Ian's popularity continues to grow every year - FLESHMARKET CLOSE was his biggest selling novel yet in both hardcover and paperback. Unusually for such a bestselling author, Rankin still gets swathes of critical praise. He has continued to keep the Rebus series as fresh as when it began twenty years ago. In the last five years, he has also become an important figure in the cultural life of the UK - he is regular on tv and radio and writes for the local and national press.
Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, as well as receiving two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews and Edinburgh. A contributor to BBC2's 'Newsnight Review', he also presented his own TV series, 'Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts', on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.
While John Rebus's legion of fans may be disappointed that this is the Edinburgh detective's last case, Edgarr and Gold Daggerr award winner Rankin (www.ianrankin.net) gives the gruff chap a solid send-off in this 17th and final series entry. Days before his retirement, Rebus is presented with the murder of a famous Russian poet, which leads him into unexpected avenues involving gangsters and business executives. Scottish actor James Macpherson aptly captures Rebus's prickly personality, though his Scots burr lurks in the background of his Russian accents. One of the best titles in the series; highly recommended for popular collections. [Audio clip available through www.hachettebookgroup.com; unabridged library-edition CD available from Recorded Books; the Little, Brown hc received a starred review, LJ 8/08.-Ed.]-Michael -Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. Lib. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
James MacPherson's home-grown Scottish burr is put to excellent use narrating Rankin's 17th and possibly best crime novel featuring Det. Insp. John Rebus of the Edinburgh police. At 60, it's retirement time for Rebus and, as expected, Rankin's rebellious series hero isn't going quietly. Not with the murder of a dissident Russian poet to solve and a career-long battle with local crime lord Big Ger Cafferty to close down. MacPherson easily conveys Rebus's gruff impatience, Cafferty's deeper, nastier menace and Det. Siobhan Clarke's brittle coolness. He even manages to lose the burr long enough to get past several Russian-thick accents. Though Rebus's mention of perusing his unsolved cases in retirement offers some hope of future sleuthing, this reads like a farewell novel. Along with its expected well-crafted procedural elements, Rankin has included several moments of wistfulness and regret, and MacPherson makes the most of every one of them. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, July 7). (Sept.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
