Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780312963972
ISBN: 0312963971
Label: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 1997-12-15
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Studio: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Customer Rating:
Summary: Hide and Seek
Comment: Another great thriller for Rankin. He twists murder, drugs, and corruption into an exciting tale. Hard to stop reading.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: The seamier side of Edinburgh
Comment: No one knows his city like John Rebus (Ian Rankin's detective). He knows all the good things and the things that tourists like to see, but he also knows the seedy and secretive things. These are things that occur in the hidden alleys and bolt holes throughout the city. In this book, even John Rebus is surprised at what he discovers when he starts to investigate a junkie's death. The man appeared to die of a drug overdose, but it turned out to be murder, and the investigation took Rebus to places he'd never been before. These books are extremely well-written, but they are hard-hitting and definitely darker than the average UK police procedural. But it kept my interest piqued, and I will certainly continue to read this excellent series.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Solid, above average maybe too fast-paced at the end
Comment: This is a very good book. Ian Rankin writes about his character Inspector Rebus in such a readable way, the pages just pass by while we read the life of Rebus.

I think that Rankin's one weakness is the ending of his books (this may relate to his earlier books more than the later ones) in that they seem awfully rushed and a little fanciful. Once the obligatory action scenes have died down, Rankin reverts to his true form of quality writing.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Second Novel
Comment: Hide and Seek was a very good second novel by Ian Rankin. This is the second in the series with John Rebus as the detective. We are learning more about Rebus, his friends and his surroundings as he solves an intricate and delicate murder case. More of his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality comes out and it takes the reader by surprise often times.

There are some twists and turns, but not quite at the 90 degree angle that I like. They were subtle in this story. There isn't a lot of wasted wording as the book comes in at around 200 pages. You can see the author experimenting with different plotlines as he continues this very interesting series.

I enjoy the British mysteries as much or more than their American counterparts because there is less flash and more straight out thinking involved. It is a grind it out solving of the case much in the same vein as McBain and the 87th Precinct. While this one was not quite up to the standards of Knots and Crosses, it was nonetheless worth reading and entertaining. I am looking forward to the next one.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: A peek under the kilt of a nasty side of Edinburgh!
Comment: The plot is certainly simple enough on the face of it. Inspector Rebus is assigned to investigate the death of a junkie in his run down tenement squat. The victim's body has been obviously arranged after death in the shape of a crucifix. Candles surround the corpse and the crude pentagram on the wall is so fresh that the paint is still tacky. At first blush, the cause of death appears to be a simple heroin overdose taken in the throes of some sort of odd satanic ritual but the medical examiner's autopsy discloses something entirely different. What now appears to be a murder by lacing a junkie's fix with rat poison takes Inspector Rebus on a tour of the seamy underbelly of a gritty Edinburgh that you certainly won't find in the Michelin five star travel guide.

Junkies, addicts and pushers; gay and straight prostitution; dog fighting; illegal high stakes gaming and brothels; corruption in the police force, on the bench and at the bar; alcoholics and drunkards - they all make their way onto the stage of "Hide and Seek" in a novel that seems determined to portray Scotland as a bleak and unrelentingly dreary den of sin and iniquity. On the face of it, the novel has the flavour of a Michael Connelly police procedural but the comparison stops right there. Rankin has provided little in the way of descriptions of dogged police work and the pursuit of clues and has focused on dialogue and character development almost to the exclusion of everything else.

So how does one rank that? From the point of view of looking for a great police procedural or an engaging mystery, I was singularly unimpressed (two stars at best). But the dialogue and the characterization was first rate. The clever, appealing, understated British style of wit and humour was apparent throughout the entire novel despite its dark setting (unquestionably worth four stars). I suppose we've got to give it an overall rating of three stars and try another entry in the series to see if there are better pickings as far as plot goes.

Paul Weiss

---