Product Description

A junkie lies dead in an Edinburgh squat, spreadeagled, cross-like on the floor, between two burned-down candles, a five-pointed star daubed on the wall above. Just another dead addict - until John Rebus begins to chip away at the indifference, treachery, deceit and sleaze that lurks behind the facade of the Edinburgh familiar to tourists. Only Rebus seems to care about a death which looks more like a murder every day, about a seductive danger he can almost taste, appealing to the darkest corners of his mind . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #181322 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers worldwide. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America's celebrated Edgar Award for Resurrection Men. He has also been shortlisted for the Anthony Award in the USA, won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Hull and the Open University. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts. Rankin is a number one bestseller in the UK and has received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

Customer Reviews

On hunting a modern-day Mr. Hyde.
He had wanted to update Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" for modern times, Ian Rankin writes about his first Inspector Rebus novel, "Knots and Crosses" in the introduction to the 1999 compilation "Rebus:The Early Years," which contains the first three installments of the series. Oblivious to the mere existence of such a thing as the mystery genre - or so Rankin says - he was stunned to soon hear his book described first and foremost as a crime novel. But eventually this characterization prompted him to have a closer look at the work of other mystery writers, and he found that the form suited his purposes just fine; that in fact he "could say everything [he] wanted to say about the world, and still give readers a pacy, gripping narrative."

Bearing in mind the original duality of Jekyll and Hyde, however, Rankin's tales are not dominated by a contrast painted in black and white. While the villains Inspector Rebus faces are certainly every bit as evil as Stevenson's Mr. Hyde, Rebus himself is far from a clean-slated "good guy:" Divorced, cynical, hard-drinking and a former member of the SAS, he is a brother in spirit to every noir detective from Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, James Ellroy's squad of crooked cops and Peter Robinson's Alan Banks. Nor is Rebus's Edinburgh the touristy town of Calton Hill, castle and Summer Festival (although the series has meanwhile sparked real-life guided tours to its most famous locations, too) - as befitting a true detective of his ilk, Rankin's antihero moves primarily in the city's dark and dirty underbelly, which is populated by society's losers and where those who have "made it," those with money in their pockets, only show up if they have shady deals to conduct as well.

The title of Rankin's second Rebus novel, "Hide and Seek," is an even more overt play on Robert Louis Stevenson's famous dual character(s) than the mere juxtaposition of cop and killer in "Knots and Crosses;" and when the villain's identity is finally unveiled, the parallels between this book and Stevenson's become even more obvious. Here, Rebus is on the hunt for the killer of a junkie whose half-naked body is found in a run-down, deserted building in the Pilmuir housing estates - the worst part of town, notwithstanding a nearby construction project involving high-priced luxury condominiums - positioned crucifixion-style and near a drawing possibly hinting at Satanic rituals. And Rebus's only witness seems to be the young woman who had been living with the dead man for the last three months and heard him yell "Hide!" before pushing her out of the door, telling her: "They've murdered me;" but who is now more than just a little reluctant to cooperate, taking refuge, instead, behind an almost unbreakable rebel-against-society-facade, complete with peroxide hair, stud earrings and Attitude with a capital "A."

While this series had a terrific start already in its first two novels, published in 1987 and 1991, Rebus's character - and Rankin's writing - has evolved significantly over time. Thus, it is probably wise to read it in the order of publication. Contrary to his nonseries thrillers, however, which he views much more critically in hindsight, Ian Rankin overall still seems to be happy with his early Rebus books, commenting: "I can't read them without thinking back to my own early years, my apprenticeship as a crime writer. Read and enjoy." I have nothing to add to that ...

Rankin is excellent
Having heard a great deal about the novels by Ian Rankin, but unfortunately not read any, I put this right by reading Rankin's second Rebus book, Hide & Seek. I am a fan of crime fiction, and on another of my hunts round a public library, this time Billericay with my friend a and reading companion Rebecca, I found a shelf half devoted to Ian Rankin, and picked out a book.
Hide & Seek's story gets moving when a body of a young drug addicted drop out is discovered in an Edinburgh squat, positioned on the floor in a cross shape, with a couple of burnt candles and a five pointed star daubed on the wall. This beginning seems very occult, and it gets darker, when Rebus meets a select group of some of Scotland's most financially well-off business men. Rebus's colleagues try to tempt him into passing the case off as another death of an overdosed "junkie", but Rebus, ever the master at suspecting, continues it through to the disturbing end. The book was fast paced, especially the ending, and though a little predictable, thoroughly readable.

Second Rebus novel
This is the second of the Rebus novels and is definitely more accomplished than the first. The writing is more in line with the later novels and the storyline isn't a simple. However I was not very satisfied with the way things came together in the end. It was all too bitty for me and not as streamlined as in the later books. Also the one-liners aren't as prevalent. But this only goes to show that over time Ian Rankin has been able to develop his writing skills and the Rebus character.

Also this is the first of the Rebus novels to split the chapters by day which I think works really well in all the Rebus novels I have seen it in.

Lastly in the recent reprints Rankin has written a little introduction just setting the scene of what influenced the book and so forth which is interesting as are his introductions in the other books I have read.