In the dark days and biting windstorms of an Edinburgh winter, two drop-out kids dive off the towering Forth Road Bridge. A civic office is spatter...
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Oct 01, 2008
Johnsergeant
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Narrated By: Samuel Gillies
Book 7 of Inspector Rebus mystery series
Published By: Clipper Audio *
The seventh in the series of the award winning, best-selling Inspector Rebus crime novels, grips us with first-rate plotting and fierce realism.
It’s a bitter winter in Edinburgh, and Rebus has found himself wrapped in a case that provides more questions than answers. Was Lord Provost’s daughter kidnapped, or is she a runaway? Why is a city councillor shredding document More...
Book 7 of Inspector Rebus mystery series
Published By: Clipper Audio *
The seventh in the series of the award winning, best-selling Inspector Rebus crime novels, grips us with first-rate plotting and fierce realism.
It’s a bitter winter in Edinburgh, and Rebus has found himself wrapped in a case that provides more questions than answers. Was Lord Provost’s daughter kidnapped, or is she a runaway? Why is a city councillor shredding document More...
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Jan 09, 2012
Paul
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by Ian Rankin, published in 1995.
Well first off I’m going to say this was the most complex Inspector Rebus novel so far. It is number 7 for those keeping count.
It will be hard to say too much about this one without giving some of the plot away, so I’ll keep it to impressions and the like. First - winter in Scotland sounds damp and miserable.
And that is made more so by Rebus’s water heater system not working properly. Of course, he throws back enough “antifreeze”, if More...
Well first off I’m going to say this was the most complex Inspector Rebus novel so far. It is number 7 for those keeping count.
It will be hard to say too much about this one without giving some of the plot away, so I’ll keep it to impressions and the like. First - winter in Scotland sounds damp and miserable.
And that is made more so by Rebus’s water heater system not working properly. Of course, he throws back enough “antifreeze”, if More...
Jun 09, 2009
Krapp
rated it: 
First of all let me state that 4 stars does not mean this book is a mediocre mystery. It's a superior one in fact. But I'll be saving my stars for the truly outstanding, the worldview-altering, the books that give you access to an altered state the way a good buzz or a good acid trip will. Let It Bleed is instead well-done escapist fiction, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Rankin's hero (hardly the right word for him) John Rebus has a good, believable streak of misanthropy, a h More...
Rankin's hero (hardly the right word for him) John Rebus has a good, believable streak of misanthropy, a h More...
Jul 30, 2011
Scruffy
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Let It Bleed centers around the local politics of Edinburgh and is quite a nice change of pace from the previous book. The writing seems to have a lighter touch this time, Ian Rankin is getting more confident as the series goes on. This can be seen in the opening chapter of the book - a very cinematic car chase through the snow which is quite unlike anything else in the series so far.
We get to know Inspector Rebus much better here than we ever have before. In particular his moral co More...
We get to know Inspector Rebus much better here than we ever have before. In particular his moral co More...
May 21, 2011
A.J.
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Another nail-biting book from one of my favourite authors. As always, you become drawn into the dark life that surrounds Rankin's infamous, Inspector Rebus.
Rankin's stories are always overwrought, always insistent, and always completely electrifying in content. At the centre of them is Rebus, a police detective with bad habits and a large measure of corrosive humour - as human and flawed as the criminals he chases.
Rebus has always understood that murder is inspired by p More...
Rankin's stories are always overwrought, always insistent, and always completely electrifying in content. At the centre of them is Rebus, a police detective with bad habits and a large measure of corrosive humour - as human and flawed as the criminals he chases.
Rebus has always understood that murder is inspired by p More...
Jun 22, 2011
Jill
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I love the Rebus series which are well written, complex and keep the reader guessing. In this tale, dirty dealings in the upper reaches of the Scottish government result in three suicides and one murder. Rebus, who is put on "leave" when his investigations hit a little too close to home, continues to search out the villains at the risk of his job......and maybe his life.
The only negative comment I have is the use of so many acronyms for government departments.....it is difficul More...
The only negative comment I have is the use of so many acronyms for government departments.....it is difficul More...
Aug 09, 2011
Rebecca
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Well it definately started with a bang, but then didn't keep the pace of other crime fiction. Rebus muses his way through against some very controvesial political conudrums, which I admit make you think - especial along the lines of that you might do and what is right or wrong for whoes sake. More a book for musing around the dilemmas it represents that a fast pace crime thriller. I did find that the narrative tended to drift by the end. Rebus had found the answers he was looking for, but the bo
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Oct 22, 2011
Ken
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A John Rebus novel, and I plan to read as many of these as I can. This one begins in a car chase on icy roads over a bridge outside of Edinburgh. Rebus and his superior are hot on the tail of two kidnappers who crash into the side of the bridge, and then inexplicably, jump over the side to their deaths. Next, an ex-con enters the office of a council official, and blows his head off with a sawed off shotgun. These crimes lead Rebus to uncover a huge plot to illegally prop up the economy of Scotla
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Jan 20, 2010
Jane
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I dislike publishers, who release old books with new covers and I buy the book because I don't recognize it, until I get into a couple of chapters and I know I have read it before. That is the case with this book - which I clearly read before 'good reads' because it is not on the list. I also have this problem - when I don't read "series" in order- I get confused about which books in the series I have actually read. I like the Rebus character, this unfortunately is not one of my favori
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Jul 18, 2010
Dorothy
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I was a bit disappointed with this book, an unusual result for me with a Rankin book. It had a bang-up beginning - literally, bang-up. There was this exciting high speed car chase, ending in a crash on a bridge and the subsequent suicides by jumping of the two unfortunate young miscreants who were being chased by the police. Inspector Rebus witnesses the suicides and is troubled by them. Something seems wrong about their actions, and so, in his usual stubborn fashion, he tugs and tugs at tha
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Feb 09, 2012
Bettie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 25, 2010
Jaron
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Solid police procedural, at times it relied a bit much on the usual cliches (inspector gets too close to a dangerous truth, gets suspended, continues investigating, etc). Despite that it was still a pleasurable read and I would read more by Rankin. I liked the way that the Rolling Stones were referenced throughout and the ending was not predictable or cliched, instead it came down to a moral dilemma of sorts, where the lines between right and wrong were not so clear cut. Hope that doesn't give t
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Feb 07, 2011
Matt
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Given what I've read about the next book in the series, Black and Blue, which is supposed to be the "great" book of the series, I think this may be the book where Rankin first decided to get ambitious. Rebus is the same melancholy smart-ass with an Old Testament sense of justice and retribution, but Rankin's vision is expanding outward from the streets of Edinburgh's dodgiest neighborhoods to a vision of the corruption at all levels of Scottish society. And very few are as good at dial
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Oct 03, 2010
Tim
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Another perfectly splendid Rebus novel. You want a good series set in Edinburgh? A good cop with issues? A trusty set of sidekicks? This is a good one but start with Knots and Crosses (1987) if you want to go chronologically.
Aug 23, 2010
Herzog
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With this book I feel as if this series has finally hit its stride with several strong plot lines occurring simultaneously. The interplay between Rebus and the reoccurring characters, Clarke, Gil Templer, his daughter Sammy, was stronger than in previous books in this series. I particularly enjoyed Rebus's tangling with the Scottish powers.
Sep 25, 2011
James
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After reading later Rebus novels, this one pales by comparison. With a good title borrowed from a Stones song, and an exciting car chase to start the book, perhaps it promised more than it could deliver. Ian Rankin has improved immeasurably over time, and while this one is still good, it dates back to 1995 and I really didn't find it quite as engaging. Besides its age, another contributing factor to my ambivalence might be that people who later became major characters in the series, such as Siob
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Sep 12, 2010
Kathy
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Hah...political insider intriguing tries to force Rebus off the case. Naturally, being Rebus, he simply digs in further. What a crazy combination of events (even for Rebus) as he copes with an ex as his new boss and an indifferent daughter.
I can't get enough of Inspector Rebus!
I can't get enough of Inspector Rebus!
Apr 30, 2011
Steve
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This is the 7th book by the author with inspector Rebus as hero. The inspector is a great character and the story has some complex twists. Well worth reading. Some of the Scottish English slang left me puzzled at times. I'll read some more from this author who was new to me.
Jan 14, 2010
Poslfit
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Rankin does a Rebus political thriller, written with a view to a movie adaptation. It's okay, but not my cup of tea. I liked the introduction to the edition I have though, where he explains that for the American edition his publishers made him add on a chapter explaining the originally off-camera ending.
Jan 27, 2012
Brendan
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My first Ian Rankin book, and it won't be my last. Very absorbing tale of corruption and crime in Edinburgh. It's a familiar "cop who can't stop asking dangerous questions" kind of book, but it's incredibly well done, smart and believable.
Oct 05, 2010
Sarah
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I had read, and enjoyed, previous Rebus books, but one this one bored the hell outta me - lots of long, confusing discussions of government and corporate corruption, etc. Not Rankin's best, in my opinion.
May 22, 2011
Karen
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I really enjoyed this one. Rankin manages to tell a story that makes you question what is right and wrong, and trying to figure out is ultimately right. Rebus is a flawed and likeable hero. I'll keep on reading these books.
Dec 19, 2011
Jen
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Another excellent Rebus novel, this one quite political. I absolutely love these books and find them almost impossible to put down, great writing, great characters, great pace... Thank you Ian Rankin!
May 14, 2009
Laura
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I found two Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus novels that I missed and have started to read Let It Bleed. Gosh I've missed Rebus!Surely Rankin will find a way to bring him out of retirement.
Jan 29, 2010
Nicholas
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http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1385997.html
Another good one from Rankin, where three bizarre suicides unlock a festering mess of corruption and evil within the Edinburgh political scene. I was not quite convinced that as smart a guy as Inpector Rebus should have so little knowledge of the way the Scottish political system works, even in the obscure days before 1999, but I suppose this was a bit of 'as-you-know-Bob' for Rankin's wider readership. There are some memorably horrible momen More...
Another good one from Rankin, where three bizarre suicides unlock a festering mess of corruption and evil within the Edinburgh political scene. I was not quite convinced that as smart a guy as Inpector Rebus should have so little knowledge of the way the Scottish political system works, even in the obscure days before 1999, but I suppose this was a bit of 'as-you-know-Bob' for Rankin's wider readership. There are some memorably horrible momen More...
Jul 30, 2011
Anna
rated it:
***SPOILERS***
I am a bit angry about the ending. He should have a cepted it! But I like how the plot was tiwsted ;)
I am a bit angry about the ending. He should have a cepted it! But I like how the plot was tiwsted ;)
Aug 02, 2011
Usually enjoy the Rebus stories but for some reason this one didn't grip me as much as they usually do. There are some good moments but overall I think the plot gets quite confusing - and not really into the politics.
Apr 17, 2010
Victoria
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Rebus is such a man's man detective- completely rough around the edges and addicted to work. It was an entertaining read.
Jan 13, 2010
P.walsh
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This is more like it! Rebus in his stomping ground and embroiled in politics. Wonderful characterisation.
