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The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories: From the iconic #1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES

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I'd happily recommend the book, the audiobook or both to all Rebus fans out there, or even perhaps as an introduction for new readers to the grand old man of Tartan Noir. p>

Read about how we’ll protect and use your data in our Privacy Notice. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. 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.

I also felt there was more than a touch of William McIlvanney in the earlier stories, but that his influence seemed to fade as they went on, presumably as Rankin developed into his own equally strong style. They are spread throughout his career, with the first story being the most recently written – a prequel more or less to his latest novel Saints of the Shadow Bible, when Rebus was a new detective learning the ropes – right through to his retirement (which we now know didn't last long). All the twelve Rebus stories in A Good Hanging and Other Stories are included: they cover a chronological year in Rebus’s life; "Playback" in March, "A Good Hanging" in August during the Festival Fringe and "Auld Lang Syne" in December. Of course Rebus is incredibly clever and always works out who the culprit is, but the reader isn't given the time to pick up clues and try to guess. My one complaint about this stellar volume is that Rebus' nemesis, gangster Morris Gerald "Big Ger" Cafferty, doesn't appear at all except in a passing reference.None of the stories is bad, although a few are very slight and/or contrived, but, with a single exception, none of them blew my socks off. Whilst I have a preference for the longer length novels, I did enjoy this book, if only because it allows you to spend more time in the company of John Rebus. When I read one of the other cover quotes I sniggered: "One of the great modern cops, a kind of Scottish cousin to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch" (Patrick Anderson, Washington Post). There are six uncollected stories from magazines and newspapers, often for a Christmas issue so set in the festive season.

The final chapter Rankin on Rebus is a really interesting insight into how/where/why Rebus was created. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. The opening story, Dead and Buried, actually references events in the most recent novel and features a young Rebus when he was a CID newbie at Summerhall station in the mid-80s and still a married man. if i wasn't gifted this book i would have never picked it up, and being thrown into the deep end with short stories about a character which i knew nothing about was very interesting. I thought it was a first rate recording, and thoroughly enjoyed splitting the book between reading and listening.

One thing though, when you have a collection like this the reader notices certain themes that wouldn't have been so obvious if the stories had been read at different times and places, and Mr Rankin seems to have an odd fixation with the idea of criminals disguised as Santa Claus! Not only is he an excellent narrator, but his voice and accent are ideally suited for the character of Rebus and as a skilled actor he also creates different personas for all the other many characters who appear in the stories. In fact, because we know the main characters so well, Rankin doesn't have to spend much time on developing them, allowing him to pack a lot of story into a compact space.

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