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Resurrection: the state of one risen from the dead; resurgence; revival. And truly, resurrection is the overarching theme of this book, both at an individual, team and organizational level. Inspector John Rebus has always been an outsider and not one who conforms to the rules. He's generally been able to escape any consequences for his less-than-desirable behavior because he manages to get results when no one else can. However, he's just been involved in an incident of gross disrespect to his boss, and that cannot be ignored. He is sent to the "school of last resort" where he will work out his issues with a group of 5 other similarly challenged individuals. All of these men are experienced, but they all have failed in some way, mostly having issues with authority. The police school is the last chance that each of them will have to modify their behavior and retain their jobs. They are truly "Resurrection Men". In addition to a curriculum of courses around conducting investigations, the Resurrection Men are assigned a cold case that they are to work together, a "resurrection" of an unsolved case, hopefully building teamwork and improving their individual performance in the process. Interestingly enough, Rebus and another of the men had a connection to the case that is assigned to the group. As the investigation goes on, Rebus wonders if that link is indeed an accidental one or if there is something more at work here than meets the eye. He finds that he has his doubts about the integrity of several of the other Resurrection Men. At the same time, Rebus remains in contact with the Detective Sergeant he's been partnered with most recently, Siobhan Clarke. Siobhan is leading the investigation into the death of a local art dealer. She has as a partner a rookie, and there are echoes of Rebus training Clarke in that relationship. Interestingly enough, Clarke finds that the threads of this new case tie back to the threads of the old case that Rebus is working on at Bad Boys' School. He comes back in contact with an old nemesis, "Big Ger" Cafferty, one of the east coast of Scotland's biggest gangsters, and that has an interesting outcome. However, the overall conclusion of the book was weak. Rankin clobbered the reader over the head with the resurrection theme, and the ending itself was rather predictable. As always, Rankin does a wonderful job with the setting, dialogue, pacing and complex plotting. The various characters, both primary and secondary, are well drawn. There were quite a few of them who evoked negative feelings in the reader and a general sense of mistrust. I found the character of Siobhan Clarke threatened to take over the book, as she is a grand companion and investigative partner for Rebus. Indeed, in many ways she is a female Rebus. In my mind, this 13th book in the series was satisfactory but not great. I've only read a few of the earlier books in this series, but it seems to me that they were darker and that Rebus was less conforming than in this book, which I think is more indicative of his natural state. The fact that he is using traditional methods to court a woman rather took me by surprise. The kinder, gentler Rebus is not as interesting as the angst-ridden younger man. However, he did not turn into a goodie-goodie, even though he did seem to be controlling some of his self-destructive behavior. The book works well as a standalone; in fact, some of the points that I have pointed out as being negative may have no bearing on the reader's enjoyment if they have not been exposed to Rebus before. Note: The paperback won't be available until January 2004.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, July 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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