, graphic and dark, in the mould of Ellroy or Chandler but with a distinctiveness, lightness of touch and off beat humour all of its own.

If you like crime fiction and prefer it hard boiled and noir, this author is highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

Pensioner Power.

Outstanding.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

A dark exposure of a person living with despair and guilt. Jack Taylor will never be everyone's idea of a hero but his struggle with the demons that drive him will always make compelling reading. Simply outstanding.

2 people found this helpful

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