Customer Reviews
Intro to Rebus - By: Tim Roast, 13 Oct 2006 
This is a collection of the first three Rebus novels as written by Ian Rankin. The series is now past 15 booksin total.
In truth these are maybe the worst Rebus novels but they serve as a useful introduction to John Rebus. They also go to show how a writer gets better over time.
Book 1 "Knots & Crosses" follows Rebus as he tries to catch a serial killer. The storyline is very simple & the text is also simple compared to Rankin's later novels. Nevertheless it is a useful introduction to the character Rebus.
Book 2 "Hide & Seek" isin the more accomplished style of the other Rebus novels. This time a drug death looks suspicious to Rebus & this leads him onto an investigation that leads to him uncovering illegal fighting. This novel is morein line with the other Rebus novelsin the way that the thought processes of the characters are very detailed & the chapters are split simply by day. Also the fictitious placesin Edinburgh as usedin Novel 1 have disappeared to be replaced by real-life locations.
Book 3 "Tooth & Nail" seems a strange Rebus novel simply because it is setin London & not Edinburgh. Rebus is invited down from Scotland to help with a serial murder case. He is termed as an expert because of his exploitsin book 1 (Note: all the books stand-alone but there are some small mentions to the previous books). This is the most accomplished book of the three & explores more the thought processes of the characters & includes more jokes that are a big part of the Rebus novels.
All together the books link together well. For example they all have a patternin their titles (although Tooth & Nail was originally called "Wolfman" as the author writesin the useful introduction to each novel). And they serve a purposein introducing the Rebus novels which I am sure you will all love.
Intriguing anthology of first three Rebus titles - By: Budge Burgess, 20 May 2005 An omnibus edition of Ian Rankin's first three tales of John Rebus, this is a fascinating collection for any mystery fan, & a studyin technique for anyone planning or hoping to write a crime fiction novel of their own. What is most evidentin this title is the wayin which Rankin's skill & confidence grow, & the almost transparent efforts he makes to resolve his worries about his art & his central character.
'Knots & Crosses' is a hesitant start. Rebus, at this stage only a sergeant, gets sucked into the investigation of a series of murdersin Edinburgh. Young girls are being killed, but Rebus is initially too preoccupied with his own domestic traumas to appreciate how intimately he is involvedin the crimes. 'Hide & Seek' takes a now promoted Rebus into Edinburgh's seedy drugs world as he champions the right of a dead user to be treated as the victim of crime & not simply as a statistic. Andin 'Tooth & Nail', Rebus is transferred down to London to help catch a serial killer who has the Met baffled.
It's fair to say that these are not classic murder mysteries. Each is flawed, each clearly evidences a working novelist coming to terms with his craft. Rebus is an engaging detective - you can see his character emerging from the novels, can see how the author plays with its various facets, trying to get a balance, trying to create a multi-dimensional figure.
And you can see Rankin coming to terms with the Edinburgh setting, growingin confidence about how to handle it, then perhaps having doubts about the city's ability to sustain a literary detective. Rankin does play with the Jeckyll & Hyde theme (paying homage to a great Edinburgh writer), & will toy with the Jack the Ripper legacy of London, almost as if he is searching for a vehicle for his writing, some way of exploring crime as a sociological & psychological phenomenon, but a phenomenon which is regularly distorted by questions of the nature of 'evil', whether as philosophical or populist concept.
"Rebus: the Early Years" is an entertaining & engaging read which will whet your appetite for future Rebus titles ("Strip Jack" will be the fourth - indeed, the next three titles are also availablein omnibus form as "Three Great Novels: Strip Jack / The Black Book / Mortal Causes".
Twisted minds and the dark secrets of Edinburgh's other side - By: Themis-Athena, 18 Feb 2004 
He had wanted to update Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" for modern times, Ian Rankin writes about his first Inspector Rebus novel, "Knots & Crosses"in the introduction to this 1999 compilation, which contains the first three installments of the series. Oblivious to the mere existence of such a thing as the mystery genre - or so Rankin says - he was stunned to soon hear his book described first & foremost as a crime novel. But eventually this characterization prompted him to have a closer look at the work of other mystery writers, & he found that the form suited his purposes just fine; thatin fact he "could say everything [he] wanted to say about the world, & still give readers a pacy, gripping narrative."
Bearingin mind the original duality of Jekyll & Hyde, however, Rankin's tales are not dominated by a contrast paintedin black & white. While the villains Inspector Rebus faces are certainly every bit as evil as Stevenson's Mr. Hyde, Rebus himself is far from a clean-slated "good guy:" Divorced, cynical, hard-drinking & a former member of the SAS, he is a brotherin spirit to every noir detective from Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade & Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, James Ellroy's squad of crooked cops & Peter Robinson's Alan Banks. Nor is Rebus's Edinburgh the touristy town of Calton Hill, castle & Summer Festival (although the series has meanwhile sparked real-life guided tours to its most famous locations, too) - as befitting a true detective of his ilk, Rankin's antihero moves primarilyin the city's dark & dirty underbelly, which is populated by society's losers & where those who have "made it," those with moneyin their pockets, only show up if they have shady deals to conduct as well.
In a similar fashion to Michael Connelly's first Harry Bosch novel "The Black Echo," where Bosch is forced to revisit the experiences he made as a Vietnam "tunnel rat,"in "Knots & Crosses" Rebus must uncover long-buried memories of his SAS past. For hunting a serial killer whom the tabloids quickly dub "The Edinburgh Strangler," & whose headline-gathering murders at first seem totally unrelated, Rebus eventually makes the connection between those crimes & a series of anonymous letters he receives, & realizes that it is he himself who is the killer's true target, & that the murderer's crimes are based on such a cruel scheme - & executed with such inhuman skill & precision - that only one particular man's thoroughly disturbed mind can have come up with them. And at the same time, Rebus is trying to work out his difficult relationship with his brother Michael, whose life is so different from his own - financially successful & ostensibly happily married & squeaky clean throughout, Michael seems to be on the sunny side of lifein every respect labeled a failurein Rebus's own life story - but he soon discovers that even Michael has secrets he is trying hard to keep from coming to light.
The title of Rankin's second Rebus novel, "Hide & Seek," is an even more overt play on Robert Louis Stevenson's famous dual character(s) than the mere juxtaposition of cop & killer. This time, Rebus is on the hunt for the killer of a junkie whose half-naked body is foundin a run-down, deserted buildingin the Pilmuir housing estates - the worst part of town, notwithstanding a nearby construction project involving high-priced luxury condominiums - positioned crucifixion-style & near a drawing possibly hinting at Satanic rituals. And Rebus's only witness seems to be the young woman who had been living with the dead man for the last three months & heard him yell "Hide!" before pushing her out of the door, telling her: "They've murdered me;" but who is now more than just a little reluctant to cooperate, taking refuge, instead, behind an almost unbreakable rebel-against-society-facade, complete with peroxide hair, stud earrings & Attitude with a capital "A."
"Tooth & Nail" finally (originally titled "Wolfman," for the alias that police have given the subject of their hunt) takes Rebus to London, where he is to assist metro CID with the case of another serial killer, this one named for the bite marks he leaves on his victims' bodies. Not overly enthusiastic about his mission to the capital (and thus mirroring once more the feelings of Rankin himself, who did not much like living there, either, & "brought Rebus to London so he could suffer, too"), Rebus soon alienates his metro counterpart by his constant unwillingness to follow protocol, although the two men get along reasonably well on a personal level. Eventually, Rebus so seriously jeopardizes his & - by extension - Edinburgh CID's reputation with the Met that he is about to be recalled home, when he finally makes the crucial connection that unmasks the killer, justin time to save the young psychologist who has offered her help with the case & who is his latest love interest. (As befits a good noir detective, Rebus has a new flamein every book, not without incurring fresh scars from each separation, however.)
While this series had a terrific start alreadyin its first three novels, published between 1987 & 1992, Rebus's character - & Rankin's writing - has evolved significantly over time. Thus, it is probably wise to read itin the order of publication. Contrary to the novels he wrote under the pseudonym Jack Harvey, however, & which he views much more criticallyin hindsight, Ian Rankin overall still seems to be happy with his early Rebus books, commenting: "I can't read them without thinking back to my own early years, my apprenticeship as a crime writer. Read & enjoy." I have nothing to add to that ...
Genre Busting Quality Crime - By: A. Weston, 01 Dec 2003 Not really my usual cup-of-tea, but after years of being badgered by friends to give Rebus a chance, I've just worked my way through the Early Years. And what a rewarding read. I like flawed central characters (something that other genre-buster Le Carre excels at) & Rebus is a compelling creation. I also have a soft spot for Edinburgh so I'm as happy to visit itin fiction asin the fleshin the first of these books.
It's also a great antidote to the real disappointment of Jake Arnott's last book (oops - just blown my I-don't-read-crime-cover)
My latest discovery in this genre - By: , 07 Dec 2001 An excellent introduction to author, Ian Rankin, & his hero, Inspector John Rebus, both new to me. Having devoured this three-in-one, I am now ready to progress further through the sequence of stories. I believe that the "St Leonard's Years" covers the next three Rebus novels so that will be my next quest.
Of the three "Early Years" stories I preferred the first, Knots & Crosses, & the third, Tooth & Nail, to the second (Hide & Seek) which was a bit harder to get to grips with.
Thoroughly recommended to crime/thriller addicts & you certainly don't have to be Scottish to appreciate them!
