Just a drive into the dark stretch, long stretch of night

Ken Bruen's The Guards features a stereotypical noir anti-hero in story true to the noir spirit. The hero, Jack Taylor, is a alcoholic and former policeman who cleans himself up, only to fall again. He has trouble with women, including his mother, and he is incredibly erudite, which allows Bruen to namecheck favorite poets and writers, in particular mystery writers. We've seen this character many times before, but the story is fresh enough to allow us to overlook it.

While recovering from one binge and preparing to commence another, a grieving mother asks Jack to investigate the supposed suicide of her daughter. He eventually does, bringing woe onto himself and many others. The mystery is eventually solved, although not truly by his own efforts. Mysteries often feature a colorful, tough guy character who serves to deliver the violence that would our hero look bad. The colorful tough character is here, but he is as dangerous to Jack as he his to the villains.

While Jack is stereotypical, watching his failed relationships with people is tragic and moving. His attempts at romance fail by his own actions, he fails his friends and can't tell who his true friends are. While Bruen doesn't dwell on it, a poignant meeting with his estranged mother, is terribly sad and illustrates Jack's culpability in his own outsider status. In many novels of this type, there is an element of romance about the lone wolf, there is none here.