Unknown Title

Title:

Callous / Ken Bruen.

Author:

Bruen, Ken, author.

ISBN:

9781504067294

Personal Author:

Bruen, Ken, author.

Physical Description:

237 pages ; 21 cm

Content Type:

text

Media Type (RDA):

unmediated

Carrier Type:

volume

Abstract:

"Kate Mitchell's in the process of kicking her heroin addiction--with the help of alcohol--when a letter arrives informing her that her aunt in Ireland has passed away and bequeathed her a home near the ocean. This could be the start of a new and better life for Kate, far away from Brooklyn, where she and her surviving brothers are each struggling with their own dark pasts. But Aunt Mary didn't die peacefully--quite the opposite. The pair of thugs responsible for her murder had plans for her house: namely, turning it into a lovely seaside meth lab. One of Mary's killers, however, finds his focus shifting when he spots a photo of the dead woman's American niece, who bears a striking resemblance to the late opera singer Maria Callas, the beloved object of his obsession. When Kate and her brothers arrive to claim her inheritance, they're going to find something other than a piece of paradise . . ." --Amazon.

Subject Term:

Brothers and sisters -- Fiction.

Inheritance and succession -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Ireland -- Fiction.

Genre:

Thrillers (Fiction)

Format:

Books

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Lockport Public Library	34094004814409	BRUEN	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Medina - Lee-Whedon Memorial Library	34103001926296	BRUEN	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Wilson Community Library	34172000451473	BRUEN	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Inheriting a Galway cottage may change a troubled woman's life--but not the way she hopes--in this thriller from an "original, grimly hilarious" author ( The Washington Post ).

Kate Mitchell's in the process of kicking her heroin addiction--with the help of alcohol--when a letter arrives informing her that her aunt in Ireland has passed away and bequeathed her a home near the ocean. This could be the start of a new and better life for Kate, far away from Brooklyn, where she and her surviving brothers are each struggling with their own dark pasts.

But Aunt Mary didn't die peacefully--quite the opposite. The pair of thugs responsible for her murder had plans for her house: namely, turning it into a lovely seaside meth lab. One of Mary's killers, however, finds his focus shifting when he spots a photo of the dead woman's American niece, who bears a striking resemblance to the late opera singer Maria Callas, the beloved object of his obsession. When Kate and her brothers arrive to claim her inheritance, they're going to find something other than a piece of paradise . . .

"Nobody writes like Ken Bruen, with his ear for lilting Irish prose and his taste for the kind of gallows humor heard only at the foot of the gallows." -- The New York Times

"Bruen has a rich and mordant writing style, full of offbeat humor." -- Publishers Weekly

Author Notes

Ken Bruen (b. 1951) is one of the most prominent Irish crime writers of the last two decades. Born in Galway, he spent twenty-five years traveling the world before he began writing in the mid 1990s. As an English teacher, Bruen worked in South Africa, Japan, and South America, where he once spent a short time in a Brazilian jail. He has two long-running series: one starring a disgraced former policeman named Jack Taylor, the other a London police detective named Inspector Brant. Praised for their sharp insight into the darker side of today's prosperous Ireland, Bruen's novels are marked by grim atmosphere and clipped prose. Among the best known are his White Trilogy (1998-2000) and The Guards (2001), the Shamus award-winning first novel in the Jack Taylor series. Bruen continues to live and work in Galway.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Early in this propulsive standalone from Edgar finalist Bruen (the Jack Taylor series), Brooklyn resident Kate Mitchell, who's struggling to kick a heroin habit, wakes up from an alcohol-induced bender to find a letter from an Irish lawyer informing her that her 79-year-old aunt, Mary Casey, has died and left Kate a cottage in the Galway village of Claddagh. Hoping for a fresh start, Kate leaves Brooklyn with her two surviving brothers: one a priest and former police officer, the other a hotheaded ex-Marine. In Galway, they learn their aunt was murdered. Mary was approached by Dio Ortiz, a drug dealer with ties to a cartel, who was procuring houses to use as meth labs in Claddagh. When Dio saw a photo of Kate on Mary's mantel, he thought Kate resembled his obsession, opera singer Maria Callas, and killed Mary in the hope that would bring Kate to Galway, "where he'd woo her." The Mitchells soon find themselves on the receiving end of a campaign of intimidation. Lively characters and the author's trademark wit compensate for the convoluted plot. Bruen fans will clamor for more. Agent: Lukas Ortiz, Philip G. Spitzer Agency. (Sept.)

Booklist Review

Kate Mitchell catches the eye of murderous drug kingpin Dio, when he spots a family photo while he's murdering her aunt, and he's ready for her when she arrives in Galway to inherit her aunt's home. Dio had it earmarked as a trap house for his Galway methamphetamine empire, but that takes a back seat to revenge after Kate dishes him a casually brutal rejection. Dio sends his lieutenant, Keegan, to punish her, prompting Kate to beckon her amped-up brother, Colin, from Brooklyn, where he's been recovering from battle-bred PTSD. Not to be excluded, the third sibling in their dysfunctional triumvirate, Mitch, also arrives, convinced that his experiences as a failed cop and unfrocked priest will come in handy to protect Kate and avenge their aunt's murder. Taking out a psychopathic kingpin seems to be a matter of simple plotting until U.S. Marshal Mason enters the picture and coerces recovering heroin addict Kate into avoiding drug charges by seducing Dio and becoming an informant. Throughout, Bruen's Galway remains soaked in jaded wisdom and flickers of suspense-driving hope. A bittersweet cameo of Bruen's previous protagonist, PI Jack Taylor, signals a passing of torches, keeping fans of Bruen's gut-punching noir hooked, while attracting new readers with black-cloud Mitch.