Death Is Not the End [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Ian Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000

For readers unfamiliar with the blistering plots and language of Ian Rankin's longer works, this special edition novella is the perfect opportunity to get to know Rankin and his unforgettable creation, Inspector John Rebus. For longtime Rebus fans, it is an opportunity to follow him as he explores a subplot from his most recent outing, Dead Souls. When his high-school sweetheart calls him out of the blue, Rebus agrees to track down her missing son, who was last seen at a bar owned by some shady mob-linked gangsters. His pursuit takes him through an Edinburgh beyond the tartan tearooms and cobbled streets of the tourist brochures, a modern city boasting a variety of criminals and their victims. As Rebus contemplates the lurking immortality of his own city, Rankin offers readers page-turning suspense and astonishing literary grace.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Inspector John Rebus of Edinburgh's finest has been knocking readers' socks off for years, in 10 full-length police procedurals by Ian Rankin that star the thoughtful, intelligent Scot. In this neat little novella, he does in 73 pages what many of his peers take three times as long to do--set an interesting scene, solve a crime, develop a character, and allow him to grow and change without sacrificing either pace or plot. Agreeing to track down the missing son of his high school sweetheart and her husband, a friend of his youth, Rebus takes the reader into the gritty back streets and criminal byways of Edinburgh, following Damon Mee from the nightclub where he was last seen through gambling casinos, football matches, and face-to-face encounters with the mobsters who may have been involved in his disappearance. Along the way Rebus confronts his own mortality, the choices he's made, and the obligations he owes his past. The theme of vanishing was spun off from Dead Souls, a full- length novel; according to Rankin, he wrote this brief but fully-realized piece first, then cannibalized part of it as a sub-plot for Dead Souls, "while altering the histories of the characters involved so that both can be read independently." Which is why American fans who haven't yet read Dead Souls will pick it up right after this one. Death Is Not the End is short enough to read on a shuttle flight and still have time for a nap. But like Rankin's other solid Rebus stories, it will stay with you even after you wake up. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Using a subplot from his last Inspector Rebus novel (1999's Dead Souls), Gold Dagger Award-winner Rankin demonstrates at novella length why his Edinburgh policeman stands at the forefront of contemporary detectives. When 23-year-old Damon Mee vanishes from Gaitanos, a popular Kirkcaldy nightclub, the young man's parents naturally ask Insp. John Rebus for help. The father went to school with Rebus, while the mother turns out to be the inspector's old flame Janis, "the only girl in his long and trouble-strewn life who'd ever managed to knock him unconscious." Locating a missing person suddenly becomes personal, as Rebus broods over the past, wondering what might have happened had he and Janis stayed together. Might the recently engaged Damon be having his own doubts about love and marriage? A stakeout of Gaitanos leads Rebus to Richard Mandelson, a shady casino manager who drives a gold Rolls-Royce. Meanwhile, Matty Paine, a croupier in Mandelson's employ, is under pressure from his boss to approach his friend Stevie Scoular, the star of the Edinburgh Rangers football team, about throwing their next game. When Rebus also asks Matty (whom he once got off a drunk-driving charge) for a favor, he finds his investigation taking an unexpected twist. Taut exposition, wry dialogue and deft plotting, together with an insider's view of the seedy underside of Edinburgh, combine to make a superior thriller, well deserving its status as part of the Criminal Records series of novellas, edited by Otto Penzler. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Isis Audio; Unabridged edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075310900X
• ISBN-13: 978-0753109007
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,113,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Novella-length entry in a great crime series, May 24, 2000

By 

John DiBello (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Is Not the End: A Novella (Inspector Rebus Mysteries) (Hardcover)

If you've never read one of Ian Rankin's extraordinary John Rebus mysteries, "Death is Not the End" is a great introduction to the troubled Edinburgh detective and his dark world. On the surface, it's a police procedural (the Rebus books remind me of the also-excellent Bill James "Harpur and Iles" British police procedurals), but Rebus is such a loner, breaking out into his own investigations, that it's virtually a private detective novel as well. This imagery fits "Death is Not the End" especially well as the (intentional) echoes of Raymond Chandler and the theme of "vanishing"--from missing persons to long-lost youthful innocence--permeate Rankin's alcoholic, cigarette-addicted hero's search for the son of an old girlfriend. It's a quick read, but layered with such detail that this would make me want to read more Rebus mysteries even if I wasn't already a fan. I agree in part with the Kirkus Review above: this is pricey for a 74-page book, even a hardcover (this novella might have been better served by publishing it as trade paperback original). Rankin also re-used part of this plot for a recent novel ("Dead Souls"). Some may see this as a cheap excuse to get you to buy the same plot twice; I prefer to look at it as an interesting exercise in covering the same themes in a different manner and from different angles. It is by no means the best or definitive Rebus--one of the full-length novels must surely fill that role. Still, if you're a Rankin fan and completist you'll definitely want this one, and it makes a great introduction to suggest to your friends searching for a captivating crime series and a brilliant author.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Novella retells novel subplot, July 13, 2000

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Is Not the End: A Novella (Inspector Rebus Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Ian Rankin writes crisp, dark, atmospheric police procedurals set in Edinburgh featuring Inspector John Rebus, a brooding loner with occasional regrets, given to bottling his strong feelings. Rankin's unadorned, complexly nuanced writing, his ability to breathe life into characters as much with what is not said as what is, makes the series a particular stand-out.

Since his novella "Death Is Not the End," focuses on a subplot in Rankin's 1999 novel "Dead Souls," I expected a sequel. But as Rankin explains in a note at the end, the novella was written first. The story concerns a missing young man, 23 years old, the son of an old highschool girlfriend. The narrative follows Rebus' investigation over much the same time period as "Dead Souls," though Rankin extended his investigation in the novel. And there is a different subplot featuring crooked casino operators.

New readers, or those who missed "Dead Souls" will enjoy the journey into Edinburgh's seamy side - the grim amorality of those who make their living from "punters" - and Rebus' exploration of his own past and the choices that have made him who he is.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling dark police drama, May 14, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Is Not the End: A Novella (Inspector Rebus Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Scotland-based Detective Inspector John Rebus works two cases. One involves the disappearance of the twenty-three year old son of a woman John once loved. John's boss Chief Superintendent Watson assigns him the task of providing a special birthday present: evidence to send Topper Hamilton to jail. John considers both cases personal for different reasons.

DEATH IS NOT THE END is a compelling dark police drama that keeps reader interest from the first page to the last. The story line contains a complex plot and deep characterizations than normally found in a novella, but not at the level found in Ian Rankin's novels. Although a short work, it retains a powerful punch, leaving fans with the dilemma of considering the price tag.

Harriet Klausner