Tooth and Nail [Paperback]

Ian Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

They call him the Wolfman - because he takes a bite out of his victims and because they found the first victim in the East End's lonely Wolf Street. Scotland Yard are anxious to find the killer and Inspector Rebus is drafted in to help, thanks to his supposed expertise in the modus operandi of serial killers. But his Scotland Yard opposite number, George Flight, isn't happy at yet more interference - it's bad enough having several Chief Inspectors on your back - and Rebus finds himself dealing with racial prejudice as well as the predations of a violent maniac. When Rebus is offered a serial killer profile of the Wolfman by an attractive female psychologist, it's too good an opportunity to miss. But in finding an ally, he may have given his enemies an easy means of attack.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A novelist of great scope, depth, and power." --Jonathan Kellerman

"In Rankin, you cannot go wrong." --The Boston Globe

"Ian Rankin is up there among the best crime novelists at work today." --Michael Connelly

"A superior series." --The New York Times Book Review

"Reading [Ian Rankin] is like watching somebody juggle a dozen bottles of single malt without spilling a drop." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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

About the Author

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America's celebrated Edgar Award for 'Resurrection Men'. He has also been shortlisted for the Edgar and Anthony Awards in the USA, and won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews and Edinburgh. A contributor to BBC2's 'Newsnight Review', he also presented his own TV series, 'Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts'. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Orion Paperbacks; New edition edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752877275
• ISBN-13: 978-0752877273
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,137,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars remarkable, November 14, 2002

By 

RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tooth and Nail (Detective John Rebus Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

this may be one of the earliest Rebus novels, but it is without shadow of a doubt one of the best. Ian Rankin here presentes an excellent serial killer novel, published around the time when the sub-genre itself was really on it's infancy. (After all, there weren't all that many serial killer novels around in 1991) It's a very assured, seasoned, mature novel, somewhat before it's time.

Rebus is a great character, and here his development continues. However, we are presented with a great twist to the normal formula here...Rebus has been sent to London to work on a case, and the fish-out-of-water effect really works very well. Instead of the in-depth and realistic descriptions of Edinburgh, we now see London through Rebus, a visitors eyes, and Rankin proves that his evocations of place are not merely limited to Edinburgh. He describes London excellently, and observing Rebus wandering round the city like a lost soul (until he realises that, in terms of problems, London is basically the same as his home turf, when he seems to get more comfortable with the place) is really interesting.

The plot is great, and it twists and turns subtly but excellently, with Rankin misleading the reader like an illusionst all the way to the end as to the real identity of the killer. He shocks and surprises again and again, until a brilliantly exciting climax, a car chase through the busy streets of London.

Along the way, Rebus meets some brilliant characters, several of whom i would love to see again in the future. George Flight, his opposite number in London, is a wonderfully drawn creation. He is a likeable man, and a great copper. He is darawn well, and i liked the way Rankin shied away from the cliche of making him an unlikeable, difficult to work with, arrogant and not very good police-officer. Instead, we are prsented with a policeman equal to Rebus in ability, whose talents compliment each other well. Another great character is Liza Frazer, the young psychologist who volunteers to help Rebus draw up a profile of the killer.

All in all, this is a brilliant book. It suceeds on every single leve, and while the end does seem a little rushed, and i would rather the book were a bit longer, this book ranks among Rankin's best work. Which, considering the calibre of almost all his books, means that this book is very, very good indeed.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and Chilling Tale, November 29, 1999

By 

"bevjoy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tooth and Nail (Detective John Rebus Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read all of Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus tales. Thus, I've spent many hours with John Rebus, and his deep, dark, intensity. His world of pain and loss is usually Edinburgh where the city becomes a living being as conscious and present as Rebus himself-and the shadows that fill his life. In Tooth and Nail, we are thrust with Rebus into an alien land, London, and much more into the alien mind of the murderer. The insanity within the serial killer is disconcerting, creating anixity within us as we read the words. No longer are we curled up with a good book reading about paper characters. We become no more safe from the demons of imagination than the do victims in the novel. But Mr. Rankin not only chills us, he saves us, at least for the moment. I could not bear such unease if it wasn't for the realization that Inspector Rebus will succeed in the end, at least enough for me to sleep without nightmares . . bravo, Mr. Rankin. You are an artist.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tooth and Nail (Detective John Rebus Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was my first Ian Rankin book. It was great. The book read very fast and kept my attention through the book.

The serial killer's MO was mysterious. I wanted to know "Why?". The book didn't disappoint and provided both the "Who" and "Why".

I would recommend it.