- Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Minotaur Books (30 Sep 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312969139
- ISBN-13: 978-0312969134
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.6 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,924,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Hanging Garden
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Ian Rankin's ninth book about Inspector John Rebus of the Edinburgh police is so full of story that it seems about to explode into shapeless anarchy at any moment. What keeps it from doing so is Rankin's strong heart and even stronger writing skills. When a Bosnian prostitute refuses to testify against a crime boss who has threatened her family, he says this about the cops trying to pressure her: "Silence in the room. They were all looking at her. Four men, men with jobs, family ties, men with lives of their own. In the scheme of things, they seldom realised how well off they were. And now they realised something else: how helpless they were."
Rebus is trying to help the young woman--renamed Candice by the young, slick, brutal thug Tommy Telford, who is into everything from drugs and prostitution to aiding a Japanese business syndicate in acquiring a local golf course-- because she's about the same age and physical aspect as his own daughter, Sammy. He's also conducting the investigation of a suspected Nazi war criminal, an old man who spends his time tending graves in Warriston cemetery. "A cemetery should have been about death, but Warriston didn't feel that way to Rebus. Much of it resembled a rambling ark into which some statuary had been dropped," Rankin writes with the icy clarity of cold water over stone.
Add to this Rebus's involvement with an imprisoned crime boss in a plan to bring Telford down; his continuing battle with drink; the strong possibility that people high up in the British Government don't want the old Nazi exposed; danger to Sammy and her journalist lover because of her father's work, and a somewhat strained metaphor of Edinburgh as a new Babylon and you have an admittedly large pot of stew. But Rankin's high art keeps it all bubbling and rich with flavour. Others in the Rebus series include his 1997 Edgar Award-nominated Black and Blue, as well as Hide and Seek, Knots and Crosses,, Let It Bleed, Mortal Causes, Strip Jack, and Tooth and Nail. --Dick Adler, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
The 9th Inspector Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author
--This text refers to the
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First Sentence
John Rebus kissed his daughter. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
John Rebus kissed his daughter. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A solid 5-star novel,
By
This review is from: The Hanging Garden (Paperback)
Whilst working on an old World War 2 crime, John Rebus gets wrapped up in one of the worst gang wars in Edinburgh after his daughter is involved in a hit and run, leaving her in a coma. Rebus does everything he can, including turning to crime boss `Big Ger' Cafferty for help, to take down a new-comer on the gang scene, Tommy Telford.
I've read all of the Rebus books and this is without a doubt one of the most exciting and most multi-layered of them all. So much is going on the whole time with so many great characters that it doesn't have chance to slow down for a single paragraph. Some old faces return as well as some new ones (which are in later novels) are introduced. Rebus' character really evolves in this novel, showing more of his family background and his love for his daughter Sammy as well as being more passionate than ever to stop a gang war getting out of control. THE HANGING GARDEN is a very fluid and easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and look forward to reading the next in the series now. Although there are many excellent British crime authors about these days such as Simon Beckett and Mark Billingham, it's books like this one that really prove that Ian Rankin is the best of them all.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Undoubtably excellent,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Hanging Garden (Inspector Rebus) (Paperback)
This is the first of Rankin's books that I read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Deciding to write my RPR for Higher English on this book I studied the book in depth and realised that this book has more to it than meets the eye: parallels between Rebus and Lintz, the importance of time. The book, set in Edinburgh, is well written and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in this genre.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great vintage Inspector Rebus,
By
This review is from: The Hanging Garden (Inspector Rebus) (Paperback)
More of what we expect from Ian Rankin - the story centres on Rebus but there are other highly interesting characters that come through his life. Big Ger is particularly appealing and their relationship has developed well. Must read the books in series to get the best out of Rebus progress and feelings.
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