Cross the line..

OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN answered with Ken Bruen's latest addition to the Jack Taylor series, Cross. The Pusher nailed Bruen down to an interview at the book's London launch party and quizzed the hugely-popular Irish writer on his God-like status among crime fans . . .

The Pusher: First up, The Pusher knows class . . . like, you can tell, right? Forget about it, don't answer that. Let's take it as given, The Pusher takes his hat off to you, Ken . . . I can call you Ken right?

Ken Bruen: I insist on it.

TP: Great . . . you can call me, Mr Pusher.

KB: . . . Mmm, I’ll give it a shot but I don’t call anyone Mister unless they’re over 70.

TP: The Pusher got a copy of your new book here, Cross . . . man, it's some piece of work. I got friction burns I been turning the pages so fast.

KB: The cheque is in the mail.

TP: You had me before the first line . . . how does that happen? I ain't even started the story and I'm hooked by that Irish saying you put in there, I'm quoting: 'A cross is only agony if you are aware of it.' Man, what's that mean?

KB: Tis Irish speak, meaning, you’re only bollixed if you know it, look at the Conservatives, they’re screwed and don’t know it.

TP: So, I'm reading Cross and in the book at page one you get me again, with the first line: 'It took them a time to crucify the kid.' That's one killer opener, man.

KB: They wanted me to change that and I said . . . nope.

TP: Good call . . . like they know shit, right. Cross strays into some dark territory, Ken you've never dodged the hard knocks in your work, but Cross is blacker than your man Jack Taylor's Guinness, and hey, The Pusher likes a pint of dark.

KB: You like Guinness, you have some merit then, I wrote this book as a direct result

of a horrendous personal tragedy and Mister, was I in one dark place.

TP: Would you like to talk about that?

KB: Alas, it’s too raw and too recent but maybe sometime over a pint or three, who’s counting?

I may be able to, suffice to say, it filled me with rage and grief.

TP: And, Old Jack's having it tough too . . . again. His many past misadventures are haunting him, like the death of Serena May, surely one of the most moving episodes The Pusher's read, and I'm a tough guy!

KB: You sound fairly tough but we’ll see . . . I lost some friends over the death of Serena May as my daughter has Down Syndrome and they felt I couldn’t do that, they were wrong.

TP: They were, Ken. They were. But, you know, it's almost hard to watch Jack going over his hard times again, Cross had The Pusher reliving the whole series back over . . . which is no mean feat. All the characters stay with you, shit, they're impossible to shake, walking off the page into real life and haunting you like some mad Irish ghosts! Ken, The Pusher has to know . . . are you dabbling in some kinda writers' voodoo no-one else knows about?

KB: I’m warming to you, yes, the voodoo is one part melancholia, two parts dementia and the third, is a lot of winging it.

TP: I see . . . maybe we could do a deal, I'm seeing it in tabs, if you get me. Oh yeah, we'll talk more on that, buddy of mines got a factory y'know . . . But first, Cross ain't all so dark, you got some great humour in there too, Ken.

KB: Humour is our way of getting even and darkness is truly darker when humour interweaves through it . . . how’d you like that interwoven . . . Mister? . . . Think I have a shot at being Literary?

TP: Whoa, that's deep. The Pusher ain't got too much school learning but he knows a good beat-down when he sees one, those literary chumps gotta be scared.

KB: You’re snowing me here but that’s okay, long as you know, I know. Put me on a desert island, and who am I gonna bring Salman Rushdie or The Friends of Eddie Coyle . . . take a wild guess.

TP: This humour in Cross . . . I liked the line Jack gave the do-gooder when he was visiting Cody, don't worry I ain't gonna give it out, we got the readers to think about, The Pusher's got a lotta readers y'know, Ken. So, this humour, where does it come from, it's Irish right? They say there's a big difference between the Irish and the English when it comes to these things.

KB: I loved Fawlty [Towers], who wouldn’t but it’s the edgy stuff, like Extra’s, the Ben Stiller, or Kate Winslet episodes. The English make Irish jokes, we don’t make English jokes . . . Know why? . . . Cos, we’re not afraid of them, think about it Mister, it’s deeper than it seems, like a good pint of the black, I like when comedians cross lines, Les Dawson in his day, Not The Nine O clock News . . . risky biz . . . though I adore Tommy Cooper, throw away humour is my favourite where you go, 'Did he just?'

But Mister, it’s kind of your style, right, the one huge difference between us and the UK is very simple, you taking notes? The English think the weather might be personal . . . we friggin' know it. You get as much friggin' rain as we do, you better have a sense of humour and it’s the notion of . . . Dancing on the Titanic, you’re fooked but you go out laughing.

TP: Like same thing with Scotchland, right? Was like, a test or something . . . seeing if I'm paying attention. That was good, well done. So, we got you know your comedians, I seen a couple of name-checks in Cross too, Dudley Moore, and hell, Hank Hill . . . you like to add some light to the dark, huh?

KB: You’re a sneaky bastard, I’ll have to watch that, true darkness is punctuated by shards of light as if hope might be on the horizon, one of the guys I like and few do is Larry David . . . his show, Jesus, talk about cringe.

TP: It's a real nice touch you have, Ken . . . to go from laughter to tears in the space of a coupla lines, man . . . The Pusher tips his hat, again.

KB: You’re being nice again which is very worrying, but thank you, I think . . . laughter and tears, like the drink, black 'n' tan . . . you know this of course . . . am I right?

TP: The Pusher knows many things . . . but reveals very little. You like that line? Hey I'm offering it up for ya . . . can have it for one of them books a'yours.

KB: You going Zen on me? But I’m not fussy, I’ll take the line but I get worried when you act nice, makes me watch me wallet.

TP: Cross definitely shows the Ireland we all know, you got that setting so strong, so utterly Irish, The Pusher expected to see it printed on green paper. How is your Celtic Tiger by the way, you feeding that whore yet?

KB: They keep telling us it’s done but we’re spending more money than ever and we are the fourth richest nation on the planet . . . how the fook did that happen? And I think tis a sly plan to destroy us, give us tons of money and watch us go down the toilet, it’s working.

TP: One thing you did do different in Cross was the structure, it's like a thriller right?

KB: You have some moves, you know that? . . . Yes, I wanted to up the ante and if a series doesn’t change, then you’re dead in the water.

TP: Hey, The Pusher picked out another one of them moves of yours, Ken . . . you got Jack eyeing a jump Stateside.

KB: You’re a sharp cookie, I’ll have to keep that in mind, yeah, I’d love to maroon Jack in say, Alabama and see how he copes.

TP: Sometimes, you know, I give the banana tree a shake and I catch a coconut . . . like the time I'm hearing you might be joining, Jack. This true, Ken? You gonna split Galway? Head to NY?

KB: Phew, how do you find out this stuff, heads will roll, so I fess up, I’m heading over there as I want to write two novels that need me to hear the American dialogue 24/7 and my time is nigh done in Galway, in so many ways, too many sad memories.

TP: Whatever you do, Ken, The Pusher can't wait to see the next Jack Taylor book, I hear it's called Benediction.

KB: You gave the title away, you wanker, what’s with that? You been sampling some of your own product . . . Jeez wept, it’s about a list that Jack gets and it is the coldest, darkest piece of writing I’ve ever done, even I went . . . shite, that is fookin ice. It is the darkest, and the swansong, Jack ain’t seen nothing yet . . . there are events in it that shocked me.

TP: Don't ask ask me how I know that, Ken . . . The Pusher's safety means nothing, but the innocent might get hurt. They say you broke a man's arm once, I heard right?

KB: Not something I’m real proud of but there is karma, right and in November, at a book launch, out of nowhere, a guy walked up and broke me jaw, that sucker hurt.

TP: You gotta name? I'll send over Jake the Toothpick, fit that bastard out with a nice new silicone necktie.

KB: Not Jack the Toothpick, he still in the biz, I heard he got done by a chick lit author, cos those dames are like heavy and you never see em coming . . . the guy who walloped me? I was asked what I wanted done? And I said . . . nothing . . . how Zen is that?

TP: Whoa . . . those Gumshoe guys better take note, you're up for an award ain't you?

KB: To me amazement . . . for Best European Novel, with the Dramatist and against Dame Rendell and that hot Italian writer, Giancarlo.

TP: The Pusher's running a book on that one, come see me later, we'll talk odds.

KB: Done deal, put me down for a ton on the Italian.

TP: Be more careful with your money, Ken. Meantime, now I'm done with Cross . . . where's The Pusher gonna get his next fix of your writing?

KB: Slide, the sequel to Bust with Jason Starr is due in October, the final Brant, Ammunition, comes in July and American Skin gets UK publication at last and the new standalone . . . Once Were Cops at the end of the year.

TP: Man, you're a busy guy . . . so, hey, I gotta ask, when's The Pusher gonna get his hands on some more of those short stories you do so good.

KB: God bless yah, there is a volume of them coming out with the gentle title of SPIT, right up your street, yeah?

TP: My street's confidential information, Ken. I can't answer that question. What I can do is lean on these Pulp Pusher guys to run one of your stories . . . just say when you want in on the deal, right.

KB: ASAP . . . and even though, you have some mouth on yah, I have to admit, you have some moves.

TP: The Pusher's gonna keep an eye on you, Ken. You're a goodfella, hell, you got style. Thanks for dropping by. Come again any time.

KB: You have a mouth on yah but I like that, I don’t do nice so we’ll get along real fine, may the zine

be a fierce and ferocious success. Thanks from the bottom of me battered heart . . . and jaw.

PUSH-UPS:

Ken Bruen gives The Pusher three of the best . . .

1 - Sandra Ruttan, Suspicious Circumstances

2 - Nick Stone, The King of Swords

3 - James Lavish, Trading Justice