Watchman
A Novel
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- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
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نقد و بررسی
September 24, 2007
Fans of Rankin's Inspector Rebus series (The Naming of the Dead
, etc.) will welcome the U.S. publication of his second novel, a stand-alone spy thriller from 1988 that contains Rebus-like elements. Miles Flint has been a successful middle manager in the shadowy ranks of British intelligence until recent mistakes, including a botched surveillance of an Arab assassin, put his career and reputation in jeopardy. Suspecting that the killer evaded him because of a tip from one of his own, Miles launches his own mole hunt, casting himself in a role that's uncomfortably active for him—especially as his search leads back to his wife, Sheila. And Miles's doings seemingly strike a nerve within the organization, getting him dispatched on a perilous IRA bombing-related mission. Rankin creates plausible and fascinating characters in a manner that seems effortless (as in Miles's tic of comparing people to different kinds of beetles). While the elements of the denouement will strike some as gimmicky, it's clear that if Rankin had devoted his gifts to spy fiction rather than mysteries, he would still have been a hit.
October 1, 2007
Recently, some books Rankin first published in the UK as Jack Harvey have been reprinted (Bleeding Hearts, 2006; Blood Hunt, 2006; Witch Hunt, 2004) without acknowledgment of the pseudonym. Watchman, another reprint appearing for the first time in the U.S., puts its cards on the table, starting off with a short introduction by the author explaining the books place in his bibliography: first published under his own name in 1988, this spy story was the follow-up to his first Inspector Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses (1987), and didnt receive much attention, eitheran oversight that shows how difficult it can be to identify promising new authors. Then again, it doesnt read like the work of a young writer, being the story of an aging, cautious MI5 surveillance agent, Miles Flint. The name may evoke the James Bond spoof movie Our Man Flint, but his brown-hued soul and beetling ways are more likely to make readers think of John le Carr's George Smiley. Finding that there is just as much intrigue within his department as without, Flint follows the trail to Ireland and then up the chain of command. And though hes a man who prefers to watch the action, he soon finds himself forced to join it. The real Rankin hadnt emerged yet, but this is a very worthwhile read for fans who want to see their hero in the process of finding himself, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
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