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A review of Knots and Crosses

by Ian Rankin

Something darker and deeper than a typical mystery novel

Reviewed by:Twelve
AboutTwelve

Knots and Crosses If you flip through 'Knots and Crosses' by Ian Rankin, and you see how small the book is and how tiny the chapters are, you might think that it couldn't be very good. That's what I thought anyway. Hence, I began reading the novel with the intention of finishing it an hour or two, and would get the gist of the entire tale by the middle of the book.

Well, it took me days to finish, and I suddenly had new respect for an author who doesn't feel the need to resort to useless page filler to make a good book. I believe that too many authors are guilty nowadays of adding more to a book than necessary. Until I read this book, it was just an opinion of mine. Now I know it's a fact.

Somehow, in a book that might be considered too short, Ian Rankin builds the fantastic character of Scottish Inspector John Rebus. Rebus is a troubled man, coming off of a separation from a woman he still loves, trying to be a great father to a teenage daughter. His drinking habit doesn't help any, nor the fact that he has quite a low view of himself. Yet he has a drive to solve the mysteries that come as part of the job for an inspector; he still bears a certain integrity that allows for a story to take place. Rebus is a character that feels real. In most cases, the only difference between the good guys and bad guys is that the former don't completely succumb to the drudgery of life that threatens to overburden us all. Rebus is a man barely capable of staying on the fighting side.

For people like Rebus, having a job as an inspector is often a way to keep one's mind on something else rather than one's own life. He always has something to do, is always hunting someone who he can say is worse than himself. However, in 'Knots and Crosses', something happens in the large town of Edinburgh that is more than he imagined. Two young girls are abducted and murdered.

As Rebus enters into this case, one that spirals more and more into horror, details emerge that seem all too personal. When he was able to place himself at a distance from his work, if barely, now it's getting a bit close to home. As his psychology is rather shaky even at the best of times, this is a case that brings so much stress that it threatens to completely throw him over the edge. Yet he can't give up, because there's the nagging truth that he's the only person that can possibly solve the case...

'Knots and Crosses' shows the unglamorous, yet perhaps truthful side of crime investigation. It is dark and blunt, sometimes shocking in the nasty truths it reveals. Rebus is surrounded by characters that all seem just as real as he, well drawn out, and all representing an important part of the tale as whole. The author does a wonderful job putting together a mystery that left me confused right until the very end, and adds very untypical surprises to a sometimes predictable genre. I recommend this book, but don't misjudge it by its size. Many books three times as large will have less of on impact on you.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Knots and Crosses

Copyright © byTwelve, 2002

Reviewed by Twelve :
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