Knots and Crosses

Inspector Rebus, Book 1

By: Ian Rankin

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Detective John Rebus' city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders…and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. As the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn't just one cop trying to catch a killer - he's the man who's got all the pieces to the puzzle…

©2013 Ian Rankin (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc

Boozy detective, tortured past...

I wanted to start this series at the beginning after seeing many fond references to Rebus in lists of the best mysteries and crime novels, and even references in other fiction in which a character is reading "the latest Rebus". I can see this is a promising start to a series, but as a reader I needed more sights and sounds and development of the story's "atmosphere". It may be awhile until I take up the next -- the angry, boozy detective with a tortured past genre is best in limited doses.

I will switch to the paperbacks in future as needed. The narration was distracting, though of course not everyone can be Simon Prebble (my favorite). Narration of the straight text and of Rebus' voice is fine, but the narrator seems to use only an impossibly (and implausibly) gravelly voice for the other male characters. A Scottish accent for a story that takes place in Edinburgh would also enhance the narration.

A Good Book but a little predictible

It starts out as in interesting story but soon becomes very suspicious. Cops don't get cryptic notes about pending cases and not get suspicious or involve the rest of their department. This part is really far fetched. Then as the story unravels it becomes rather obvious that this must be related to the unspoken problem with his military past. The rest is just a roller coaster ride to the end and the inevitable conclusion.

Dramatic and Predictable

Cliches abound in this predictable yet simultaneously unbelievable narrative but the one thing that did surprise me was the detective, a clueless moron who did absolutely zero police work throughout the whole book. The narrator has a great, theatrical voice however discerning the age of the characters was difficult because everyone sounds like a 60+ chain smoker. I was startled when at one point in the book the main character started describing a 40 year old woman as being old because up until that point I assumed the protagonist was well into his 60’s. I’m not sure what I just read.

Meeting Rebus, Properly

The first John Rebus book I enjoyed was Saints of the Shadow Bible (#19). I liked it so well I decided to try the series. It was interesting to see Rebus transform from being almost mechanical and disengaged to become a no-nonsense force of authority not to be toyed with. The book seemed a little slow at first, but kept gaining momentum. Now, I'm officially hooked!

The character of Rebus is a hoot!

The. Story itself was a little predictable and not very realistic. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hard to appreciate a book with a poor narrator

The narration is so frustrating, I can't really follow the story. The narrators voices and accents are unpleasant. The story skips between different characters, but it took at least an hour to realise that was what was happening, as the narrator kept on reading in the same voice and tone. The story might be okay. I'll have to read it instead.

Ambivalence

This novel - the first Rebus - is definitely "of its time." The religion is heavy handed, something I don't remember noticing in the later Rebus mysteries I read more than a few years ago or the other more recent one I listened to. Recommended if you're a fan of Rebus, for completeness. The reader was good, with a heavy accent at times for different characters but always understood easily by this American ear. I gave him 4 stars for performance for his thoroughly creepy vibe. Less creepy would have rated higher.

Started slow and dragging

Hang in there and listen to the end. It is developed well by closing credits.

I've Read Mixed Reviews and Can Marry Them

If you could sum up Knots and Crosses in three words, what would they be?

Rebus's Start

Would you ever listen to anything by Ian Rankin again?

Definitely--this is where he gets started but all of following books are better.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Michael Page?

Yes, not as good as McPhearson, but good enough.

Any additional comments?

Okay, here's the scoop. This isn't a great book--but I would recommend it to Rebus fans because this is where it all got started. It's written by a grad student. It's got plenty of flaws--kind of shallow, trite, all that. But, if you are ua Rebus fans this is w ell worth the listen as you see him at his beginning and you can appreciate Rankin's growth as a writer.

7/10

Overall a solid book to listen to especially when one of my authors recommended it I figured It had to be pretty good.

Could have been just me but thought how the book transitioned from character to character (probably chapter to chapter) was sometimes confusing and had me thinking "which character's point of view is this".

I would thought the story was good all the way through but ending was wrapped up very quickly!

It was a good enough book I will try the next book in the series.