Knots And Crosses: From the iconic #1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES

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He is also the recipient of envelopes, hand delivered, with cryptic messages and symbols – something he vaguely recognises from his past – within his repressed memories of the army. There's a backstory that's worked in to the investigation in a clever way but it wasn't interesting or new in itself and the denouement was weak. Unfortunately, Rankin also tries way too hard in parts: behind it all is an over the top James Patterson-type serial killer, the way he selects his victims alone far too 'clever' to maintain any semblance of realism. Though not as polished as the later books in the series, it is still immensely readable, and gives us a great background to Rebus, and an insight into his personality.

Now John has a new set of nightmares added to his dreams, as if the SAS memories weren't foul enough. As the story unfolds we learn that Rebus's brutal SAS training left him profoundly troubled, so that he drinks too much, has a failed marriage behind him, and has a somewhat distant relationship with his young teenage daughter Samantha. What secret lies hidden in John Rebus' past that does not allow him to connect the dots to realize who the killer is?Lately, though, I've felt Rankin's pull, especially since Henning Mankell's Wallander books reignited my interest in crime fiction. This edition of the book was given out as part of a subscription, one of a series of 'Banned Books' produced exclusively for the Independent newspaper and is book 20 in the series done to try and promote reading.

Ian Rankin is a genius' Lee Child 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. Detective John Rebus was trying to catch the killer of young girls – he would abduct them and not long after, the body of the girl would be found, brutally murdered, but never sexually assaulted. Being a big fan of Scottish lit, I've always kept Rankin at arms length, thinking that he'd be too pulpy and pop culturey to be worth reading.bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES - 'unmatched in the field of British crime fiction' THE TIMES.

There is no build up of love for Rebus here, no chance for us to overcome our disdain for some of his nasty behaviour (his petty theft and possible sexual assault of a one night stand), it's just straight into personal peril.Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh.

I realized about a third of the way through that it has been a long time since I've read both an apt and original metaphor and this was chock full of them. Only when hypnotized by his brother is he able to share his past with him and his colleague and lover Gill Templer. Inspector Rebus from Edinburgh is a well-respected booze-loving, maverick police officer and is one of many officers working the case.Detective Sergeant John Rebus is assigned to the case, a top priority in Edinburgh, where the locals like to think this sort of thing can't happen. The character of Rebus is grim, ex-SAS with blocked memories which are eventually unlocked by his hypnotist brother Michael. It also starts off overly slowly but starts zipping along once Rebus gets into the thick of the investigation.