The Emerald Lie

The 12th entry in Bruen's Jack Taylor series shows the former cop nominally dealing with two cases—the first finds him approached by a devastated and well-connected father to look into the rape and murder of his daughter, while the second involves a serial killer, nicknamed "the Grammarian," who chooses victims based on their poor use of language. Also keeping Jack busy is Emily (Emerald, from Green Hell), and her return has an unsettling impact. Plot is relatively unimportant here, as the first case is wrapped up in the book's first third, and "the Grammarian" is identified before the halfway mark. Rather, this is a long, meandering novel with a worn-out, beaten-down man, who has lost all of his meaningful relationships and given into his demons, finding peace only in the form of his dog and musings on literature and popular culture. Jack is a memorable protagonist, and Bruen fleshes out minor characters to excellent effect. Less successful are the not-quite credible interludes involving the Grammarian that distract from the narrative of Jack's decline.