The Black Book

by Ian Rankin

Book Overview

Five years ago, a mysterious fire burned Edinburgh's seed Central Hotel to ashes. Long-forgotten and unsolved, the case reappears when a charred body--with a bullet in its head--is found amongst the ruins. Inspector John Rebus knows that his superiors would rather he let sleeping dogs lie. He knows that part of the answer lies somewhere in a cryptic black notebook. Ane he knows that to solve the case, he'll have to peel back layer upon layer of unspeakable...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312976755
• ISBN13: 9780312976750
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The Black Book

This novel is full of many different storylines all bumping togetheer as John Rebus tries to do what he does best and that's solve crimes. This includes the introduction of Morris Gerald Cafferty and DC Siobhan Clarke, who would go on to become a main part of this series in later novels. Rebus is suffering from many things, including: trouble with his girlfriend Patience, investigating a man being stabbed and then walking into a butchers shop owned by his cousin, and his good friend DC Brian Holmes being attacked outside a restaurant. This book really holds the reader as it experiences the cold murders and attacks along with the dark "black humour" that Detective Inspector Rebus uses to get through life. Easilly readable, highly recommended. "When a close colleague is brutally attacked, Rebus is drawn into a case involving a hotel fire, an unidentified body and a long-forgoten night of terror and murder. Pursued by dangerous ghosts and tormented by the coded secrets of the colleague's notebook, Rebus must piece together a jigsaw that no one else seems to want completed."

Moody and suspenseful

Rankin's Edinburgh police Inspector John Rebus forges a narrow path through office politics, his shambles of a life, and the mean streets of his city in this 1994 novel. The title refers to a notebook found on one of Rebus's men, ambushed outside a favorite nightspot and remaining unconscious in the hospital. Determined to find out who wanted to silence the policeman, Rebus deciphers the notes and finds himself pursuing a five-year-old arson and murder case while maintaining a pointless surveillance on a bookie insisted upon by his superiors. Rankin's writing is as gritty and moody as his put-upon hero, with his shambles of a personal life. Steeped in an atmosphere of Edinburgh's shadowy and unsavory corners, "The Black Book" is a taut, suspenseful tale.

Criminal not to read this!

Ian Rankin must now hold the position as one of the UK's finest crime writers with his 5th "Inspector Rebus novel", The BlackBook. Set in the depths of Edinburgh's criminal fraternity, Rankin captures the persona of a hard-nosed Scottish policeman,(John Rebus) as he attempts to solve a five-year old case. Notes about it are hidden in a black book kept by his colleague,Brian Holmes, the victim of a brutal assault. The scene is the Central Hotel, a paradise for the degeneracy and squalor whichbreed within its walls until it is razed to the ground; the eventual investigation yields one dead body but no clues. Five years on and Morris Gerald Cafferty (one of Edinburgh's most notorious criminals) is under surveillance for his role in a gang of loan sharks. In the course of this Rebus is blighted by personal problems and eventual suspension from the police force whilst trying to link the fire at Central Hotel to Cafferty's own illegal dealings. Amidst the lies and intrigue there lies a terrifying link that, if exposed, could result in vicious reprisals for many other people. With all detective novels it is difficult to fully explain a plot without revealing the conclusion but with Rankin, nothing is certain until the final page. This is a stunning piece of work; particularly striking is the originality of the characters and plot that culminates in an energetic yet decisive result. If you read no other crime thriller this year then read Ian Rankin's work, impressive and highly elegant.

An Intriguing Tale With Even More Intriguing Characters

Early last year I read a British publication of this book and found it one of the best Inspector Rebus novels yet. Inspector Rebus himself, is such a fascinating charachter that his inner conflicts, history of broken relationships, addiction to good Scottish whiskey and love of his extensive and eclectic music collection make him as much of a mystery as the series of mysterious murders he investigates. Sometimes, as he has done here, Ian Rankin introduces other similarly intriguing by players, some of whom have previous and again mysterious histories with Rebus. The interaction between Rebus, other charachters and the history and surroundings of Edinborough itself paint such a vivid, moody and tense atmosphere that often the obligatory murder or two seem almost superfluos. The murder/s however, are in fact never too much. Each is different, unexpected and initially seemingly unsolveable and, as in this book, the answers and Rebus' manner of finding them lead the reader through an entirely unexpected journey that, as the plot developes, twists like Rebus' mind and Edinborough's ancient streets and alleyways. To be more specific as to the who's, what's and where's involved in this tales' journey would ruin the prospective delight of any new readers reactions and absorbsion of those details. It's a fine book by an accomplished Master of Mystery and Creator of Charachter. Rankin is so much more than those two phrases infer .... he is a true and fascinating Novelist.

A Superb Read

Rankin lives up to expectations with this his fifth full length Rebus novel. The plot leads the reader on a chase around Scotland for the truth behind a hotel fire five years ago and a series of more contemporary crimes and misdemeanors. With more twists and turns than the Hampton Court Maze, this book is sure to delight anyone who likes to be taken up numerous garden paths and back again. From the first page to the last your sure to find plenty of suprises in this novel. Definitly one of the best I've ever read.