by Ken Bruen
First published 2025
Jack Taylor opens his eyes after months in a coma to find Galway transformed by pandemic devastation. The whiskey-drinking detective struggles to understand how much his beloved Irish city has changed while he lay unconscious. His recovery takes a sharp turn when a desperate woman seeks his help. Someone has been attacking the local convent's nuns with a hammer, bludgeoning two Sisters already. The police show little interest as the violence escalates, leaving the religious community defenseless. Jack initially resists getting involved, still weak from whatever put him in the hospital. But he cannot ignore the brutal pattern emerging or shake the strange darkness that has settled over him since waking. As more attacks seem certain, Jack becomes the nuns' only protection. He must navigate both the changed world around him and the unsettling shadows within himself. An old friend offers support, and Jack relies on his trademark bitter humor and frequent drinks to steady his nerves as he pursues the hammer-wielding attacker through a Galway he barely recognizes.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Galway
Period: 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Head of Zeus -- an Aries Book
Content warnings: violence