If James Ellroy had a British disciple that person would be Ken Bruen. He's been around a long time has Ken, I recall reading a few his novels back in the mid 90s, one of my colleagues really loved him. I used to really love James Ellroy, but have to say I got stuck one third of the way through one of Ellroy's most recent novels,
Perfidia, finding it just too excessive and hard going. So it was a relief that I was able to finish
Galway Girl. But it did require a ginormous suspension of disbelief and not a little patience with the paradoxically impatient stabby dashy style.
Galway's quite a small place, isn't it? So how come so many people get stabbed to death there and how come the bishop's cousin and the bishop himself... OK, don't ask. Don't stop to ask. Don't think. Just grip the prose and go for the ride. And there you have it. An unbelievable plot, unbelievable characters, lots of unbelievable action... But written with some brio and in an extremely. Punchy. Sort. Of. Style.
I think I quite liked it...
