Rankin's first published novel, and indeed the first Rankin for me. I'm still ploughing through Morse at the moment, so - even though I have the Rebus books, I'll save that series for later. I knew it wasn't a thriller or detective work from the cover blurb, so I was expecting something of the P. D. James ilk. Well, it certainly had a mystery element, but it had more of the feel of a straightforward novel - which doesn't normally attract me - so not totally up my street.

Set in a fictional Scottish town, and spanning the decline of the local coal industry, it tells the tale of a mother and her illegitimate child as they struggle against prejudice and adversity. Actually, they seem to make a pretty good fist of it, given the intolerance that is displayed towards them, but there are enough clues that something bad is going to happen down the line. The mother has a childhood accident that scars her for life, and reinforces the aforementioned prejudices that serve to isolate her from the community, but the boy - on the cusp of manhood for the bulk of the tale - breaks into the local school circle and is progressing as well as any of the other kids who are destined to leave school at sixteen and follow their fathers onto the dole.

The scene is well set, and there is almost no Scots dialect (although a couple of words left me baffled), so it was an easy read. I found that Rankin's preface to this re-released version put me off a bit by stressing how early in his literary life this work came about, setting the expectation that it might be a bit ropey. This cued me up to look for the weaknesses I might find: on the whole, though, it stood up really well. So, nothing to complain about on the writing front; story was pretty interesting and well framed; some of the descriptions were a bit overblown (but the first-novel expectations probably over-sensitized me on that front); and just the right length. Hard to say why I felt unimpressed overall, then. It was probably due to my unfamiliarity with the standard novel form, being someone who prefers thriller, spy and detective fiction. On the basis of this work, I'd have probably left Rankin alone, if the publicity machine around the Rebus novels hadn't suckered me into buying the series.

So, a competent enough work, but just not my thing, really. If you are looking to get this because it's by the guy who wrote Rebus, then I'd just offer the advice that you don't have to be a completist you know. Sadly, I am a completist, and I don't regret having spent my time with this work, it's just ... not satisfying enough. ( )

It is ironic that this should be amongst the last of Ian Rankin's current body of work, that I should read: this is like a key - it opens the door to Rankin World; a strange place where hope and despair rub along in an odd kind of equanimity.
Unlike most of Rankin's work, this, his first novel, is not a crime story. It is the tale of a dying pit town and the decaying lives of the people trapped therein.
The author's skill is never to let this turn mawkish. There is always just a glint of hope and, at the end, this appears not to have been unrealistic - but perhaps they are! ( )

Only of interest, in so far that it was Ian Rankin's first published novel. I cringed my way through it. Awful. ( )

Ian Rankin's first published novel, written in 1986, well before he became famous with his Inspector Rebus crime novels. This is not a great book, and the start, in particular, is weak. I wonder, if I had been the editor, whether I would have chosen to publish, and thus help launch his career?? The ending is strong, and starts to show the promise of a great writer. Worth reading, but more as a curiosity than as great fiction. Read August 2009. ( )

This is Ian Rankin's first published novel, only a few hundred being printed in the original edition but later republished by Orion in 2005. A much darker psychological thriller than his later Rebus novels, which show more humour, despite their often bleak story-lines. ( )