Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Doors Open (2008)by Ian Rankin
Books Read in 2013 (535) British Mystery (332) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. What can I say? I love Rankin. Even tried Irn-Bru when we were in Scotland as an homage to Rebus. (Warning! Do not do this. It tastes AWFUL. No matter how much you love Rebus.) This book was a total waste. Such a disappointment. ( ) Rebus is gone but the crime scene in Edinburgh goes on. And it's not just the usual criminal gangs that are pulling heists. Respectable people like an art professor and a rich software mogul and a bank executive decide that they can pull off the perfect crime. Professor Robert Gissing is about to retire but before he goes he wants to liberate some works of art that are just being warehoused by the National Gallery of Scotland. His friends Mike Mackenzie and Allan Cruickshank are intrigued but just for discussion at first. Mike is filthy rich having sold his shares in the software firm he and a friend started for lots of money. He has started collecting art but one work he will never be able to own, Monboddo's painting of his wife. Allan handles a lot of other people's money but never seems to have enough of his own and the idea of owning art that even his employer can't have intrigues him. When Mike runs into his old schoolmate Chib Calloway who is now a gangster the heist seems possible because Chib can provide the missing elements. They'll enter the warehouse during the annual Doors Open festival and walk off with 7 masterpieces. They'll switch these with 7 fakes and abandon the fakes in the getaway van. Professor Gissing will be called to authenticate the artworks and everything will be fine. Except of course it isn't. Rankin hasn't lost his touch. I read this book in about a day on vacation because I just had to know how the ending came about (we're privy to the end from the very beginning). Just because Rebus isn't around doesn't mean there aren't lots of interesting characters. D.I. Ransome is as dogged as Rebus when it comes to catching a criminal and Mike Mackenzie certainly has potential for some more action. The ending even hints that there may be more to come from that quarter. no reviews | add a review
Three friends descend upon an art auction and concoct a plan to "liberate" several paintings from the National Gallery. As enterprising girlfriends, clever detectives, a crime boss, seductive auctioneers and a Hell's Angel named Hate enter the picture, this fast-paced story of second guesses and double crosses keeps changing the picture. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Hachette Book Group2 editions of this book were published by Hachette Book Group. Editions: 0316024783, 0316078786 |