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Ammunition (Brant Series #7) by Ken Bruen — book cover

Ammunition (Brant Series #7)

by Ken Bruen
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Overview

Over the many years that Inspector Brant has been bringing his own patented brand of policing to the streets of southeast London, the brilliant but tough cop has made a few enemies. So when a crazed gunman, hired by persons unknown, pumps a magazine full of bullets into Brant in a local pub, leaving him in grasping at life (but ornery as ever), his colleagues on the squad are left wondering how to react.

Brant's old partner Inspector Roberts, the man who may know him best, finds himself wondering why someone didn't shoot the hateful detective years ago. The answer, as they're all about to find out, is quite simple: if you come after Brant you'd damn well better kill him the first time-because if you don't, you won't want to stick around to find out what happens next.

Synopsis

Inspector Brant is back is back in the seventh novel in Ken Bruen's London-based cop series\

Publishers Weekly

The seventh Inspector Brant noir from Shamus-winner Bruen (after 2006's Calibre) maintains the feverish pacing that has become Bruen's trademark. As incorrigible hardcase Brant sits in a London pub brooding about the recent demise of his hero, real-life author Ed McBain, a gunman opens fire and then disappears. Hit multiple times, Brant is rushed to the hospital. Local criminals and cops alike rejoice at this unexpected bit of good fortune, but within a few days he's up and crankier than ever, vowing revenge on his assailants. Meanwhile, his fellow cops grapple with their own personal crises: Sgt. Elizabeth Falls is harassed by a psycho named Angie (last seen in Vixen), fresh out of prison and anxious to settle the score; police constable McDonald, in a cocaine-fueled downward spiral, agrees to lead a group of senior citizen vigilantes. When one of the codgers is killed during their first mission, McDonald's fate is sealed. Bruen keeps this train wreck on proper course to a wholly satisfying, and very noir, conclusion. (Aug.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information\

About the Author, Ken Bruen

KEN BRUEN has been a finalist for the Edgar, Anthony, and Barry awards, and he has won the Shamus Award and the Macavity Award for books in the Jack Taylor series. He lives in Galway, Ireland.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"It's always a delight to discover a writer with an utterly distinctive voice…the words that best describe him, besides original, are outrageous and hilarious."—Washington Post"Bruen's furious hard-boiled prose, chopped down to its trademark essence, never fails to astonish."—Publishers Weekly"Bruen's style is clipped, caustic, heartbreaking and often hilarious."—Cleveland Plain Dealer"Irish writer Ken Bruen does the noir thing well. His men are tough, his prose is lean, and there's not a single drop or morsel of sentimentality to be found therein."—Entertainment Weekly"A soul-mate of Jim Thompson's, or maybe James M. Cain's."—Irish Times

Publishers Weekly

The seventh Inspector Brant noir from Shamus-winner Bruen (after 2006's Calibre) maintains the feverish pacing that has become Bruen's trademark. As incorrigible hardcase Brant sits in a London pub brooding about the recent demise of his hero, real-life author Ed McBain, a gunman opens fire and then disappears. Hit multiple times, Brant is rushed to the hospital. Local criminals and cops alike rejoice at this unexpected bit of good fortune, but within a few days he's up and crankier than ever, vowing revenge on his assailants. Meanwhile, his fellow cops grapple with their own personal crises: Sgt. Elizabeth Falls is harassed by a psycho named Angie (last seen in Vixen), fresh out of prison and anxious to settle the score; police constable McDonald, in a cocaine-fueled downward spiral, agrees to lead a group of senior citizen vigilantes. When one of the codgers is killed during their first mission, McDonald's fate is sealed. Bruen keeps this train wreck on proper course to a wholly satisfying, and very noir, conclusion. (Aug.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information\

Kirkus Reviews

Bruen (American Skin, 2006, etc.) revisits the dark side of London, home of the dishonest, the depraved and the detestable-and that's just the police. Seated at the bar in one of his favorite hangouts, Detective Sergeant Tom Brant, the cop other cops love to hate, is sucking up whisky and thinking fond thoughts of his hero Ed McBain when an interloper enters and puts a bullet in his back. Regret floods South East Met with the news that the wound is not fatal. The shooter is soon identified as neophyte hit man Terry Banks, whose employer, tycoon Rodney Lewis, dislikes Brant for obscure reasons but with homicidal intensity and zero tolerance for failure. As a result, bungling Terry gets snuffed. Meanwhile, back at Met headquarters, distemper rules as usual. WPC Liz Falls has managed to lie and cheat her way to the rank of sergeant without alleviating her self-loathing. Chief Inspector James Roberts's rampant bitterness is more corrosive than ever. Constable MacDonald, once a Met golden boy, has added another blot to his copybook, this one likely to be permanent, in a dashed-off story line noticeably bereft of Bruen's customary stylishness. What was he thinking?\

Book Details

Published
July 1, 2007
Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Pages
240
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780312341459

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