THE DRAMATIST

Gerry O’Brien narrates this bleak installment in the Jack Taylor series in a lovely Irish brogue. Finding himself in the midst of multiple murders and a vigilante group called the Pikemen, Jack keeps his tenuous grip on sobriety and a severely restricted use of nicotine while trying to solve the murders. As delivered by O’Brien, Jack’s curmudgeonly observations and fickle cultural references build a seedy picture of urban Ireland today. O’Brien’s characterizations make characters, their relationships to Jack, and the gritty dialogue come together to build a picture of Jack’s fragmented life. O’Brien delivers the novel’s sad ending unemotionally, but listeners will wonder if there’s any way Jack can come back from the edge. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2011]