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Exit Music

Author: Ian Rankin
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1236

Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3

ISBN: 0752882856
EAN: 9780752882857
ASIN: 0752882856

Publication Date: February 21, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book sourced directly from the publisher. Delivery in 3-5 days. Customer service 7 days per week

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Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

A Generally Good Book June 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book, like many of the previous books by Ian Rankin, focuses on Detective Inspector John Rebus, an alcoholic policeman who lives and works in Edinburgh. When the series started Rebus was a detective sergent. As the series progresses Rebus gets older (and, like many older people, stroppier and more opinionated). This book focuses on the 10 days before his retirement.

This book sees a Russian poet-cum-exile-cum-emigre seemingly killed in the street in the city center, after a night on the tiles. Rebus, and his sidekick D.S. Siobhan Clark, investigate the circumstances of his death. Was it a mugging gone wrong, or something more serious?

The entirety of the book is spent trying to discover whether or not the character was killed in a mugging. Rankin uses the real life death of Alexander Litvenenko in London as a tool to keep you guessing as long as possible about the real motive in this book. The attempt at balance works for a while, but if you've read mysteries you'll know whether the use of these real life events is relevant after about 70% of the book is read.

The book is probably the most linear thriller that I've read by Rankin in years. It has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end, and has fewer asides about Scotland and the Scottish than I've seen in ages. This makes the central story flow better, but if you like your Rebus books with "colateral colour," you might not enjoy it as much as you enjoy some other books that Rankin has written recently.

In short, if I were made to sum up this book in one sentence, this is a generally book which continues the improvement in the series that we have seen over the last few books in the series. It is much better than The Falls and Resurrection Men.

4 out of 5 stars

Say it ain't the last one! June 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I was almost apprehensive about reading Exit Music, because it means it really is the end of my relationship with DI John Rebus (aside from a massive re-reading effort). I became hooked on Ian Rankin's flawed hero back in 2003 when I was stuck in the boyfriend's flat one hot afternoon and was looking for something to read.

It's been fun watching the characters in the Rebus novels grow, to learn about their lives, and to see some resolution in Rebus's obsession with Big Ger was almost disappointing - it can't have ended like that (or does it really end like that - we don't know for sure)!

As a true blue Ian Rankin fan and recent daytime resident of Edinburgh (where the jobs are), I really did enjoy Exit Music, but not quite as much as some of the earlier Rebus novels, probably because it is the end of Rebus's career. This was the first time I managed to figure out who one of the perpetrators of the crime was before Rebus himself found out.

I think this was a fitting end to the Rebus story, but this is not the book for someone new to Rebus to start - there's too much history to make up.

5 out of 5 stars

Great as usual May 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Not much to add to previous reviews. Yes, the coincidences are contrived and the same people bump into each other as usual and are all connected - surely there are more people and villains in Edinburgh even if it is small compared with London? But, how else could a writer make a book like this work? And in the book, Rankin has Rebus allude to the connections, where he ponders on the links between "the underworld and the overworld".
Moreover, Rankin pulls it off again with the Scottish dry wit and banter and the excellent characters, maybe for the last time. Perhaps Rebus novels will now be all about Siobhan Clarke with the man himself in the background? Or maybe Rankin will call it a day completely, Rebus-wise (sorry if you have already said what the future lies, Ian, and I have missed it). Whatever, they couldn't go on and on as they were, especially as they are written almost in real-time. Rebus needed to retire or move on somehow. Thanks for a great series Mr Rankin. You're much better than the rest of the bunch, mate.

4 out of 5 stars

Good book and enjoyable read but not a classic Rebus April 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This was a good end to Rebus's police career in CID but the book seemed a bit longer than was necessary and there was loads of extra detail which didn't add anything to the plot.
I think I understand that Ian Rankin was trying to show that often life is not as difficult as you make it seem but the plot twists and co-incidences often seemed a little contrived.
The Cafferty part in the story was a great touch and his involvement throughout the story summed up the relationship between him and Rebus throughout the whole series.
I admire the way that the series has been left open (without too much drama) and look forward to whatever Ian Rankin does next.

4 out of 5 stars

Short and sweet review to follow. April 3, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Not the best Rebus, and definitely not the worst. If you have read the rest of the books you will know what to expect here, but where I think Ian Rankin scores is that this, almost shambling denouement is so typical of Rebus and his career overall. I do think that this book overuses too many of the characters and situations that Rebus has come across before to elevate this one into the very highest echelons, but it is still head and shoulders above much else in contemporary British crime fiction. I will be intrigued to see what Mr Rankin comes up with next, because I suspect he will find it hard to let Rebus go so easily - even if Siobhan Clarke does pick up the reins.