Dead Souls (57 page)
Authors: Ian Rankin
Oakes says, ‘
That Rebus. He’s not exactly what you’d call a slow burner, now is he?
’ Is this a valid comment?
How is Rebus’s relationship with Dr Patience Aitken progressing?
‘
That was the trouble with monsters. They could be every bit as ordinary as anyone else
.’ This comment is made about Harold Ince, but does it encapsulate a theme that Ian Rankin keeps returning to in his series of Rebus books?
There is a theme of ‘stepping away from the world’: consider the various ways that Ian Rankin explores this.
When Rebus asks himself, ‘
What in God’s name have I done?
’, what
has
he done? Would he see his actions as justified? And what about the consequences?
Where is Rebus now positioned on questions of religious belief?
Rebus returns to his childhood stomping-ground of Fife. Is it because he’s out of his Edinburgh environs that he can flirt with Janice Mee?
What does Rebus believe history is made of? How does Ian Rankin explore this concept?
What does Rebus claim that obsession can do to one? Is he speaking from personal experience?
How does Rebus’s inability to separate work from his private life manifest itself in his treatment of Darren Rough?
What is it about this case that, in part at least, restores some of Rebus’s lost faith in policing?
This is the most personal portrayal so far of Ian Rankin’s own background; would a reader who doesn’t know this be able to guess?
Ian Rankin claims he wanted to change Rebus’s mind about issues connected with paedophilia – does he succeed, and, if so, how does he manage this?
First published in Great Britain in 1999 by Orion Books.
First published in ebook form in 2009 by Orion Books.
This updated ebook published in 2011 by Orion Books.
Copyright © John Rebus Limited 1999
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 0762 0
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