Title:	Galway Girl
	Author:	Ken Bruen
	Published:	November 5, 2019, Mysterious Press
	No. of Pages:	288
	Cover Price:	$26.00 Hardcover, $14.99 Kindle

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Ken Bruen has his own writing style like no other. And the 15th novel in the Jack Taylor series, Galway Girl is no exception – hardboiled and dark. This is a series that readers either love or hate – nothing in between, and Jack Taylor is a tough, alcoholic progagonist who solves his crimes in unusual ways. The prose is like no other – jumping from subject to subject, character to character, and fans who are used to this, having read the previous novels, can follow it. Those who haven’t yet read the Jack Taylor series may be a bit confused, and have trouble understanding and following.

The setting is in Galway, Ireland, and while the characters do speak English, they are mostly light on their native tongue, Irish. Bruen uses a lot of profanity, which brings out the fact that the characters are of the lower classes, and certainly not the elite that most readers can relate to. It also makes readers wonder if Bruen has control of his language, or uses the profanity as a way of filling in for not knowing what to write. There is also a lot of violence – murders, mostly, and this novel is about Jack Taylor searching for a gang of three murderers who are killing the Guard (police). Bruen does do a good job of developing his characters, but unlike many series, the main characters (as well as the bad guys) are not very likeable, and won’t appeal to everyone. In fact, some readers won’t relate and won’t like the setting, characters, or story.

For those thriller fans who like ups and downs, twists and turns, and language and violence, this is a series that will appeal. Because there are fourteen books written prior to Galway Girl it is recommended that readers start at the first installment. This will insure that they understand the brutal, callous style of the author, as well as the Irish underpinnings which are interesting, but foreign to most. This is a novel that definitely won’t appeal to everyone.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.