Ken Bruen is finally getting his due...Priest is grimy, brooding, pawkily funny and wholly original. Great.

Ken Bruen's novel takes us down some dark and mysterious roads where Irish angst meets 21st-century reality in a gripping story of guilt and redemption.

Bruen writes tight, urgent, powerful prose, his dialogue is harsh and authentic and Jack Taylor has become one of today's most interesting shamuses.

Grim and elegiac by turns, Bruen is a distinctive talent who has integrated his inner fury and American noir influences to establish a powerful, original and controversial presence.

Priest is hardboiled in the best way, unforgiving and unforgettable.

Tightly structured, compelling ... You don't want to meet Jack Taylor in person, ever, but if you're a big crime fan, you do want to read every book he features in.

Priest makes for an enjoyable if slightly melodramatic read and marks the welcome return of a fine writer.

Gritty and unsettling. A good read.

... Totally absorbing ... a highly recommended read.

... Brilliantly executed and full of significant popular allusion and Irish attitude.

Bruen's tightly coiled prose strikes like a piss-soaked rattler.

Sharp, punch and unsettling, Priest is a masterpiece.

... An intensely dark maelstrom ... excellent.

Bruen should be valued as one of the most challenging and memorable writers in the genre at the moment.