Dead Souls

John Rebus comes up against two undesirables who move onto his patch. The first is Darren Rough, a paedophile who has recently been released from prison, much to Rebuses indignation and disgust. The second is Cary Oakes, a murderer who has been in prison in the US and is being released on the proviso that he return home to Edinburgh. As if this isn't enough to keep him busy, the 19 year old son of an old school friend has gone missing and Rebus is asked to help find him.The main theme of this book is paedophilia and it attempts to highlight how many people are affected by it. So many of the main characters are haunted by incidents from their past and their actions today seem to be dictated by what happened to them so long ago. This includes Rebus himself who is still a troubled soul, although not due to paedophilia I hasten to add. It's nice to see, though, that he appears to have found a manner of peace and meaning to his work.I found this to be one of the best Inspector Rebus books that I've read yet. This books sits more in the thriller category that the police procedural. The psychological mind games played by Oakes ensure a gripping mood leading up to a shattering climax. A definite must-read for all Rebus fans.

I'm a fan of contemporary British mysteries, and Ian Rankin's extraordinary John Rebus series ranks among the best. This recent entry in the Edinburgh police procedural series is a great starting point for a new reader; for the long-time Rebus-fan, it's a look inside Rebus's dark past. When the son of a former love goes missing, Rebus takes up the (unofficial) investigation; never mind that he's already got his professional life full of a few other major cases including the suicide of a colleague, a hunt for a former child molester, and a manipulative, charismatic serial killer released into Edinburgh and wooed by a glory-seeking journalist. A "perfect" detective would solve every one of the cases, wrapping all four cases up by the final chapter in time for a drink and a witty denouement at the local pub. Thankfully, Rebus is not such a cliche. A happy ending isn't the goal here--cases are flubbed, go awry, and entangle Rebus's personal life, friends, and family in dangerous ways. Sounds dark, no? But that's one of the reasons I love the Rankin mysteries. No one is better than Rankin at setting the scene of Edinburgh: from the crowded, tempestuous housing projects to the smoke and lager filled pubs. But it's the characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and personalities that make Rankin the master he is: once again Rebus is the troubled hero, his time and attention divided between his complicated personal life and police cases. He doesn't just make an attempt to figure out whodunit, he digs deep into the human mind to find out "why"...and drags himself deeper into his own personal hell in the process. He is motivated by a sense of justice--whether or not it conflicts with the law or the wishes of his long-suffering superior "The Farmer." We aren't along for the ride to watch Rebus crack the cases--we're along for his personal triumphs, no matter how small, and for his darkest moments, from alcoholism to cigarette addiction to remembering the loss of his innocent youth. These moments, set to Rebus's own personal "soundtrack" of classic rock music when he retreats to his armchair with his headphones for just one moment of peace, make this dark, nuanced, and many-layered psychological crime series a classic.For those keeping score of the Rebus mysteries: several of the subplots in this book were first used in Rankin's novella "Death is Not the End." I gave that one four stars as a great introduction or brief look into the psychology of Rebus. "Dead Souls" gets a full five stars: as a full-length novel, Rankin's dark and nuanced writing continues to show that he's one of the top talents in British crime fiction today. If you want a British mystery with a clever-clever ending and a witty twist solution, this one might not be for you. But if you want some of the best writing about all the aspects of Edinburgh society...the best in *and* out of a crime novel...then run, don't walk, to grab a Ian Rankin novel.

One feels the weariness, the weight of guilt and depression as DI Rebus literally slogs his way through several investigations, some of which have no relation to one another. A released paedophile and the weight of guilt over his brutal death, the missing son of a former high school sweetheart in the throes of a bad marriage, the return of a convicted serial killer from the US, all these combine in to a fascinating tale of crime and punishment in contemporary Scotland. Yes, the plot is convuluted and at times as plodding as Rebus himself, but Rankin is more concerned with exploring his characters and what motivates them to action or inaction, a plus in my view. Dead Souls, though distantly akin to Gogol's novel, is a fascinating read, and though somewhat overly long, is utterly more satisfying than many of Rankin's contemporary mystery writers.

Once again Ian Rankin is responsible for the dark circles under my eyes. In a series that just keeps getting better it's impossible to put down the latest Rebus at a human hour and yet appropriate to be reading when it's dark and silent all around you. Dead Souls is a grim and thoroughly enjoyable read.With a tangled web of sub plots featuring a coworker's suicide, a pedophile, a serial killer, and a missing person I found myself turning pages. In addition we are allowed a glimpse of Rebus's past and made to worry about his present in a way I haven't done since Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder started drinking again. Personal dilemmas and professional questions haunt Rebus across every page of Dead Souls. Present day ethics and morality are explored in such a seamless way you don't even realize that you along with Rebus are indeed pondering "Is there such a thing as free will?" And of course there's Scotland itself, presented as no travelogue ever would, but as perhaps, it is. For the mystery fan who enjoys their protagonist's layers being peeled away like birch bark no series currently being written offers more for a reader to chew on,savour and spit out. Here's hoping neither the author or we ever get to the core of the man.

Perhaps for the first time in his life, veteran Edinburgh Detective John Rebus feels his age and ponders retirement. His long term friend Jack Morton just died, but seems to visit him after a few drinks. A hit and run driver has left his daughter wheelchair bound with her ability to ever walk in doubt. Now his latest law enforcement efforts not only flopped, but apparently led to a murder. Finally, rising superstar Jim Margolies, who had everything, apparently killed himself by jumping off the Salisbury Crags. Already despondent, Rebus has to deal with a deported serial killer moving into the neighborhood, which also now includes a pediophile. As Rebus thinks about his future, he investigates the murder and the alleged suicide. On the side, he looks for a missing person as a favor to a former sweetheart. Soon, Rebus connects everything as he realizes he faces a grandmaster in a game where the loser dies. The return of Rebus is always an enjoyable experience for fans of Scottish police procedural novels. The engaging mystery includes several sub-plots that seem divergent but Rebus nicely ties them together. Still, DEAD SOULS focuses on the main character's inner thoughts and to a lesser degree on that of the villain. Ian Rankin shows why he ranks with the top authors of the genre. He turns an emotionally weary Rebus into a real person that, in turn, makes for an entertaining skillful story.Harriet Klausner