I was at a new friends house on the weekend and I noticed they had a few Ian Rankin novels on the shelf. Ian Rankin has been on my TBR list now for a number of years. I just always had a hard time finding the first novel in the John Rebus series. My good luck was that they had it!! I took it home, finished the book I was currently reading and then dived right into Knots and Crosses.
The book is about Detective Sergeant John Rebus, a seemingly broken man who lives in Edinburgh and sees a side to the city that the tourists do not. Rebus is divorced, with a thirteen year old daughter Samantha he hardly sees. When Rebus is put on a murder/kidnapping case that involves young girls - Rebus finds out that something from his past has come back to haunt him. The book is short and we get an introduction to many characters that will be in the rest of the series (like Rebus's hypnotist brother Michael and the newspaper man Jim Stevens). I liked the novel because it was fast paced and had a lot of different voices in it.
Edinburgh is also a main character in the novel. Hopefully this will continue throughout the series because I love when an author uses a city to its full potential. I was in Edinburgh a few months back and I can picture some of the places that Ian Rankin describes in Knots and Crosses. Actually being to a city where a novel takes place brings the novel to life for me because I am putting myself in the novel. Edinburgh is a wonderful city to experience first hand as well as in literature.
I have the next on the series, Hide and Seek, sitting on my shelf. I will give it some time before I jump into this. I may save it for the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon. I always need something to keep my attention during those things!
Rating - 4
1 comment:
I have also heard great things about this author, but have yet to read any of his novels.
I am glad to know this is the first in the series (I simply can't read them out of order) and will definitely put it on my TBR list.
The read-a-thon should be lots of fun!
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