JACK TAYLOR NOVELS Sanctuary Cross Priest The Dramatist The Magdalen Martyrs The Killing of the Tinkers The Guards BRANT NOVELS CRIME NOVELS MAX & ANGELA NOVELS PRIEST UK Nominated for the 2008 Edgar® Award for Best Novel! Ireland, awash in cash and greed, no longer turns to the church for solace or comfort. But the decapitation of Father Joyce in a Galway church horrifies even the most jaded citizen. Jack Taylor, devastated by the recent trauma of personal loss, has always believed himself to be beyond salvation. But a new job offers a fresh start, and an unexpected partnership makes him hope that his one desperate vision - of family - might yet be fulfilled. An eerie mix of exorcism, a predatory stalker, and an unlikely attraction conspires to lure him into a murderous web of dark conspiracies. The spectre of a child haunts every waking moment. Bleak, unsettling and totally original, Ken Bruen's writing captures the brooding landscape of Irish society at a time of social and economic upheaval. Here is evidence of an unmistakeable literary talent. For more information from Books at Transworld, click here. Buy the book from Amazon.co.uk or an independent bookstore (Murder by the Book in Houston has them in stock!). A special limited edition of PRIEST is now available from Scorpion Press. More details here. PRAISE US "Jack Taylor, the violent, guilt-driven, alcoholic ex-cop who suffers exquisite agonies in Ken Bruen's black-bordered narratives, has been away from Galway for only five months when PRIEST (St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95) opens. But he spent those months in a hospital ("the madhouse ... the loony bin ... the home for the bewildered"), traumatized at having caused the death of a child. Back in his old haunts but still extremely disoriented, Jack is reluctantly drawn into the investigation of the murder of a pedophile priest whose disembodied head was found in the confessional, a crime that has put the fear of God into any man of the cloth, guilty or not, accused of sexual abuse. You can't expect much in the way of conventional sleuthing from this tormented hero, but there's music in his lament for the corruption of innocence and the loss of faith—in the government and the clergy—in "the new Ireland," even as he does battle with the demons that have claimed his own soul."    —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "The prolific crime novelist Ken Bruen is a supremely bold and confident stylist.... Bruen's new novel Priest, the fifth in his Jack Taylor series, is his most ambitious and interesting to date, his signature style achieving a rare seriousness and force.... Priest is hardboiled in the best way, unforgiving and unforgettable."    —Jocelyn Clark, Sunday Tribune (Ireland) "Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor is back. As always the author's words are razor sharp. Bruen pours it all on the page in his books and PRIEST is another shattering tale. Using his three story arcs to draw parallels between the personal and societal ailments that are threatening modern society he has once again offered a narrative that will entertain, regale and haunt the reader as only an Irish story can. Priest will echo in your mind as only a book written by a poet possibly could."    —Ruth Jordan, Crimespree Magazine "Bruen should be valued as one of the most challenging and memorable writers in the genre at the moment."    —Sharon Wheeler, ReviewingTheEvidence.com (read the full review)