Watchman

by Ian Rankin

Hardcover, 2004

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Genres

Mystery

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Fiction

Publication

Orion (2004), 288 pages

Description

Bombs are exploding in the streets of London, but life seems to have planted more subtle booby-traps for Miles Flint. Miles is a spy. His job is to watch and to listen, then to report back to his superiors, nothing more. The job, affording glimpses into the most private lives of his victims, appeals to Miles. He doesn't lust after promotion, and he doesn't want action. He wants, just for once, not to botch a case. Having lost one suspect - with horrific consequences - Miles becomes too involved with another, a young Irishwoman. His marriage seems ready to crumble to dust. So does his home. But Miles is given one last chance for redemption - a trip to Belfast, which quickly becomes a flight of terror, murder and shocking discoveries. But can the voyeur survive in a world of violent action?… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member MeredithYvonne

A departure from the Inspector Rebus line of novels. The Watchman is about a British MI6 agent (kinda of like the CIA) whose job it is to go on stakeouts. Normally he's good at his job but recently he's been distracted and finds himself on the other side of the lense. Like all of Rankin's crime

novels this one is a very compelling enjoyable read.

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LibraryThing member JulesJones

An early one from Rankin, a standalone spy novel written between writing the first and second Rebus novels. As it's the first book by Rankin I've read, I can't say how it compares with his series or later work, but I found it an enjoyable read in its own right. It was written in 1988 and is very

much a period piece, not least because the setting is London during an IRA bombing campaign. The titular Watchman is a member of MI5's Watcher Service. His job is to do just that -- watch people and note where they go, who they talk to and what they do. A watching brief goes wrong and someone is killed. Miles gets a large part of the blame, and a shift to a punishment operation. But there's something slightly off about the scenario, and Miles suspects that there might be a mole. With retirements and promotions due in the upper ranks, the upper ranks don't want a scandal, and Miles is offered a "last chance" assignment -- in Belfast. It's clearly intended to force him to resign quietly, but Miles is too stubborn. And so he finds himself tipped from his quiet role of professional voyeurism into a far more violent and dangerous game.

It's definitely got the feel of an early work by a good writer. The characterisations are solid and the plot draws you in, but there were a couple of places where I had a major suspension of disbelief problem, and they were key elements of the plot. So a little disappointing part way through after a good start, but still a satisfying ending. Probably not a keeper for me, but I'm glad to have read it.

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LibraryThing member NaggedMan

Dig out this republication of a very early Rankin novel - very well crafted and with the kind of anti-hero that other spy writers adopted while Rankin pursued the non-spy Rebus crime novels.

LibraryThing member PhilipJHunt

Probably the wrong book to start my exploration of the extensive Ian Rankin ouevre as I believe it's not typical. Nevertheless there is plenty of intrigue and drama in MI5 and Irish Troubles to keep one reading right through. There are hints of a writer-in-the-making. I look forward to finding

those hints fulfilled in later books by Rankin.

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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle

This spy novel is a bit of a departure for Rankin as he introduces us to Miles Flint. Set during the IRA terrorist bombings in London, we follow a complex plot where the issues are not what they seem. Typically spy novels have convoluted plots, difficult to follow as each character hides his true

motive. Whereas Rankin does play on this classical line, the story is not so obfuscated that it's impossible to follow - just enough to keep the reader interested and motivated to find out more.
A nice little read

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LibraryThing member gypsysmom

Ian Rankin wrote this book just after his first Rebus book was published. However this book is a stand-alone spy novel which was first published in 1988. This copy is the paperback reissued in 2004. I had been looking for a copy for quite a while and nabbed it when I saw it for sale at the Friends

of the Library book sale.

Miles Flint is a spy with "the firm" which I believe refers to MI5. He is part of the Watchmen section so he never does anything like James Bond; he mostly just sits and watches. He and a few others have been watching an Arab who is suspected of being a contract killer but the Arab gives them the slip and later that night an Israeli attache is killed. Flint thinks someone in the firm tipped off the Arab and that means that someone is a double agent. So he starts making some discrete enquiries but maybe he wasn't as discrete as he thought because people he consulted disappear from the firm. London is in the throes of an IRA bombing campaign. Soon Flint and others are watching a house with four Irish citizens who may be involved. At the same time Flint has discovered that his wife and a friend also in the firm have been meeting in secret. Flint moves out and into the house where they are conducting their watching activities. And then the operation is shut down because it doesn't seem to be producing any results. Before Flint can even find a new place to live he is sent to Belfast to witness an arrest of a couple of the people believed to be making the bombs. There, in the Emerald Isle, things really go to hell.

This was a gripping read and if I didn't love the Rebus books so much maybe I would wish that Rankin would write more spy novels.

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LibraryThing member Andrew-theQM

This was an interesting early book written by Ian Rankin that he was planning during his honeymoon! At first moving along quite gently and you are trying to work out who is behind things and why, but when it moves to Northern Ireland and Ireland it really takes off, grabs you by the threat and

doesn't let you go until the end. Also one or two good links in the book to the Rebus series. Very glad I read it, and I think he would write some more espionage books.

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