Friday, June 30, 2006

A Fifth of Bruen -- Ken Bruen

David Thompson, of Houston's Murder by the Book, has a small press. I like the name: Busted Flush Press. One his recent publications is A Fifth of Bruen, a collection of Ken Bruen's early novels and stories, the books that "he used to sell by hand in the bars of his home town," according to the introduction by Al Guthrie. For a mere eighteen bucks, you can't go wrong with a collection like this.

I've read one of the short novels so far, All the Old Songs and Nothing to Lose. I picked this one because it's a crime novel, and it turns out to be sort of Bruen's version of Death Wish. A vigilante is on the loose, but he's a Bruen vigilante, one who quotes literary poetry and song lyrics with equal facility. Great stuff, and it has all the hallmarks of Bruen's current work. Props to David for publishing this volume. Check it out.

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