Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rebus subeRstar, February 13, 2007
With this new addition to the long running Rebus saga, Rankin/Rebus have re-confirmed their top ranking in the world of cop fiction. Silver goes to the Michael Connelly/Harry Bosch team.
Rebus and Bosch have a lot in common. Both are usually a pain in the neck to their superiors. Both are near retirement (Bosch actually was already retired but could not bear it and came back), both were married and are fathers, but live alone. Both are boozers, but not druggies, both music addicts, though one more in rock, one in jazz.
This sequel is set in the surroundings of the G8 summit in Scotland in 2005. Rebus is being sidelined by his superiors, i.e. assigned to side shows and not the main event, so as to minimize embarrassments for his bosses, but of course that idea fails.
Rebus' protege Siobhan Clarke is involved in the protest demo against the summit. This is part of her family background. She became a cop out of contrariness against her parents, who are aging hippies and beacons of righteousness, with a long track record of political lecturing back into the good old 60s.
Security forces try to keep the summit trouble free, which is upset by an apparent suicide and an emerging serial killer, not to mention the usual anarchists' and neo-nazis' attempt to surf the good people's demo. Not to mention either the bickering among the services and their pecking order fights.
Though the whole is a trifle over the top in political patronizing, it is solid cop fare.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast Pace, and Exciting, October 24, 2006
The book is set in Scotland in July 2005, when one of the most important events in modern history is due to take place. The G8 summit, a meeting attended by some of the world's most powerful men. Virtually every day there is some form of demonstration or protest and the thin blue line is stretched to its limits.
Detective Inspector Rebus has been sidelined, until an MP's apparent suicide coincides with clues that a serial killer may be on the loose. The powers that be are keen to keep the lid on both the suicide and the possibility of a killer on the loose. They would not make good headline reading while such important people are around and the possibility of overshadowing such an important meeting does not bear thinking about. But they have not taken into account the fact that Rebus has never been one to stick too closely to the rule book.
When a colleague of Rebus, Siobhan Clarke becomes involved in finding the identity of the riot policeman who assaulted her mother, it looks as though both of them may be involved against both sides in the conflict.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Smoking, drinking, and sleuthing., April 22, 2007
Ian Rankin's "The Naming of the Dead" is a convoluted and lengthy police procedural that takes place during a chaotic time in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus. The novel opens with John attending the funeral of his younger brother, Mickey, who died at fifty-four of a sudden stroke. Rebus is feeling his age in many ways; too many cigarettes and too much alcohol have taken their toll on his physique. He has been a cop for thirty years, but the job that has defined him for so long no longer earns him the respect of his colleagues. John's supervisors have little use for a detective who is often insubordinate and tends to follow his own instincts rather than standard police procedure. His bosses are waiting impatiently for John to retire, a step that he is reluctant to take.
Rebus and Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke become embroiled in what appears to be the murder of three sex offenders by a serial killer. Their investigation takes place against the backdrop of the G8 summit in Scotland, a conclave that is threatened by waves of protestors who have vowed to make their voices heard. Suddenly, one of the delegates, a Labor MP who was staying in Edinburgh Castle, falls or is pushed to his death. Although this is not, strictly speaking, John's case, he soon starts digging for evidence, and before long the cynical and sarcastic Rebus manages to get himself and Siobhan into a great deal of hot water.
"The Naming of the Dead," at four hundred and fifty pages, could have been trimmed quite a bit. The plot is extremely busy, there are too many secondary characters, and the narrative quickly loses steam. John's penchant for trouble leads him to confrontations with some thugs working for Special Branch as well as with James Corbyn, Edinburgh's chief constable, Morris Gerald Cafferty, known as Big Ger, "a villain of long standing" who has "fingers in every imaginable criminal pie," and a lay preacher, Councilman Gareth Tench, an unctuous politician with a thirst for power. Cafferty may know something about the killings that John is investigating, but Big Ger wants something in return for his cooperation. Rankin introduces a host of red herrings that keep the detectives busy chasing down leads before they finally learn the horrifying truth.
Rankin relies far too much on coincidences and far-fetched connections to tie up his loose ends, and the story's sluggish pacing makes reading "The Naming of the Dead" more of a chore than a pleasure. Still, John Rebus is a delightfully irreverent and sharp character who seeks justice even for victims whom most people would consider better off dead. Siobhan Clarke, a promising detective on her way up the ladder, is torn between loyalty to John and a desire to please her superiors. She knows that her friendship with Rebus is becoming a distinct liability. Until the last page, John frantically tries to even every score, regardless of the enemies that he makes in the process. Alas, even Rebus and Clarke cannot carry this book all by themselves and, like John's career, this series may at last be winding down.
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by Ian Rankin
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