Book Review: Vixen

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

Vixen     Amazon US PB Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB
Ken Bruen
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Serial Killer   Hard Boiled
Series: White Trilogy follow-up / Inspector Brant
St. Martin’s Minotaur; $16.95 trade paperback; 201 pages

The police get a call: a bomb is set to go off in a cinema in 3 minutes, the caller says. Even while he’s on the line, the bomb explodes. The caller demands payment so no more bombs will be detonated, then hangs up.

Thus begins Ken Bruen’s latest novel, Vixen. Set in southeast London, Vixen features Detective Sergeant Brant, a copper who walks a very thin line between good and bad. I say the book features him, but in the ensemble-cast tradition of Ed McBain and Reginald Hill, Brant is by no means the main character. There’s also DI Porter Nash, a gay copper; PC Falls, a woman who must deal with racism and sexism on the force as well as the disappointment of failing the Sergeants’ Exam again; and Angie, the criminal mastermind behind the bombings.

Angie embarks on this extortion scheme because her cellmate once told her that extortion is the safest, easiest way to make a load of money. Angie involves Ray and his dull-witted brother Jimmy in her plans only because Jimmy has the dynamite with which to make the bombs. Brant and the rest of the police follow their trail all over the city. Their work ends in a bloodbath.

Bruen is a spectacular writer. His prose is pared right down to the bone, yet it lacks nothing. It is a dark poetry he writes, dense language that is very precise. There’s never a wrong word here. Bruen is truly a writer’s writer. But his books are most definitely an acquired taste; they’re very dark, and while there’s humour, it’s usually black humour. They’re not for the faint of heart, either.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM