American Skin by Ken Bruen

Native Irishman Ken Bruen has created a starkly grim and violent tale that is as blood-drenched as it is circuitous. Basking in the licentiousness of Irish Noir, American Skin is an amalgam of the ugliest parts of human nature that manifests in the most severe kind of ferocity. Creating and illustrating a world that is as connected in its disconnect as the love of a father is sure and deep for his children, Bruen does more than show how far people can go when they are the product of other than desirable environs. Elaborating in the vernacular of a language that comes before American English for him, Bruen provides a glossary of Irish words, expressions and Irish-English usage in order for readers to not be distracted from the climate of the scenes he creates by the way in which he has chosen to convey them.

People, whose lives seem unconnected come together under circumstances that are at times far-reaching, yet overlap in the subtlest ways. Loyalties, however misplaced, and the need to implement some degree of follow-through plague characters and back them into the tight corners in which they inevitably falter, or push them to succumb to plans and participate in heists of which they wanted no part. Steven Blake, a Galway native whose intelligence and intentions are average but decent, cannot claw his way out of the hole his life has led him into, regardless of the support of his dedicated and loving girlfriend, Siobahn.

One interesting facet of this story that is only slightly touched upon by readers and reviewers was the connection, or more so, the divergence of nationalism that exacerbated the hostilities between Stapleton, a bellicose loyalist and Blake. At one point in Irish history a portion of the Catholic gentry had converted to Protestantism to protect their land, creating a chasm between the North and South. “Turncoats” as they were called, became traitors and enemies of the nationalists, with whom Stapleton sympathizes, and for whom he’ll fight until the end. Not deterred by hundreds of years of progress, men that would have sat on opposite sides of the line at Belfast coexist and execute a high-profile bank heist that leaves one man down. Stapleton, in his fanatical belief in “financing the Northern campaign”, cultivates intensely awkward and dangerous situations. Considering Steven untrustworthy by virtue of his attendance at Trinity and his enrollment in the British army, Stapleton makes is clear that their connection is tenuous, and only contingent on a fluid dedication to Tommy, who loses despite noble attempts to placate a lunatic.

Exploring the resilience of the human psyche and mind, American Skin forces the reader to have at least as strong a stamina to enjoy the ride as the narrator needs to tell the story. Gracefully tying in an attractive, though thoroughly dangerous lady who, instead of going between parents or even foster homes, was dropped off at her mother’s friend’s brothel at a tender 14, Bruen covers and makes manifest many tenets of human pathology. He keeps the reader wanting to cover one eye and peek through thin spaces to see what happens next, since there will inevitably be someone getting a shot to the face, a sloppy, bloody mix up, or the classic narrow-escape that turns into being much more devastating than anyone could have anticipated.