Description
From Publishers Weekly Admirers of Edgar-winner Rankin's bestselling series featuring Edinburgh's Insp. John Rebus ( Fleshmarket Alley , etc.) may be disappointed by this stand-alone suspense novel, which has more in common with the works of Frederick Forsyth and Robert Ludlum. Gordon Reeve, an ex–Special Forces soldier with serious anger management issues, has settled down to a tranquil second career running a survival camp in a remote part of Scotland. When he learns that his journalist brother, Jim, with whom he hadn't been close for years, has shot himself in California, Reeve resolves to seek answers. Once in the U.S., Reeve begins to suspect that his brother was murdered because of an investigative piece he was working on involving a major chemical company. But that Grisham-like plot is soon made secondary to a game of cat and mouse Reeve plays with a deranged former military colleague, leading to an anticlimactic and predictable ending. Rankin's gifts as a writer will have many quickly turning the pages, but longtime fans will hope for a return to form in his next outing. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From AudioFile If you've been yearning for a fast-paced story coupled with a crisp read, your hunt is over. In this departure from Rankin's usual John Rebus mysteries, ex-SAS operative Gordon Reeve (a killer in one of the Inspector Rebus books) transports himself to San Diego when he learns his estranged brother has committed suicide there. It soon becomes evident that his brother's death was not self-inflicted. As Reeve identifies the motive and hunts down the killers, Christian Rodska delivers a notable performance as the tough Briton. His rich, sometimes gravelly voice is always in command. He also handles the varied characters expertly. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. 'Unmissable Rankin, gripping, involving and read in style by James Frain.' CHOICE 'is the best of them and is deftly read by James Frain' THE IRISH TIMES --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist Fans of Rankin's gold-standard Inspector Rebus series need to know that Blood Hunt is not the latest installment. With the author's name deservedly the perfect marketing tool, the publishers are reprinting another book (like Witch Hunt, 2004) that Rankin, writing as Jack Harvey, originally published in the UK in the 1990s. Unlike the Rebus procedurals, which pit a contrarian cop against his own demons in an unrelentingly gritty Edinburgh, this globe-trotting tale delivers more traditional thrills. Gordon Reeve is an ex-SAS soldier who now makes his living training weekend warriors in rural Scotland. Told that his brother has committed suicide in California, Reeve goes to the funeral and quickly decides that the investigative reporter was murdered. Trying to get the story and then revenge, he finds himself pitted against both an amoral chemical conglomerate and an unwelcome face from his own past. Reeve is no Rebus--though he battles his ferocious temper, he's too efficient a killing machine to be as deeply interesting--but those who like their thrillers fast and chilling will be in miserable bliss. This 10-year-old novel ties in perfectly to today's concerns about multinationals and big-business science--the poisons in men's hearts that leach out into the world. Not Rankin's best but still awfully good. Keir Graff Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. 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. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America's celebrated Edgar Award for 'Resurrection Men'. He has also been shortlisted for the Edgar and Anthony Awards in the USA, and won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews and Edinburgh. A contributor to BBC2's 'Newsnight Review', he also presented his own TV series, 'Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts'. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. 'Unmissable Rankin, gripping, involving and read in style by James Frain.' CHOICE 'is the best of them and is deftly read by James Frain' THE IRISH TIMES --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more
Features & Highlights
- As a former soldier, Gordon Reeve knows something about killing. So despite the fact that the death of his brother Jim has been ruled a suicide, Gordon can't shake the feeling that someone is responsible. Traveling alone across an ocean, he arrives in California determined to get answers: Why was the car Jim's body was found in locked from the outside? Who would want Jim dead? And now why do the local cops seem bent on thwarting Gordon's efforts to uncover the truth? With all the verve and taut pacing that have made Ian Rankin an internationally renowned suspense writer, Blood Hunt is a gripping story of one man's dogged pursuit of justice.
