The Falls

Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin is not merely a good writer; he is a *fine* writer. His books shift by the truckload in his native Scotland and right across the UK. His cop protagonist, Inspector John Rebus, is a fascinating character, a cynical, hardened cop whom his superiors would probably prefer to do without - but can't.

This latest outing sees him confronted with a new boss, a new lady friend, a missing girl and an interactive role-playing game. The boss wants results, Rebus knows nothing about net games and the young female tec assigned to help him becomes perilously involved in the game which, it seems, took the missing girl. Meanwhile his lady friend herself becomes too involved for comfort with one of the suspects.

Rankin handles the different strands of his tale with style and aplomb and, once again, reveals a side of the genteel city of Edinburgh that tourists never see. BUT (and this is probably *me* rather than any inherent flaw with the book) there's a pretty hefty deus ex machina about fifty or so pages from the end which, had it appeared about fifty or so pages from the start (and, frankly, it could easily have been revealed then, IMO) would have rendered the intervening 400 pages pretty redundant. Now, I say this is probably *me* rather than the book or author, because I often find this with crime fiction - you get wrapped up in a well-written, well-plotted book such as this when, all of a sudden, HEY!, the answer more or less falls from the sky. Real life doesn't work like that, and in a book which paints real-life scenarios, it jars. Well, for me anyway. But still, this is a work of fiction, a flight of fancy, and it's a good one at that. Rankin is way ahead of a lot of the competition in his field. If you haven't made his - or Rebus's acquaintance - well, why not?