Ken Bruen, Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Ken Bruen

Minotaur, May 12 2009, $24.95

ISBN: 9780312384418

Although former Irish Garda Siochana guard Jack Taylor drinks in America when he falls off the wagon, he is back in Galway because his police partner Cathleen Ridge has breast cancer. She is about the only person he cares about.

Someone calling himself Benedictus sends Jack a note with a hit list of planned victims that includes two guards, a judge, a nun and one child. He has no idea who this person is and why he or she is sending him the list. Jack discusses the note with his former friend and current enemy Superintendent Clancy, who says though one person included on the list is dead in a hit and run, he writes off Taylor's serial killer theory as nonsense. Jack still wonders why the killer thought he would understand as he comprehends nothing.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, Jack knows it is easy to stop drinking; he has done it a thousand times. The story line is fast-paced though the ending feels rushed and the hero is a bit "Xanaxed" down than his normal level of belligerency. Still fans of the series will appreciate this tale because we know Jack.

Harriet Klausner