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Rebus: "Knots and Crosses", " Hide and Seek", " Tooth and Nail" (Paperback)

by Ian Rankin (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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Rebus: "Knots and Crosses", " Hide and Seek", " Tooth and Nail" + Three Great Novels: Strip Jack / The Black Book / Mortal Causes + Ian Rankin: Three Great Novels: Rebus
Price For All Three: £32.87

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Product details

  • Paperback: 612 pages
  • Publisher: Orion; New edition edition (18 May 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752837990
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752837994
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 4.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #7 in  Books > Fiction > Anthologies > Thrillers
    #13 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > R > Rankin, Ian > Complete List

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Product Description

Product Description
KNOTS & CROSSES: Two girls have been abducted and brutally murdered. Now a third is missing. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of the policemen hunting the killer. And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve ... HIDE & SEEK: A junkie lies dead in an Edinburgh squat. Just another addict, until Inspector Rebus begins to chip away at the indifference, treachery, deceit and sleaze that lurk behind the facade of the city familiar to tourists. And only Rebus seems to care about a death that looks more like murder every day, a death that appeals to the darkest corners of his mind. TOOTH & NAIL: Drafted down to the Big Smoke thanks to a supposed expertise in the modus operandi of serial killers, Inspector Rebus is on the trail of a man who, due to his penchant for taking a bite from each of his victims, is known as the Wolfman. When Rebus is offered a profile of the Wolfman by an attractive lady psychologist, it seems too good an opportunity to turn down. But in finding an ally, he may have given his enemies an easy means of attack ...

About the Author
Ian Rankin lives with his wife and two sons in Edinburgh having returned from a six year sojourn in France.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Rebus: "Knots and Crosses", " Hide and Seek", " Tooth and Nail"
83% buy the item featured on this page:
Rebus: "Knots and Crosses", " Hide and Seek", " Tooth and Nail" 4.6 out of 5 stars (12)
£10.49
Knots And Crosses
6% buy
Knots And Crosses 3.7 out of 5 stars (37)
£5.99
Three Great Novels: Strip Jack / The Black Book / Mortal Causes
5% buy
Three Great Novels: Strip Jack / The Black Book / Mortal Causes 4.7 out of 5 stars (7)
£11.89
Tooth And Nail
4% buy
Tooth And Nail 3.9 out of 5 stars (16)
£4.81
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing anthology of first three Rebus titles, 20 May 2005
By Budge Burgess (Kilmarnock, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
An omnibus edition of Ian Rankin's first three tales of John Rebus, this is a fascinating collection for any mystery fan, and a study in technique for anyone planning or hoping to write a crime fiction novel of their own. What is most evident in this title is the way in which Rankin's skill and confidence grow, and the almost transparent efforts he makes to resolve his worries about his art and his central character.

'Knots and Crosses' is a hesitant start. Rebus, at this stage only a sergeant, gets sucked into the investigation of a series of murders in Edinburgh. Young girls are being killed, but Rebus is initially too preoccupied with his own domestic traumas to appreciate how intimately he is involved in the crimes. 'Hide and Seek' takes a now promoted Rebus into Edinburgh's seedy drugs world as he champions the right of a dead user to be treated as the victim of crime and not simply as a statistic. And in 'Tooth and Nail', Rebus is transferred down to London to help catch a serial killer who has the Met baffled.

It's fair to say that these are not classic murder mysteries. Each is flawed, each clearly evidences a working novelist coming to terms with his craft. Rebus is an engaging detective - you can see his character emerging from the novels, can see how the author plays with its various facets, trying to get a balance, trying to create a multi-dimensional figure.

And you can see Rankin coming to terms with the Edinburgh setting, growing in confidence about how to handle it, then perhaps having doubts about the city's ability to sustain a literary detective. Rankin does play with the Jeckyll and Hyde theme (paying homage to a great Edinburgh writer), and will toy with the Jack the Ripper legacy of London, almost as if he is searching for a vehicle for his writing, some way of exploring crime as a sociological and psychological phenomenon, but a phenomenon which is regularly distorted by questions of the nature of 'evil', whether as philosophical or populist concept.

"Rebus: the Early Years" is an entertaining and engaging read which will whet your appetite for future Rebus titles ("Strip Jack" will be the fourth - indeed, the next three titles are also available in omnibus form as "Three Great Novels: Strip Jack / The Black Book / Mortal Causes".

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Intro to Rebus, 13 Oct 2006
By Tim Roast "TheMightyRoast" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a collection of the first three Rebus novels as written by Ian Rankin. The series is now past 15 books in total.

In truth these are maybe the worst Rebus novels but they serve as a useful introduction to John Rebus. They also go to show how a writer gets better over time.

Book 1 "Knots and Crosses" follows Rebus as he tries to catch a serial killer. The storyline is very simple and the text is also simple compared to Rankin's later novels. Nevertheless it is a useful introduction to the character Rebus.

Book 2 "Hide and Seek" is in the more accomplished style of the other Rebus novels. This time a drug death looks suspicious to Rebus and this leads him onto an investigation that leads to him uncovering illegal fighting. This novel is more in line with the other Rebus novels in the way that the thought processes of the characters are very detailed and the chapters are split simply by day. Also the fictitious places in Edinburgh as used in Novel 1 have disappeared to be replaced by real-life locations.

Book 3 "Tooth and Nail" seems a strange Rebus novel simply because it is set in London and not Edinburgh. Rebus is invited down from Scotland to help with a serial murder case. He is termed as an expert because of his exploits in book 1 (Note: all the books stand-alone but there are some small mentions to the previous books). This is the most accomplished book of the three and explores more the thought processes of the characters and includes more jokes that are a big part of the Rebus novels.

All together the books link together well. For example they all have a pattern in their titles (although Tooth and Nail was originally called "Wolfman" as the author writes in the useful introduction to each novel). And they serve a purpose in introducing the Rebus novels which I am sure you will all love.
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55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars My latest discovery in this genre, 7 Dec 2001
By A Customer
An excellent introduction to author, Ian Rankin, and his hero, Inspector John Rebus, both new to me. Having devoured this three-in-one, I am now ready to progress further through the sequence of stories. I believe that the "St Leonard's Years" covers the next three Rebus novels so that will be my next quest.
Of the three "Early Years" stories I preferred the first, Knots & Crosses, and the third, Tooth & Nail, to the second (Hide & Seek) which was a bit harder to get to grips with.

Thoroughly recommended to crime/thriller addicts and you certainly don't have to be Scottish to appreciate them!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars REBUS:THE EARLY YEARS
Absolute pleasure to read. Total commitment to all three titles. Could not leave them alone. Rankin is a master at painting the scene in your mind. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. Samuel J. Main

5.0 out of 5 stars Twisted minds and the dark secrets of Edinburgh's other side
He had wanted to update Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" for modern times, Ian Rankin writes about his first Inspector Rebus novel, "Knots and Crosses" in the... Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2004 by Themis-Athena

4.0 out of 5 stars Genre Busting Quality Crime
Not really my usual cup-of-tea, but after years of being badgered by friends to give Rebus a chance, I've just worked my way through the Early Years. And what a rewarding read. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2003 by A. Weston

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read for those of us that started with later books.
An enjoyable read for those of us that have only read later books in the Rebus series. It was great to pick up the stories that are menioned in the recent novels and get a better... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars The best series of detective books around
The Inspector Rebus series is without doubt the best series of detective novels around at the moment. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read from beginning to end!
When I discovered the Rebus books last Xmas - it was Set in Darkness I read first - then Dead Souls then the Early Years - never thinking they had a sequence to them! Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Rebus novels are the best I have read so far!
Rebus: the early years is a great read.

I have also read: Dead souls and Set in darkness - they are excellent as well!

Knots and Crosses I have just bought!

Published on 14 Mar 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent...read this one first
On the recommendation of a friend I started reading Rankin's Rebus novels. I started with The Black Book and followed it with Mortal Causes, I then realised that I was reading... Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, a must for all Rebus fans !
If like me, you tend to read a series of books out of sequence..... then stop ! ...you must read this before you read any other Rebus novel. Read more
Published on 27 Jul 2000

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