Bruen Up A Perfect Storm

Well, it was almost perfect – Sir Kenneth of Bruen didn’t exactly sweep the boards at the Alaska Bouchercon, but he gave them a damned good polishing. First he picked up the Barry Award for Best British Novel for Priest, then went one better by claiming the Shamus (again!) in the Private Eye Writers of America’s competition, for The Dramatist. Not content with that, he then scooped a Crime Spree Magazine gong for American Skin in the, erm, Best Ken Bruen Book of the Year Award. Not bad for a Galway lad, eh? And leaving aside the semi-mythical '2nd Shamus' win, the fact that Bruen won awards for separate titles would have been a marvellous achievement in itself, except for the fact that he was nominated – along with Jason Starr – in yet another category, Best Paperback Original in the Barrys, and for yet another title, Bust. Which makes it even more wonderful than marvellous, if such a thing is possible. The big question: could it have happened to a nicer guy? We think not … The bigger question: will the achievement warrant a mention in the Irish media? Again, sadly, we think not … Meanwhile, full details of winners and losers in all categories are available at The Rap Sheet.

Bruen Up Several Storms

We may as well just rename this blog the Sir Kenneth of Bruen Hup-Ya, and for the same reason Crime Spree magazine have a category for The Ken Bruen Of The Year in their annual awards – the guy’s a literary virus, and in a very good way. The latest news, which comes courtesy of Sandra Ruttan, is that Ken’s Priest (the one millionth in the Jack Taylor series) has been nominated for Best British (!) Novel in the Barry Awards, named for Barry Gardner, the results to be announced at the 11th Annual Barry Awards presentation at Bouchercon, which takes place this year at Anchorage, Alaska (September 27 – 30). Bear in mind, people, that Bruen is already scheduled as the guest of honour at next year’s NoirCon … and as if that wasn’t enough, he and Jason Starr have also been nominated for another Barry, this time in the Best Original Paperback category, for Bust. Sir Ken? How sweet is all of that, exactly?

“I’ll be lighting lots of candles to St Jude. The publishers are so stunned they’re springing for the fares. Now that really is sweet …”

We couldn’t agree more. Watch out for those polar bears up in Alaska, man - they may look cute, but they don't have a wood to shit in. And you know how crazy that makes a bear ...

Sliding For Home

That rascally pair of rapscallious ragamuffins, Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, have the follow-up to their first collaboration, Bust, on the way in October courtesy of Hard Case Crime, but already the hup-ya big-ups having been coming in like the proverbial choppers at Da Nang. “A full-tilt, rocking homage to noir novels of the 1950s, taking full advantage of the neo-pulp Hard Case Crime imprint ... A seamless blend of Bruen’s dead-on Irish underworld and Starr’s hellish vision of the Big Apple, Hard Case’s latest release is smart, trashy fun, fulfilling ably the series’ irresistible promise,” says Publisher’s Weekly, while the Library Journal is on the case too, to wit: “Fasten your seat belts, and enjoy the bumpy ride of double- and triple-crosses, blackmail, and murder. If Quentin Tarantino is looking for another movie project, this novel with its mix of shocking violence and black comedy would be the perfect candidate.” For quite a bit more in the same vein, Slide on over here.

The Embiggened O # 1,293: Time For Some Ambidextrous Trumpet-Blowing, Wethinks

‘Declan Burke’s compelling caper’ is how Peter Rozovsky headers his very generous hup-ya of our humble offering The Big O over at Detectives Beyond Borders, the gist of which runneth thusly:

“The pace of events in this kidnap caper may remind readers of Bust, that hilarious novel that [Ken] Bruen wrote with Jason Starr … [but] … there is something sweet and gently introspective about most of this novel … each character takes time for some humorous introspection, which makes the story a fast-moving caper built up of leisurely episodes … the deliciously complicated plotting, the wry dialogue and the sympathy Burke engenders for his cast of characters made this one of the most fun and purely pleasurable reads I’ve had in a while.”

Mr Detectives Beyond Borders, sir? You had us at ‘Declan’. Thank you kindly.