Richard Laymon Same Vein
 |
RATING:  |
Date of Release: Nov '98 |
Publisher: Allen & Unwin |
Review Source:  |
LET IT BLEED by Ian Rankin
Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus returns in the latest novel by Ian Rankin, Let It
Bleed. The world of Scottish politics has never looked so bleak in this latest serving from
Rankin. Full of murder, conspiracy and cover-up - this novel has it all!
To begin with, Rebus watches as two young kidnapping suspects - who falsely claim to have
abducted a runaway girl - avoid capture by driving to their deaths from a bridge. Struggling to
forget the sight, Rebus is called to investigate another suicide. Ex-con McAnally decides to kill
himself as a local government councillor, Tom Gillespie, watches on in horror. Rebus begins
to dig for clues, which includes confiscating the documents Gillespie's been shredding -
documents implicating a Scottish computer firm and the Scottish Development Agency in a
cover-up that reaches right to the top of the political ladder - only to have political pressure
forced onto the police hierarchy and he finds himself removed from the case and on an
unwanted holiday.
As Rebus continues to pursue the leads "unofficially", influential Scots suggest he'll be well
rewarded for forgetting everything. These people have everything to lose if Rebus manages to
untangle the web of lies and deceit. But Rebus is not one to back down. Meanwhile, the
Gillespie documents have been taken away by the District Chief Constable and Gillespie
himself winds up stabbed to death in an alley. The cost of the truth is high - and Rebus is
gambling with not only his life, but the lives of the ones he holds so dear.
This is a bleak and unrelenting crime novel that pushes the boundaries where everyone and
anyone is not what they seem. The plot is complex and there are twists aplenty and is
certainly Rankin's most daring and stylish yet.
A top-notch read.
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