• A Song for the Dark Times

  • By: Ian Rankin
  • Narrated by: James Macpherson
  • Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (65 ratings)

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A Song for the Dark Times  By  cover art

A Song for the Dark Times

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: James Macpherson
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Publisher's summary

From the iconic Number One best seller Ian Rankin, comes one of the must-listen audiobooks of the year: A Song for the Dark Times.

"He's gone..."

When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it's not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days.

Rebus fears the worst - and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect.

He wasn't the best father - the job always came first - but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective?

As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast - and a small town with big secrets - he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn't want to find....

©2020 Ian Rankin (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Ian Rankin is a genius." (Lee Child)

"A master storyteller." (Guardian)

"Rebus is one of British crime writing's greatest characters: alongside Holmes, Poirot and Morse." (Daily Mail)

What listeners say about A Song for the Dark Times

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Mediocre story, horribly read

I wish I had never started this story. it's a mediocre yarn, with a vast cast of unlikeable characters playing out a convoluted, pointless plot.

the story is delivered in a brogue so thick, I had to roll it back several times to make out was set. Lots of dialog with speakers unidentified or alternately ID'd by surnames, nicknames, and given names. it's confusing and irritating.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Way too much family angst.

I usually enjoy this series very much. But I found this one tedious and simply not up Rankin's usual.
Rebus he is called by his daughter to request his help and then she treats him like garbage when he's trying to help her, she runs a litany of all his wrongs. And the then considerable family squabbling overtakes the mystery itself.
irritating at its best, and a lackluster story at its worst. The most authentic character is Rebus himself as he actually continues to be who he really is.

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