Reviews

Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin

rinnfoskey's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Rebus is sent to training school but is all as it seems? Rebus thinks he's gone in to dig up dirt on his classmates but by the end is questioning if it's not him they're after. 

I enjoyed this book most when it was focused on the Marber case and found the interpersonal drama and questioning about Rebus' own involvement in the cold case a bit muddle and hard to follow at times. I didn't know if there previous books that I hadn't read so missing context or if the Manse case was new to all the books. I liked the way they all tied in nicely but not my favourite Rebus or certainly of this genre. 

owenreads's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 “Tell me, Francis, do you buy your one-liners wholesale? Only they’re well past their sell-by.”

John Rebus goes back to school under the pretence to saving his career, he's actually undercover trying to dig up dirt on his classmates, but things start to spiral when they're forced to work an old case that puts a spotlight on two of their pasts.

I liked the Rebus bits. He's forced into little corners and it was interesting watching him scramble, or shimmy his way through the troubles.

Back in the office DS Siobhan Clarke, Rebus' protégé, is working her own murder case, but it's somehow linked, and mentor and protégé are forced to untangled the mess together.

I enjoyed Siobhan's sections. It was nice see her become the mentor, and face both the reality of doing the job without Rebus' safety net, but also, owning some truths about her relationship with John. 

ukhatiwara's review against another edition

3.0

Enjoyable book. It is genre fiction but it's well executed. Besides, there isn't much fiction I've read set in Edinburgh, so that setting makes it more fun to me. These Rebus books would make pretty cool movies, it's surprising there haven't been any adaptations other than the Scottish TV series.

guiltyfeat's review

2.0

Another bloody Rebus. Rankin is so cravenly self conscious. The writing is so irritating, I might have half wished that Rebus succumb to his wounds in this one. Yuk.

wagburger's review

3.0

watched the detective series Rebus from Netflix the other day (great) and found Ian Rankin is quite the famous Scottish mystery writer. So three of Rankin's 'Rebus' mystery novels for Beth's final trimester

lnatal's review

4.0

Excellent book, my first book read by this author and I really loved it, specially with the musical background BBC chose for it.

margaretpinard's review

3.0

I was told this was a little different from other Rebus mysteries, so as this is the only one I've read so far, take it with a grain of salt?
I really liked the way the while story was nailed to a place and time: the old case from 1995 was 6 years old, and there were references to the time, the news, the neighborhoods, the passage of that time-- all very well done.
The story itself felt a bit of a muddle by the end, since there was so much doubt and conniving that I wasn't sure who'd crossed whom, and I was more concerned with following the fast pace than with understanding the veiled references of revenge or whatever. But maybe that's my reading style more than the author's intent.
A good read, an entertaining trip to Edinb'ro', and an intro to one of the most popular police inspectors around...

audreyintheheadphones's review

4.0

I was really supposed to be preparing two conference presentations for the last 24 hours, not perched here in my bed, batting away attempts at conversation and interference so I could turn the pages a little faster.