Irony at play….. ***
Having been a fan of Ian Rankin and his Inspector Rebus series, I was anxious to read the newest novel. On page two, Rankin refers to the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, this should have been an omen. Ironically, I stopped reading Child years ago as the writing became lazy and the books repetitive.
Sad to say, this novel falls into the same trap. While the prose still is above that of most detective novels, the story was predictable and dragged. Not only does Rankin fall under the Reacher curse, but he emulates Michael Connelly by describing all the twists and turns, highways and byways, as Rebus drives from point a to point b. As in any novel that does this, the story then drags.
Usually, the characters in Rankin’s novels draw me deeper into the story. Unfortunately, in this novel, the characters I have enjoyed are one dimensional and dull. Even the normally interesting Cafferty is bland.
This one gets three stars, and I hope the next one gets us back to the standard we have come to enjoy.
Gut Reaction Reviews 