Customer Reviews
Classic Rebus - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 27 Mar 2008 
You reallly sense here that something is ending. Rebus is reaching retirement & although there is anger here, just as in the previous books, it is tempered by melancholy & some regret. You feel that Rankin may be stepping it up a gear for Siobhan, as she gets much more stage time in this story.
Set against the background of the G8 summit this is reallly a story about the sacrifices we are prepared to make for family, & whether those sacrifices, so meaningful to us, mean anything to those we love, or indeed change anything in the wider world. A thoughtful story, but with flashes of the grit & rage that makes Rebus such an interesting character.
coincidence abounds - By: G. Hart, 19 Jan 2008 
As usual a crafted & enjoyable Rebus story. However there are too many coincidences between the characters in the plot for my liking.
A Scottish Tale - By: tallpete33, 04 Jan 2008 A worthy addition to the Rebus series, not his best, but again you cannot fail to smile at some of the boozy inspector's antics & quotes. He's the anti-hero we'd alll love to be (if we didn't have a mortgage to pay & kids to feed), preferring the company of the local gangster or barfly to his contemporaries in the force. Doing it his way & some.
The backdrop of the Scottish G8 & 7/7 London bombings gives this murder hunt a very up to the minute feel, but in some ways it is over-researched & contains too much detail on the former event. I enjoyed this book but did find it a tad over long & to be honest I'm still unsure why he gave Jacko a good kicking in the epilogue. If someone could enlighten me to save me re-reading parts I'd be most grateful!
Not highly recommended for the slightly convoluted plot, which almost seems secondary, but more so for the colourful characterization of the DI you'd like to share a pint with & his faithful sidekick DS Clarke, who starts fallling into (his) bad ways. Will we soon see Siobhan get her own book one day...don't bet against it. Though "Clarke" doesn't have the same poetic edge does it!
Too long and ponderous - By: Irene, 02 Jan 2008 I have read several of the Rebus novels & mostly enjoyed them. This book was well written but I found it dragged.
The political & topical aspects were interesting & I read the book to the end after having "suspended" it the time to read two others by different authors. To my mind, this is definitely not Rankin's best novel.
Back to form - By: J. J. Thomas, 12 Dec 2007 
I must admit, I've found the last two or three Rebus novels to be hard going. Some of the humour that permeates the earlier books was sadly lacking, & the double act of Rebus & Clarke was missing a certain spark.
Well, Rankin has very much hit his stride again with "Naming of the Dead." An absolutely barnstormer of a book, with Rebus at his most wry & (entertainingly) curmudgeonly. Rebus & Clarke are working together again, although not in the way you might be used to, & there are plenty of bad guys with whom for them to cross swords.
Add to that a carefully-researched G8/Live8 backdrop, many twists & turns to keep you guessing, Rankin's usual genius at bringing Edinburgh to life & an anecdote about George Bush that just might be true... & you've got one of Rankin's very best.
I'm so glad he's regained form - with Rebus retiring in the next (and thus, last) of the series, Rankin was running out of chances to give us our Rebus back.
Highly, highly recommended.
