I finished reading Tooth and Nail yesterday. Of all the Rankins I have read so far, I finished this the quickest. My first tryst with Rankin was fortuitously his first Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses, and it took me a lot of time to get into the mood of the novel and I stopped once every ten pages or so and picked it up after two or three days. I must say I managed to complete it, but was not a satisfied reader. I couldn't get a grip on the atmosphere and on Rebus. I left it at that. I wanted to read more and picked up some more Rebus novels at a book sale. I read Strip Jack, which I finished slightly quicker than Knots and Crosses, and still no grip on Rebus. I kept the other Rankins aside and went back to reading private detective Spenser's exploits in Robert B. Parker's novels. Rebus kept haunting me and I went back to Rankin and started Black and Blue. I was back to square one with Black and Blue. I plodded through the initial pages and didn't enjoy the feeling of forced reading. I kept it aside, but temptation took me back to it again and again and I would sadly close the book after three or four pages. Will I ever get into Rebus' world?
Thank God for the regular Best Books Sale at Hyderabad, where I found Rankin's short stories...both volumes in one book (The Complete Short Stories - A Good Hanging & Beggars Banquet). This book contained many Rebus stories. I practically devoured it. It is a voluminous book and each Rebus story is a small gem. I was now comfortable in Rebus' world and began to slowly understand his world and his methods. But, I didn't want to hurry back to Black and Blue. In the meantime, Spenser provided many moments of unalloyed sleuthing pleasure, and I also discovered Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks.
Somewhere along the way, I picked up Rankin's Exit Music along with some Parkers at Frankfurt Foreign Book Sale. Exit Music was not an intended purchase, but then I found it and thought, 'why not.' It was vacation time for me and I was alone at home. It was unbearably hot in Hyderabad this summer. I read the blurb on Exit Music and discovered that it was the last in the Inspector Rebus series. 'Let me see how Rebus' career ends,' I thought and picked up Exit Music hesitantly. I got slowly sucked into Rebus' world and towards the end, I even sacrificed my sleep and read till 4.00 in the morning and completed it in a rush. Phew...a difficult job completed in one reading...I was happy...not that I managed to crack Rebus' mind, but I managed to enter the world and stay there for a long enough period of time at a stretch. Of course, I could see how it all ended for Rebus...who was almost taken kicking and screaming out of his beloved police station on retirement...it was solid dogged reading...like Dravid's batting...
I now had the confidence to try and finish Black and Blue. I went back to the novel and hung on...I discovered I was enjoying reading it and was able to relate to some extent to Rebus. When I finished Black and Blue, it was as if I had crossed a psychological barrier...a weight lifted off my chest.
I had also picked up a Rankin omnibus edition at the Best Books Sale. This edition contained two Rebus novels - The Black Book & Mortal Causes. I could now start with one of these.
On my way to Begumpet one day recently, I took a chance and went into Frankfurt Foreign Book Sale and found four Rebus novels. Of these, Tooth and Nail caught my attention and I started with that instead of the omnibus edition. Rebus goes to London on request in Tooth and Nail, uprooted from his familiar Edinburgh.
Why Tooth and Nail? I don't know. But when I looked at the chronological list of Rebus novels, I realised that Tooth and Nail follows Hide and Seek...I didn't know this. The first Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses, was the first Rebus novel that I read. Strip Jack comes after Tooth and Nail. Strip Jack was the second Rebus novel I had read...
I am now reading The Black Book...
Thank God for the regular Best Books Sale at Hyderabad, where I found Rankin's short stories...both volumes in one book (The Complete Short Stories - A Good Hanging & Beggars Banquet). This book contained many Rebus stories. I practically devoured it. It is a voluminous book and each Rebus story is a small gem. I was now comfortable in Rebus' world and began to slowly understand his world and his methods. But, I didn't want to hurry back to Black and Blue. In the meantime, Spenser provided many moments of unalloyed sleuthing pleasure, and I also discovered Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks.
Somewhere along the way, I picked up Rankin's Exit Music along with some Parkers at Frankfurt Foreign Book Sale. Exit Music was not an intended purchase, but then I found it and thought, 'why not.' It was vacation time for me and I was alone at home. It was unbearably hot in Hyderabad this summer. I read the blurb on Exit Music and discovered that it was the last in the Inspector Rebus series. 'Let me see how Rebus' career ends,' I thought and picked up Exit Music hesitantly. I got slowly sucked into Rebus' world and towards the end, I even sacrificed my sleep and read till 4.00 in the morning and completed it in a rush. Phew...a difficult job completed in one reading...I was happy...not that I managed to crack Rebus' mind, but I managed to enter the world and stay there for a long enough period of time at a stretch. Of course, I could see how it all ended for Rebus...who was almost taken kicking and screaming out of his beloved police station on retirement...it was solid dogged reading...like Dravid's batting...
I now had the confidence to try and finish Black and Blue. I went back to the novel and hung on...I discovered I was enjoying reading it and was able to relate to some extent to Rebus. When I finished Black and Blue, it was as if I had crossed a psychological barrier...a weight lifted off my chest.
I had also picked up a Rankin omnibus edition at the Best Books Sale. This edition contained two Rebus novels - The Black Book & Mortal Causes. I could now start with one of these.
On my way to Begumpet one day recently, I took a chance and went into Frankfurt Foreign Book Sale and found four Rebus novels. Of these, Tooth and Nail caught my attention and I started with that instead of the omnibus edition. Rebus goes to London on request in Tooth and Nail, uprooted from his familiar Edinburgh.
Why Tooth and Nail? I don't know. But when I looked at the chronological list of Rebus novels, I realised that Tooth and Nail follows Hide and Seek...I didn't know this. The first Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses, was the first Rebus novel that I read. Strip Jack comes after Tooth and Nail. Strip Jack was the second Rebus novel I had read...
I am now reading The Black Book...
