Rating: 
Summary: Inspector Rebus Makes a Welcome Return
Review: Inspector John Rebus is always in trouble. But when he throws a tea cup at his boss, he has gone too far.The book begins with him at Tulliallan, the Scottish Police College, where he, and several other officers who have disobeyed authority, are supposed to mend their ways. As punishment, this Wild Bunch is given an old murder case to solve. But the problem is Rebus has ties to this case. And the ties may end his career permanently. Somehow he must solve the case without letting the others know about his involvement. Meanwhile, his associate and friend, DS Siobhan Clarke, is investigating the death of a prominent Edinburgh art dealer who was found bludgeoned right outside his front door. Soon enough, Clarke finds that her current murder has ties to the old one Rebus is investigating and both of them are in some way related to Scottish crime lord, Morris Cafferty. One of the great pleasures of reading an Ian Rankin mystery is in the gritty and realistic setting he uses for his novel. Edinburgh is so vividly depicted that it almost seems to be a character in this story. Rankin is also a master at characterization and Rebus and Clarke are both fascinating individuals. The plot seems to hold less interest for Rankin and sometimes it takes several readings to figure out how he got from point A to point B. But overall this is a fine and intelligent book.
Rating:
Summary: a dark, lively police procedural
Review: Inspector Rebus, the hero of this long running series, has been sent to a "police college" for rehab after an incident of insubordination. With four other detectives, he's assigned to work an old unsolved murder - ostensibly to relearn the value of teammwork. Meanwhile back in Edinburgh, Rebus' partner and friend Sibohan is working on a high profile investigation of her own. Of course, all is not as it seems...
John Rebus is a brooding, driven cop who relieves stress by listening to rock n roll and of course drinking. I think he's a close spiritual Scottish cousin to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, and I recommend Rankin to all Connelly fans. Rebus family life, his ability to trust, and his personal relationships are all affected by his job , yet he does it anyway. He's one of those fictional homicide cops who "speak for the dead", like Bosch or Frank Pembleton. All fans of police novels with atmosphere should like this series. An interesting subplot involves Sibohan, who worries she may be headed down the same road as Rebus. I highly recommend RESURRECTION MEN and this series.
Rating:
Summary: a dark, lively police procedural
Review: Inspector Rebus, the hero of this long running series, has been sent to a "police college" for rehab after an incident of insubordination. With four other detectives, he's assigned to work an old unsolved murder - ostensibly to relearn the value of teammwork. Meanwhile back in Edinburgh, Rebus' partner and friend Sibohan is working on a high profile investigation of her own. Of course, all is not as it seems...
John Rebus is a brooding, driven cop who relieves stress by listening to rock n roll and of course drinking. I think he's a close spiritual Scottish cousin to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, and I recommend Rankin to all Connelly fans. Rebus family life, his ability to trust, and his personal relationships are all affected by his job , yet he does it anyway. He's one of those fictional homicide cops who "speak for the dead", like Bosch or Frank Pembleton. All fans of police novels with atmosphere should like this series. An interesting subplot involves Sibohan, who worries she may be headed down the same road as Rebus. I highly recommend RESURRECTION MEN and this series.
Rating:
Summary: Coppers skating on thin ice
Review: John Rebus, Detective Inspector in the Edinburgh CID, is only nominally one of the good guys. He's not bent -- not on the take, anyway -- but he's crossed the line many times in his career, and not always in the pursuit of subjective justice. He's been sent back to the police academy for professional rehabilitation after a tea-mug throwing incident, and is put in with a small group of other questionable coppers trying to keep their jobs by undergoing "resurrection." Only (of course) there's a lot more to it than that. When the "Wild Bunch" are given an old murder case to investigate as a team-building exercise, it's one Rebus was involved with in a way he'd rather no one else knew about. But he's really there as a mole at the behest of the higher-ups, who suspect some of his colleagues of involvement in another drug-murder case. And Siobhan Clarke, newly promoted to Detective Sergeant and Rebus's sort-of protege, has her own case to manage. Then all three murders begin to come together. This one was recommended to me as one of the best in the series of more than a dozen, and while Rankin does a good job of filling in some of the many characters' shared background for the reader's benefit, it's obvious one needs to go back to the beginning and read them all in order to really get Rebus's measure. The style is as gritty as the back side of Edinburgh itself, the characters are believable as real people -- not a stereotype among them -- and the plot itself is well drawn, with nothing given away and no trick ending, but with lots of well-crafted suspense. An excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Edgar Winning Police Procedural
Review: Police corruption is a subject all South Floridians. In the early 1980s a vast police drug rip-off collapsed when three dead drug guards were fished from the Miami River. Cops had forced them to jump into the river while they swiped the coke, never bothering to ascertain who could swim. Scotland's Detective Inspector John Rebus is sent undercover to infiltrate a gang of rogue cops. All are assigned to a retraining program for police, where their assignment may uncover Rebus's own culpability in a crime. Slowly, fearfully Rebus connects the dots between the areas latest murder, an imposing crime boss, and an unsolved cold case. This book won an Edgar in spite of its dense regionalism. It is however a carefully plotted tale of mystery and pursuit by a policeman whose own haunting guilt fails to dissuade him from his duty.
Rating:
Summary: Edgar Winning Police Procedural
Review: Police corruption is a subject all South Floridiansare familiar. In the early 1980s a vast police drug rip-off collapsed when three dead drug guards were fished from the Miami River. Cops had forced them to jump into the river while they swiped the coke, never bothering to ascertain who could swim. Scotland's Detective Inspector John Rebus is sent undercover to infiltrate a gang of rogue cops. All are assigned to a retraining program for police, where their assignment may uncover Rebus's own culpability in a crime. Slowly, fearfully Rebus connects the dots between the areas latest murder, an imposing crime boss, and an unsolved cold case. This book won an Edgar in spite of its dense regionalism. It is however a carefully plotted tale of mystery and pursuit by a policeman whose own haunting guilt fails to dissuade him from his duty.
Rating: 
Summary: No nonsense police work!
Review: Rankin has a great sense of characterization. Now add to it what they say his "Razor sharp dialogue delivery", a plot mingled with superb crime writing and thoroughly believable responses from the characters. This time it's Rebus(The acclaimed creation of Rankin) who gets into the soup, and all those who wanted to take a look in the head of the good'ol tough cop will have plenty to read on. Rankin instead of focussing on the psyche of a serial-killer or a peadophile takes his chance on Rebus and deliver the goods. Story : Cop(Rebus) gets dentention and has his last chance to show improvement or to get kicked out of the police force. Sent to a kind of behavior school to get his screws right. Given an old case to handle with other detended cops and show teamwork.
The CATCH is the other cops(called wildbunch) are suspected of blotting their copies and Rebus has to find out the blots, however the case they(Rebus and co.) are given is an unnoticed blot of Rebus' career. So, who ends up as the guilty party - Rebus or the Wildbunch.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest series in mystery fiction
Review: RESURRECTION MEN by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown, $19.95)
Ian Rankin's series about the Scottish detective, John Rebus, has been one of the most popular series written over the last decade. It has brought a legion of fans and great riches to Ian. He now calls J.K. Rowling and Alexander McCall Smith his neighbors. What has brought him to this high level is the consistent excellence of his very long, very complex and all absorbing books.
After an incident of insubordination, Rebus is sent to "school" with other problem detectives to rehabilitate them and resurrect their image. Hence, the term Resurrection Men referring to the group of detectives Rebus is grouped with. As an exercise, they are given an old and cold murder to solve. It concerns the bludgeoning death of a drug dealer. At the same time, Siobhan Clark, Rebus' old partner and friend, is working on a case of an art dealer's murder. In both cases the interpersonal relationships of the victims to those around them become the keys to the cases. Surprisingly, the two cases begin to overlap as do the two investigations.
This is the first Rankin book I have not read at publication. The reason I stopped reading the books is the fact that they are long and slow reads demanding so much time from the reader. More importantly, they are depressing works that are so similar to each other. I just can't get over the feeling that Ian Rankin is writing the same book again and again. He has his own formulaic style. This one is no exception. There are so many characters introduced that a list of characters at the front of the book proves to be a major necessity. This can become especially daunting to a first time reader of the Rebus series. It all takes some getting used to. In fact, the story doesn't really start clicking until well over one hundred pages. Once everything is in place, however, the book flows beautifully and quite seamlessly becomes all encompassing including superbly rendered characterizations and the striking immediacy of the locale. Pacing is still a problem for me in these books but their true excellence cannot be denied.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest series in mystery fiction
Review: RESURRECTION MEN by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown, $19.95)
Ian Rankin's series about the Scottish detective, John Rebus, has been one of the most popular series written over the last decade. It has brought a legion of fans and great riches to Ian. He now calls J.K. Rowling and Alexander McCall Smith his neighbors. What has brought him to this high level is the consistent excellence of his very long, very complex and all absorbing books.
After an incident of insubordination, Rebus is sent to "school" with other problem detectives to rehabilitate them and resurrect their image. Hence, the term Resurrection Men referring to the group of detectives Rebus is grouped with. As an exercise, they are given an old and cold murder to solve. It concerns the bludgeoning death of a drug dealer. At the same time, Siobhan Clark, Rebus' old partner and friend, is working on a case of an art dealer's murder. In both cases the interpersonal relationships of the victims to those around them become the keys to the cases. Surprisingly, the two cases begin to overlap as do the two investigations.
This is the first Rankin book I have not read at publication. The reason I stopped reading the books is the fact that they are long and slow reads demanding so much time from the reader. More importantly, they are depressing works that are so similar to each other. I just can't get over the feeling that Ian Rankin is writing the same book again and again. He has his own formulaic style. This one is no exception. There are so many characters introduced that a list of characters at the front of the book proves to be a major necessity. This can become especially daunting to a first time reader of the Rebus series. It all takes some getting used to. In fact, the story doesn't really start clicking until well over one hundred pages. Once everything is in place, however, the book flows beautifully and quite seamlessly becomes all encompassing including superbly rendered characterizations and the striking immediacy of the locale. Pacing is still a problem for me in these books but their true excellence cannot be denied.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: The idea of a world-weary police detective who's willing to bend a few rules is one of the most used (and overused) formulae in the world of mystery novels. In Ian Rankin's hands, however, this well trodden path becomes something marvelous. I've been a fan of the Rebus novels for years. Rankin shows us an Edinburgh that's dark and exotic, while simultaneously being "small town"-ish and provincial. A Rebus novel will leave you feeling that you've experienced a bit of the city (and region) that will never appear in a tourist guide. In this installment of the Rebus series, John's gotten himself in more than a bit of trouble. He's been sent off for a last ditch chance to rescue the remains of his career. Could our man sit in a classroom and behave himself? Could things be as straight forward as they appear? Of course not! Rankin weaves rich and varied plot lines that involve most of your favorite characters from the previous novels, splashing raw and genuine feeling emotion across the pages as abundantly as blood and gore flow at a Rebus crime scene. This isn't a "cozy". Resurrection Men is a great addition to the Rebus series. I highly recommend it. Rankin fans will not be disappointed. If you are looking at this as your first entry into the series, please consider reading the books in chronological order. Aspects of the plot lines do carry along from book to book.
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