Reviews

Let It Bleed by Ian Rankin

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masteryoda542's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Inspector Rebus isn't too badly injured during a car chase and is well enough to get out of the car and watch the two suspects in the car lean backwards so their car flips over a bridge and on to a boat below. Rebus knows he saw them do that on purpose and can't imagine what two kidnapping suspects would want to do that for. Shortly after this incident, an ex-con walks in to a government official's office and shoots himself with a shotgun. The two cases seem open and close but there are loose ends nagging at Rebus and he doesn't know when to let go. With his boss telling him to give it up, Rebus is eventually put on mandatory vacation and he decides to continue investigating on his own time. There are threads that connect these two events and implications go fairly high up the chain of command.

The last Rebus book I read I didn't like much because he was too focused on his romance and there were too many acronyms being used that I couldn't follow along with. This book was the opposite. Rebus focused on the case, although there was still some interaction with his daughter and talk of his possibly alcohol problem. The mystery itself was intriguing. There was almost nothing for Rebus to go on, yet he still found those key pieces of evidence and figured out what was going on. A pretty impressive feat. This book was much better than its predecessor.

sweetgeek's review

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challenging emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Slower than the most recent of Rankins I’ve read, still an enjoyable read but I got lost in the middle a little bit!

scruffymorris's review

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4.0

Let It Bleed centers around the local politics of Edinburgh and is quite a nice change of pace from the previous book. The writing seems to have a lighter touch this time, Ian Rankin is getting more confident as the series goes on. This can be seen in the opening chapter of the book - a very cinematic car chase through the snow which is quite unlike anything else in the series so far.

We get to know Inspector Rebus much better here than we ever have before. In particular his moral code is fully explored and we get to see how far he will go and what he will sacrifice to uphold it. Although this is a lighter book in many way Rebus himself is in a much darker place. He is becoming more and more self destructive.

Unlike some books in the series I found the plot quite easy to follow as there were fewer characters and the book had a slower pace. A very enjoyable read.

jasonlaw77's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bookscreentalk's review

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2.0

As mentioned in the review of "Doors Open", Ian's writing is not one I would normally like to read.
It has weak female characters, and often includes unnecessary information, making the book longer than it is required to be. Felt the writing to be very lazy.
Never reading one of his books again.