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A review by saareman
The Book of Virtue by Ken Bruen
1.0
A Travesty of Errors - Bibliomysteries #1
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (November 12, 2012) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (2011).
I've previously read a few of Ken Bruen's crime books in my pre-reviewing days and am not a fan of his cryptic staccato style of writing. I have mostly been enjoying the Bibliomysteries series though and I thought that I would give this inaugural #1 short story a chance. That was a wretched mistake.
Written in Bruen's trademark choppy style it also betrays evidence of not having been proofread or copy-edited after it was likely dashed off in a few hours. The protagonist is introduced early as being a 17-year-old orphan who is later revealed to be a bouncer at a nightclub. Age check anyone? He is then supposed to be the lover of a 25-year-old femme fatale who will lead him astray before it is all over.
Namechecks of various actors, musicians and poets reveals an atrocious level of guessed-at and uncorrected spellings e.g. "Joe Peschi" (sic) for actor Joe Pesci, "Lorena McKennet" (sic) for musician Loreena McKennitt, "Cafavvy" (sic) for poet [a:Constantinos P. Cavafy|51724|Constantinos P. Cavafy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1485474558p2/51724.jpg].
If that sloppiness wasn't enough, the story itself is a total dud and has nothing to do with the theme of "deadly books" which is supposed to be the central topic of the series.
Trivia and Links
Ken Bruen (1951-) is an Irish writer of mystery & crime novels, especially those in the Jack Taylor (2001-2024+ongoing?) series and the Inspector Brant (1998-2007) series.
The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition hardcovers, paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as [b:Bibliomysteries|32191848|Bibliomysteries|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478278696l/32191848._SY75_.jpg|56893092] (2013, containing stories 1-15) and [b:Bibliomysteries: Volume Two|36327114|Bibliomysteries Volume Two|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842055l/36327114._SY75_.jpg|58003435] (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of mid-September 2024) includes 40 short stories.
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (November 12, 2012) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (2011).
I've previously read a few of Ken Bruen's crime books in my pre-reviewing days and am not a fan of his cryptic staccato style of writing. I have mostly been enjoying the Bibliomysteries series though and I thought that I would give this inaugural #1 short story a chance. That was a wretched mistake.
Written in Bruen's trademark choppy style it also betrays evidence of not having been proofread or copy-edited after it was likely dashed off in a few hours. The protagonist is introduced early as being a 17-year-old orphan who is later revealed to be a bouncer at a nightclub. Age check anyone? He is then supposed to be the lover of a 25-year-old femme fatale who will lead him astray before it is all over.
Namechecks of various actors, musicians and poets reveals an atrocious level of guessed-at and uncorrected spellings e.g. "Joe Peschi" (sic) for actor Joe Pesci, "Lorena McKennet" (sic) for musician Loreena McKennitt, "Cafavvy" (sic) for poet [a:Constantinos P. Cavafy|51724|Constantinos P. Cavafy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1485474558p2/51724.jpg].
If that sloppiness wasn't enough, the story itself is a total dud and has nothing to do with the theme of "deadly books" which is supposed to be the central topic of the series.
Trivia and Links
Ken Bruen (1951-) is an Irish writer of mystery & crime novels, especially those in the Jack Taylor (2001-2024+ongoing?) series and the Inspector Brant (1998-2007) series.
The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition hardcovers, paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as [b:Bibliomysteries|32191848|Bibliomysteries|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478278696l/32191848._SY75_.jpg|56893092] (2013, containing stories 1-15) and [b:Bibliomysteries: Volume Two|36327114|Bibliomysteries Volume Two|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842055l/36327114._SY75_.jpg|58003435] (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of mid-September 2024) includes 40 short stories.