Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780312958787
ISBN: 0312958781
Label: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 293
Publication Date: 1996-05-15
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Studio: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Customer Rating:
Summary: "The case had grabbed him by the throat."
Comment: In Ian Rankin's "Tooth and Nail," Inspector John Rebus is in his forties, but he is already feeling his age. John is growing increasingly cynical and cranky, and since his divorce his social life has been practically nonexistent. At least he gets a change of scenery when his boss sends him to London to work on the "Wolfman" case. A madman has killed and mutilated four women, and Detective Inspector George Flight of the London police has requested help in the investigation. Flight is a thorough detective who does everything by the book, so what can John possibly contribute? Admittedly, Rebus has some useful qualities; he is highly intelligent, resourceful, and tenacious. Unfortunately, John is also a loose cannon, a maverick who goes his own way and relies on gut instinct as much as logic. Rebus seldom sticks to the rulebook and often behaves recklessly. Before the inquiry is completed, Flight and his colleagues will wish more than once that John had remained in Scotland.

Ian Rankin has earned an international reputation as an accomplished writer of police procedurals. In this 1992 work, he depicts Rebus as a man out of his element in London, a city that was "never one of Rebus's favorite places." However, when John gets a glimpse of the Wolfman's latest victim, he decides that he will do whatever he can to catch this beast, preferably before he commits yet another atrocity. Unfortunately, the perpetrator leaves few clues and always seems to be one step ahead of the police. At first, Rebus and Flight's progress in finding the killer is glacially slow. While he bides his time hoping for a breakthrough, John visits his ex-wife and sixteen-year old daughter and realizes, with a pang, how much he misses having a family. He is consoled a bit when he meets a beautiful woman who claims to be an expert in criminal psychology and offers to produce a behavioral profile of the Wolfman.

In "Tooth and Nail," Rankin demonstrates once again that detective work is "relentless, routine, dull, frustrating, and above all time-consuming." Rebus is an appealing protagonist who is crusty and ornery but also immensely likeable. In addition, the author uses setting effectively, contrasting the noise, filth, danger, and chaos of London with the more civilized and placid Edinburgh. Rankin's writing style is wonderfully descriptive and fast-paced. The novel's main flaw is its cliché-ridden and pat ending, which includes a wild and improbable car chase. Still, an imperfect John Rebus novel is better than none, and it is always fun to spend a few hours in the company of this lively Scotsman.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Dogged Detective Work British Style
Comment: In the genre of murder/thriller/detective works, I read quite a few authors. Most of them have a detective team/person that they write about for most of their stories. I further break that down into American/British/Other nationalities as I like to look at other cultures other than mine here in the U.S. I have settled down with Peter Robinson, PD James, and Ian Rankin as the British authors of choice. I'm sure that there are more out there, and would love to hear from anyone that reads another that I should include into my reading habit.

Tooth and Nail (formerly called Wolfman) is the third book in the detective, John Rebus series. It is not a great story nor is it very exciting - although there are moments. But instead, it seems that Rankin concerned himself with the further development of Rebus - a little less dark in this book - and those surrounding him. The detective work was not really a focus nor was the serial killer. I enjoyed this work, but as I sit down to write the review, I cannot say why exactly. It was rather formulaic and the killer rather poorly developed. The verbal sparring was adequate, but not at top of his game. That said, I really couldn't put the book down. The John Rebus character has me hooked. He is somewhat similar to Alan Banks of the Peter Robinson series, but there is a darker side that showed up in the first two novels. In this book, you could feel that darker side, but it only threatened to show.

Rebus is called from Edinburgh to London to help with a serial killer that has stymied the local coppers. While there is some animosity amongst the troops for bringing in an outsider, the development of this part of the plot is lacking. Rebus meets up with his divorced wife and his teenage daughter, and we learn a little about them, but they are incidental to the story.

The story is short (275 pages) and although it continues the saga of John Rebus, I am always skeptical when they change the title of a book and re-publish it. No doubt this is not one of Rankin's better attempts. However, if you have read the previous two books and are hooked on this series, you will want to read this one just to keep in the loop. If you haven't read Rankin, do not start with this one.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Rebus in London
Comment: Edinburgh Detective Chief Inspector John Rebus finds himself posted to London to aid the local authorities who are investigating the work of a serial killer, known as the Wolfman, who seems to be one step ahead of the coppers. Once in London, Rebus learns he has ben brought to the big city because he is supposed to be some sort of expert on mass murderers.

Rebus' intrinsic antiauthoritarianism and his intuitive investigative style puts his career in jeopardy as he pairs with George Flight, a by the book detective, who has to cover for his Scottish counterpart at every turn of the plot. The collaboration between these investigators provides much of the tension as they struggle to bring a killer to justice. At the same time Rebus is forced to come to grips with middle-aged and a body that has lost a bit of the edge that he enjoyed as a young SAS paratrooper. His daughter Samantha, now 16, lives in London with his ex-wife and he is appalled with her current boyfriend, a slightly older and testosterone burdened motorcycle courier.

Ian Rankin is one of the real masters of the mystery genre. Series characters require real work and a deft touch to keep them fresh and interesting. John Rebus, like Harry Bosch and Travis McGee, manages to grow in each novel in a way that is respectful to the past works and yet revealing in some new way.

Tooth and Nail is more than a good read. It is a tale of policemen under the microscope of publicity when murders most foul terrorize a big city.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Rebus: Ambition AND ability
Comment: Tooth and Nail finds Rebus helping out the London police hunt down the serial killer, Wolfman. The novel is filled with a lot of local London color, including a car chase down St. Martin's Lane and around Nelson's Column. I enjoyed this book immensely until the last 40 pages, where killer is caught based on an unsubstantiated "hunch".

Being from NYC I found Rebus's take on fast London city life very amusing. Several pages are devoted to Rebus contemplating the utter inhumanity of the Tube! In fact, the only positive comments come from Rebus's would-be partner, George Flight, although Rebus mocks his attitude: "London is bigger, better, rougher, tougher and more important than anywhere else." It's funny that we would want other people to think our city is rough and tough, because that implies that we are as well, when we are actually victims. Fortunately, from the novel I learned a new way to cope: just chant FYTP.

Rankin is a master at capturing the reader's attention. Clues and red herrings fly like nobody's business. Just keep in mind that this is crime fiction not mystery, that is, don't expect the clues to pan out. The dialog is amazingly realistic, witty, and edgy. Ultimately, Rebus's humanity (he describes himself as having "more ambition than talent") and musings on the human condition are the reason why I find this novel, and Rankin's others, so compelling.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Comment: This is Rankin at his best. Buy it, enjoy the thriller and then buy the next one. It seems that once you've started reading Rebus, you just can't get enough!

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