I look forward to reading the next book in the series and I would highly recommend this series to those who love Scottish mystery. There's also some strong action -- some we see as it happens, but most we hear about after the fact (years or days alter). The book’s alarmingly clear depiction of the shadier side of Edinburgh life, from dingy council flats to bored bouncers and seedy nightclubs, provides the perfect backdrop to the story. He is, at his core, a deeply moral character, but he has lost much of his faith, along with many friends and family members, along the way.

A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002.But at night, unsoothed by whiskey, Rebus faces his ghosts-and the prospect of his daughter's possibly permanent paralysis. Patience is fleshed out a little more than usual here, usually she is the woman Rebus is hardly with, often choosing to spend solitary time at his own flat. he learns how the killer's sense of morality may have been warped beyond repair by external factors over which he had no control. I'd run into problems with work ethic or attitude or whatever, and I'd think, "What's the deal with this kid?

Rebus has certain prejudices and a certain impulsive nature that we can all associate with and which makes matters worse. Rebus is one of the men assigned to watch him -- a job that's all the more fun because the exclusive rights to Oakes' story have gone to none other than the old Rebus-foe, journalist Jim Stevens. I don't know that this is a bad one to be your first Rebus novel -- you may be willing to cut him more slack for his questionable actions if you've got a history with him than you would be otherwise, however. It's really very impressive watching how Rankin weaves every strand of story and character in this novel -- it always is, but this web seems more intricate than usual. A variety of issues/ possible crimes featured in this story, but while there were twists and turns, the stories seemed believable.serving as typical language of the roughish characters forming the narrative: inspectors, establishment owners, street people, cabbies, dockers, etc. I can only give Rebus the highest compliment by comparing my devotion to him as to my sincere devotion to Inspector Morse. There are more deaths, and the various cases -- Margulies' suicide, Rough, Oakes, and the missing teenager -- are all resolved. In addition, a convicted murderer who spent 25 years in an American prison has been released and deported to Edinburgh, where he grows up. For the best part of an hour, Rebus had been trying to blink away a hangover, which was about as much exercise as he could sustain.

There are also unintended (and fully intended consequences of crimes against adults throughout the book -- Rebus' own hands aren't entirely clean here. All you could see were shoe-soles and legs, girls’ skirts and the smalls of backs where T-shirts and jerseys had ridden up.While the many plot lines pull the narrative in disparate directions, the whole is held together by Rankin's drum-tight characterization of Rebus as a man deeply shaken in his convictions, but unwilling to fall apart. Dead Souls is a long book but the pages turned themselves and I was reluctant to stop reading at any point.

If you think about the book in terms of Rebus (and through him, the reader) understanding what happened and why -- it's satisfying, not really cheerful, but satisfying in that regard. I mean, it's obvious to me that while some personality traits are clearly handed down from parent to child (case in point, I have my dad's social awkwardness and my mom's passive-aggressiveness – a winning combo! In one of my other blog experiments, I wrote a review of Werner Herzog's death penalty documentary, Into the Abyss.Unofficially, Rebus makes things uncomfortable for a pedophile in his new home -- an act that will not go well and will spiral out of control -- and he's helping an old girlfriend look for her missing son. When the social workers claim he is there for legitimate educational reasons, Rebus is faced with a dilemma - should he be outed to protect local kids or given a chance to start anew? But another problem develops for Rebus: a convicted murderer has him in his sights for some lethal games. Tests to his relationship with Patience as well, which you will have to read about to see if it is resolved satisfactorily.