Blood Hunt: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Ian Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

As a former soldier, Gordon Reeve knows something about killing. So despite the fact that the death of his brother Jim has been ruled a suicide, Gordon can't shake the feeling that someone is responsible. Traveling alone across an ocean, he arrives in California determined to get answers: Why was the car Jim's body was found in locked from the outside? Who would want Jim dead? And now why do the local cops seem bent on thwarting Gordon's efforts to uncover the truth? With all the verve and taut pacing that have made Ian Rankin an internationally renowned suspense writer, Blood Hunt is a gripping story of one man's dogged pursuit of justice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Admirers of Edgar-winner Rankin's bestselling series featuring Edinburgh's Insp. John Rebus (Fleshmarket Alley, etc.) may be disappointed by this stand-alone suspense novel, which has more in common with the works of Frederick Forsyth and Robert Ludlum. Gordon Reeve, an ex–Special Forces soldier with serious anger management issues, has settled down to a tranquil second career running a survival camp in a remote part of Scotland. When he learns that his journalist brother, Jim, with whom he hadn't been close for years, has shot himself in California, Reeve resolves to seek answers. Once in the U.S., Reeve begins to suspect that his brother was murdered because of an investigative piece he was working on involving a major chemical company. But that Grisham-like plot is soon made secondary to a game of cat and mouse Reeve plays with a deranged former military colleague, leading to an anticlimactic and predictable ending. Rankin's gifts as a writer will have many quickly turning the pages, but longtime fans will hope for a return to form in his next outing. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Fans of Rankin's gold-standard Inspector Rebus series need to know that Blood Hunt is not the latest installment. With the author's name deservedly the perfect marketing tool, the publishers are reprinting another book (like Witch Hunt, 2004) that Rankin, writing as Jack Harvey, originally published in the UK in the 1990s. Unlike the Rebus procedurals, which pit a contrarian cop against his own demons in an unrelentingly gritty Edinburgh, this globe-trotting tale delivers more traditional thrills. Gordon Reeve is an ex-SAS soldier who now makes his living training weekend warriors in rural Scotland. Told that his brother has committed suicide in California, Reeve goes to the funeral and quickly decides that the investigative reporter was murdered. Trying to get the story and then revenge, he finds himself pitted against both an amoral chemical conglomerate and an unwelcome face from his own past. Reeve is no Rebus--though he battles his ferocious temper, he's too efficient a killing machine to be as deeply interesting--but those who like their thrillers fast and chilling will be in miserable bliss. This 10-year-old novel ties in perfectly to today's concerns about multinationals and big-business science--the poisons in men's hearts that leach out into the world. Not Rankin's best but still awfully good. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st Printing edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316013374
• ISBN-13: 978-0316013376
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1.2 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anarchy Versus Nietzsche, July 4, 2006

By 

prisrob "pris," (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Blood Hunt: A Novel (Hardcover)

"Reeve had been one of Nietzsche's gentlemen. Nietzsche had carried on the work of Descartes and others- men who needed to dominate, to control, to eliminate chance. But while Nietzsche wanted superman, controllers, he also wanted people to live dangerously. Reeve felt he was fulfilling these criteria if no other. He was living dangerously. He just wondered if he needed mutual aide along the way."

Gordon Reeve was a soldier in the Counter-Revolutionary War fare Unit of the SAS. He was very skilled and much admired for his talents. After his last assignment where he was laid open to the enemy by his team mate, and only survived by his great skill's; he asked to be discharged. He started his own surival camp in the mountains of Scotland. He belived in the Seven "P" philosophy: "Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss-Poor Performance." This is what he taught and this is how he lved his life. He married, had a son and one day received a call from the US to tell him his brother had committed suicide.

Gordon flew to San Diego to find his brother's remains and became enmeshed in the murder not suicide of his brother. He discovered many interesting clues and became involved in the illegal wastes and products of chemical companies. Mystery and intrigue always follow Ian Rankin, and this is no different. The clues Gordon finds brings him to London, France, back to the US and in that time his home is bugged and his family is in danger. The people in the multi- billion dollar chemical business have ties to the CIA and to all of the Intelligence communities in msot countries. Gordon Reeves faced real danger, and in the telling and sleuthing he discovered friends who assisted him. Reeves is an amazing character and his mind is a steel trap much like my good friend, BK. He is a complex character, as are all of Ian Rankin's. He has a personality that is likeable but so multifaceted that you become enmeshed in the mystery and turn every corner with zeal as Reeve encounters one problem after another.

I like Gordon Reeve. He is a philosopher and his thoughtful discussion of anarchy and Nietzsche is fulfilling. He is intelligent, complex and sexy. He loves his family, he is a man of few words but each word counts. Gordon Reeve is my kind of man, a man of mystery and delight.

Ian Rankin has introduced us to a new set of characters and they work. This is a man of intelligence with a love of philosophy and action. Contrary to others' opinions, this novel does work. Certainly,no one can compare to Rebus, Ian Rankin's best known Scottish detective, but Gordon Reeves works for me. An altogether different kind of man and detective, he is a thinking woman's man. Highly recommended, prisrob 7-04-06

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Rebus but rivetting nonetheless, July 2, 2006

By 

Cardinal47 (ottawa, ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Hunt: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have read most of Rankin's Inspector Rebus series and enjoyed them. Fans of Rebus may be disappointed because this is quite a different book. I was not. I found the story quite well developed, the characters interesting and the international conspiracy quite believable.Fans of Ludlum and other international thriller writers will find it hard to put down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than Rebus, January 8, 2007

By 

Ohng - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Hunt: A Novel (Hardcover)

Sure the main character is overdone, the plotting would not stand up to close analysis, and the "philosophy" is basically garbage but the story moves and is competently written. What more can one ask for in a thriller? Jack Higgins made a fine living out of similar stuff which was not nearly as good. Four stars, perhaps because the competition in this genre has become so weak.