Knots And Crosses (27 page)
Authors: Ian Rankin
Are the skills of journalist Jim Stevens mirrored by those of Rebus? Do the two men respect the similarities between them? And what do they each feel about drawing close to the ‘big fish’? Does the act of reading a crime story put the reader in a similar role to that of either detective or investigative journalist and, if so, in what way?
What contrasts does Jim Stevens make between ‘old-fashioned’ crime, such as the ‘families’ of 1950s Glasgow gangsters, and the ‘new’ crime wave, such as drug-dealing? And which does he favour?
What do you make of Rebus’s behaviour towards the woman he picks up at the Rio Grande Bingo Hall?
‘
Was nothing arbitrary in this life?
’
Rebus wonders
. ‘
No, nothing at all. Behind the seemingly irrational lay the clear golden path of the design
.’ Consider how even in his debut novel Ian Rankin explores this notion.
Are there any signs remaining that Ian Rankin toyed with the idea of killing Rebus off at the end of
Knots & Crosses
?
If Ian Rankin had envisaged
Knots & Crosses
to be the opener for the lengthy and detailed series the Rebus books were to become, how could he have allowed his plotting to draw to a close in a more open-ended manner? And might this have made the narrative stronger ultimately?
First published in Great Britain in 1987 by The Bodley Head.
First published in ebook form in 2008 by Orion Books.
This updated ebook published in 2011 by Orion Books.
Copyright © John Rebus Limited 1987
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
The right of Ian Rankin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 0771 2
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