I wrote a piece over at the first incarnation of The Big Adios a few years back (I think after I read American Skin) and then it got lost in the site move (The Big Adios had moved a couple of time in the past). I recreated it off the cuff for 4MA not too long after it disappeared. Since its not really around anywhere anymore I figured I’d post it here.
While all of the connections are true I did do this off the cuff then to prove just how connected the books were. Hence the tongue in cheek title. I haven’t updated it with the Ken Bruen books that have been published since that time, so the list is incomplete. Maybe I’ll update it at some point. It appears as I originally posted it.
Any references that are listed as A Fifth of Bruen don’t have the specific title that the reference takes place in.
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At some point while reading Ken’s books it occurred to me that there were characters making appearances in other books. I began to suspect that all of Ken’s books were taking place in their own fictional world and that all of the books were related and that possibly they possessed their own internal timeline and structure. He wouldn’t be the first writer to do such a thing and he certainly wont be the last. To name just a couple of varied examples you’ll find the same interconnectedness of places and characters in the books of Jonathan Carroll & Duane Swierczynski. Playing this hunch I went back and re-read the books and paid closer attention to the others. Sure enough once I started paying closer attention the larger canvass of the books made itself clear. So, we’ll call this a work in progress. Enjoy!
-Nestor’s pub – Jeff’s pub appears in the Jack Taylor series and also in A Fifth of Bruen.
-Padraig the head wino – He appears in The Guards and A Fifth of Bruen.
-Keegan – Keegan appears in The Killing of the Tinkers but more importantly Keegan is Brant. Ken had to change the characters name for legal reasons. When Brant goes to Ireland in The White Trilogy his trip coincides with the events in The Killing of the Tinkers. Upon Brant’s return there is even a reference to ducks being killed.
“Detective Sergeant Keegan was a pig. Worse, he was proud of it. Of murky Irish ancestry, he was based in south-east London, Brixton and Peckham being his beats of choice. A loud vulgar bigot, he was coasting on dismissal from the force” — The Killing of the Tinkers
-Siobhan – Stephen Blake’s girlfriend from American Skin also appears in The Magdalene Martyrs. She is the bank teller who gives Jack a hard time.
-Fiona – Fiona is Roberts wife’s friend from the Brant books. She also appears in A Fifth of Bruen.
-Bill Preston from the Brant books & Bill Cassell from the Jack Taylor books – Its hard to tell if these characters are actually related or if they are just cut from the same cloth.
-Neville from The Magdalene Martyrs & Dade from American Skin – These characters share personality traits (psychos) and the same calling card (They both incessantly chew Juicy Fruit). Its hard to tell if these characters are actually related or if they are just cut from the same cloth.
-Bill Preston – He appears in the Brant books and he also appears in All the Old Songs and Nothing to Lose.
-Neville – From The Magdalene Martyrs also appears in another book. This is one that I’m completely coming up blank on but I think it was All the Old Songs and Nothing to Lose that he appeared in.
-I also strongly suspect that Lisa from Rilke on Black and Falls from the Brant books are sisters.
-Finally, the guy with the ten suits – A particular bit of back story is used a few times in the Bruen catalog, In The Guards and Dispatching Baudelaire. Why? Probably because its a great story. But if the Bruen universe is linked, and clearly it is. Then that makes these characters related to one another.
I’ve noticed this a lot in most works of the so-called “neo” noirists. In my opinion all of Ken’s novels interweave with each other; same with Al Guthrie, Duane Swierczynski, Jason Starr, Charlie Stella, etc. I think it’s a great way of creating character continuity without delving into series fiction
It’s something Elmore Leonard has been doing for quite a while, too. Some people have tried to connect them in a discussion here:
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/index.php?/forums/viewthread/94/
He’s even managed to link up his western with his modern day crime novels.
Interesting. I recognized Keegan when he appeared, but not the others. Now I’ll be watching for these connections.
Awesome article. I recognized a few, but certainly not that many. Hopefully one day you can update the list. I know Stephen King also does this.