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boyblue's review against another edition
4.0
I can't say I really recognise the Rebus we see in The Falls. He's a team player, he's doing what's right for those around him, he's respectful, he's not really the guy who cracks the case.
He's lost a step.
But it's brilliant.
Rebus is human and Rankin has found a way to add even more depth and dimension to his character.
I have disagreed with the last few books because despite Rebus being the best detective the Scottish police force has, and despite him busting major crime syndicates and taking down every single serial killer the department has dealt with pretty much single-handedly, his superiors still resent him and don't trust him. It just doesn't make sense, I could understand that they might not personally like him and I get the workplace politics angle too, but the man gets results. He gets the baddest of bad guys every time. He's a crime solving savant. Unpalatable for sure but surely his superiors know by now to just let him go and he'll drag the bad guy in, he doesn't even really want resources, he'll do it himself and put his own body on the line, not even asking for a thank you. Anyway the Farmer came around to him just as he was leaving and in retirement seems to love Rebus. But Gill Templer who is an ex flame of his and has seen better than most how effective he is keeps him on a short leash. I understand she doesn't want him to spoil the start of her new job, but surely she knows how to manage Rebus better than anyone. And when he takes the fall for the young misguided cop why does Templer not see that as a revelation considering how much of an outsider solo player she knows he is.
Siobhan Clarke is clearly being polished up by Rankin to take over. And she's a smart character if a little bit flat. I mean beyond being a bit of a loner like Rebus, and supporting the Hibs, what is her personality? We know she has rich parents but that's about it.
The case was good fun. If a bit annoying considering the very wide circle we went in to get back to the real culprits. Rebus' new love is likeable and they are getting along for now which is nice. His cursory thoughts of his daughter make me feel she'll be back in the main picture eventually. I also wonder if the reporter Mr Holly will continue to feature heavily.
I think Rebus in the backseat and bringing up the new generation is a great new angle to take the series, I just hope we get a few more likeable auxiliary characters that we can get behind and enjoy their rise. Because at the moment we've only got Siobhan.
I think this is the first book where Rebus hasn't cracked the case himself.
I feel the next few we're going to see Rebus being pushed further out and Siobhan to become even more of a main character.
He's lost a step.
But it's brilliant.
Rebus is human and Rankin has found a way to add even more depth and dimension to his character.
I have disagreed with the last few books because despite Rebus being the best detective the Scottish police force has, and despite him busting major crime syndicates and taking down every single serial killer the department has dealt with pretty much single-handedly, his superiors still resent him and don't trust him. It just doesn't make sense, I could understand that they might not personally like him and I get the workplace politics angle too, but the man gets results. He gets the baddest of bad guys every time. He's a crime solving savant. Unpalatable for sure but surely his superiors know by now to just let him go and he'll drag the bad guy in, he doesn't even really want resources, he'll do it himself and put his own body on the line, not even asking for a thank you. Anyway the Farmer came around to him just as he was leaving and in retirement seems to love Rebus. But Gill Templer who is an ex flame of his and has seen better than most how effective he is keeps him on a short leash. I understand she doesn't want him to spoil the start of her new job, but surely she knows how to manage Rebus better than anyone. And when he takes the fall for the young misguided cop why does Templer not see that as a revelation considering how much of an outsider solo player she knows he is.
Siobhan Clarke is clearly being polished up by Rankin to take over. And she's a smart character if a little bit flat. I mean beyond being a bit of a loner like Rebus, and supporting the Hibs, what is her personality? We know she has rich parents but that's about it.
The case was good fun. If a bit annoying considering the very wide circle we went in to get back to the real culprits. Rebus' new love is likeable and they are getting along for now which is nice. His cursory thoughts of his daughter make me feel she'll be back in the main picture eventually. I also wonder if the reporter Mr Holly will continue to feature heavily.
I think Rebus in the backseat and bringing up the new generation is a great new angle to take the series, I just hope we get a few more likeable auxiliary characters that we can get behind and enjoy their rise. Because at the moment we've only got Siobhan.
I think this is the first book where Rebus hasn't cracked the case himself.
I feel the next few we're going to see Rebus being pushed further out and Siobhan to become even more of a main character.
markdavo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
talentedmisfit's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
owenreads's review against another edition
3.0
A good book. I'm still enjoying Rebus' company, but this is more about his colleagues and that was refreshing. Enjoyable, despite how dated the parts involving the internet are - how things have changed in 19 short years.
An improvement on [b:Set in Darkness|69807|Set in Darkness (Inspector Rebus, #11)|Ian Rankin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316125511l/69807._SY75_.jpg|1533504].
An improvement on [b:Set in Darkness|69807|Set in Darkness (Inspector Rebus, #11)|Ian Rankin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316125511l/69807._SY75_.jpg|1533504].
owenreads's review against another edition
3.0
A good book. I'm still enjoying Rebus' company, but this is more about his colleagues and that was refreshing. Enjoyable, despite how dated the parts involving the internet are - how things have changed in 19 short years.
An improvement on [b:Set in Darkness|69807|Set in Darkness (Inspector Rebus, #11)|Ian Rankin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316125511l/69807._SY75_.jpg|1533504].
An improvement on [b:Set in Darkness|69807|Set in Darkness (Inspector Rebus, #11)|Ian Rankin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316125511l/69807._SY75_.jpg|1533504].
guiltyfeat's review against another edition
2.0
Another Rebus hate-read completed and still no sign of Gavin. Not sure how much more of these I can stomach. Always strong on plot, this was a particularly grating episode with some ancient silliness about the perils of the Interwebs and people connecting their WAP phones to laptops in order to download emails. I can't hold that against Rankin, but the rest of Rebus's facile horseshit is all on him.
This time Siobahn Clarke gets pulled in to Rankin's anti-establishment screed, turning down the possibility of advancement through the ranks in favor of doing things her own way, i.e. the same way Rebus does things and recklessly endangering her own life and the lives of others without ever conferring with her colleagues.
Mercifully there was no Big Ger Cafferty in this one, Rankin giving his Block-worship a rest for once and focusing on stealing tropes from the file titled "retired serial killers and their proteges".
Meaty, but terrible.
This time Siobahn Clarke gets pulled in to Rankin's anti-establishment screed, turning down the possibility of advancement through the ranks in favor of doing things her own way, i.e. the same way Rebus does things and recklessly endangering her own life and the lives of others without ever conferring with her colleagues.
Mercifully there was no Big Ger Cafferty in this one, Rankin giving his Block-worship a rest for once and focusing on stealing tropes from the file titled "retired serial killers and their proteges".
Meaty, but terrible.
ibeforem's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me forever to get through. It’s the 12th book in the Rebus series, but the first one I’ve read. Rankin is Scottish, and the book is set in Edinburgh, so there was a lot of language that I wasn’t familiar with which made the reading a bit slow. It felt very dense.
Storywise, I guess it wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t really crazy about any of the characters, but I didn’t hate them. I just didn’t relate. I thought I had the “whodunit” figured out early, but I was WRONG. So that’s good, at least. It wasn’t predictable.
The acceptableness of the story aside, I probably won’t seek out any more in this series. I like my crime novels to be a faster read.
Storywise, I guess it wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t really crazy about any of the characters, but I didn’t hate them. I just didn’t relate. I thought I had the “whodunit” figured out early, but I was WRONG. So that’s good, at least. It wasn’t predictable.
The acceptableness of the story aside, I probably won’t seek out any more in this series. I like my crime novels to be a faster read.
crufts's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
An excellent crime novel starring a hard-boiled detective with Noir Detective Problems - he's divorced, estranged from his daughter, etcetera.
He meets a special lady (who's connected to his latest case, of course) and wholesomely starts to turn his life around.
The novel's tropes aren't ground-breaking or surprising. But who cares - I enjoyed the novel's treatment of these humanly flawed characters. Plus, there's an intriguing mystery that you can try to solve for yourself.
Also, you don't have to read the rest of the series to enjoy this story - I hadn't!
He meets a special lady (who's connected to his latest case, of course) and wholesomely starts to turn his life around.
The novel's tropes aren't ground-breaking or surprising. But who cares - I enjoyed the novel's treatment of these humanly flawed characters. Plus, there's an intriguing mystery that you can try to solve for yourself.
Also, you don't have to read the rest of the series to enjoy this story - I hadn't!
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