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Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Orion (2009), Edition: First Edition
Description
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.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Smiler69
Mike Mackenzie, a self-made software mogul, is rich and bored and looking for excitement. He's become somewhat of an art connoisseur while spending him time in auction houses and building up a private collection of Scottish art. With all his millions, there is one portrait he wants which he can't
This was an amusing enough premise, but I can't say there were all that many surprises along the way. Everything just seemed to fall into place a little bit too easily and then there were a few truly cringe-worthy sections such as a bit of dialogue when an inspector of police meets his informant—one of 'Chib' Calloway's bodyguards—in a café. They're sitting at different tables and talking on their mobile phones so they won't be spotted together while exchanging sensitive information. I was wondering why they'd even be in the same establishment if they're worried about detection but then things got truly ridiculous when they started discussing the merits of the drinks they were having, as if they were two girlfriends taking a break during a shopping session. Maybe that was Rankin's sense of humour at work and I missed the point for all I know. I won't say this is a must-read, but as far as brain candy goes, it's a fine way to spend a few easy reading hours.
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have since it belongs to the national collection. Until one day one of his friends, the head of the local college of art Robert Gissing, approaches Mike with a plan for the perfect crime. They will steal works of art from the national archive on 'Doors Open' day, a special yearly event when various institutions open their doors to the public. The brilliance of Gissing's plan is that the theft will go undetected since they will simply substitute the works of their choosing with copies made to order by a talented art student. Mike is tempted to go along with it, but the only thing holding back the gang is their lack of criminal experience and access to weapons and vehicles. When Mike runs into an old school mate, 'Chib' Calloway—who just happens to be Edinburgh's head of organized crime—it seems like all the elements have fallen into place to perform the heist of his dreams. This was an amusing enough premise, but I can't say there were all that many surprises along the way. Everything just seemed to fall into place a little bit too easily and then there were a few truly cringe-worthy sections such as a bit of dialogue when an inspector of police meets his informant—one of 'Chib' Calloway's bodyguards—in a café. They're sitting at different tables and talking on their mobile phones so they won't be spotted together while exchanging sensitive information. I was wondering why they'd even be in the same establishment if they're worried about detection but then things got truly ridiculous when they started discussing the merits of the drinks they were having, as if they were two girlfriends taking a break during a shopping session. Maybe that was Rankin's sense of humour at work and I missed the point for all I know. I won't say this is a must-read, but as far as brain candy goes, it's a fine way to spend a few easy reading hours.
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LibraryThing member epivaas
This is the first post-Rebus novel from Ian Rankin. He moves from crime fiction to thriller with this book.
The plot is simple. A rich entrepreneur is bored with his life and finds a new thrill in committing the "perfect crime", being a robbery of art from the depot of the Natonal Gallery of
The story clearly reminds us of "The Thomas Crown Affair", and in some spots of "Reservoir Dogs". Rankin explicitly refers to both films. I also thought of The bonfire of the Vanities, with the rich guy going under and losing a lot (not everything as in Thomas Wolfe's book).
It is a well written, rather slick thriller, ready to be translated into a movie. Rankin even provides the girl. But the plot line itself is a bit thin, even with the twist at the very end.
And of course, there is a small reference to our friend Rebus in there.
The plot is simple. A rich entrepreneur is bored with his life and finds a new thrill in committing the "perfect crime", being a robbery of art from the depot of the Natonal Gallery of
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Scotland. From page one of the novel it is clear something goes terribly wrong.The story clearly reminds us of "The Thomas Crown Affair", and in some spots of "Reservoir Dogs". Rankin explicitly refers to both films. I also thought of The bonfire of the Vanities, with the rich guy going under and losing a lot (not everything as in Thomas Wolfe's book).
It is a well written, rather slick thriller, ready to be translated into a movie. Rankin even provides the girl. But the plot line itself is a bit thin, even with the twist at the very end.
And of course, there is a small reference to our friend Rebus in there.
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LibraryThing member smik
Bored, too much time on his hands, too much money available, probably best describes self made Edinburgh milllionaire Mike Mackenzie. He and two other artlovers decide to take advantage of Edinburgh's annual Doors Open Day to rob the National Gallery of Scotland's warehouse of some valuable
Realising they don't actually have the physical power to carry out the heist on their own, Mackenzie involves Chib Calloway, a second string Edinburgh gangster whom he just happened to go to school with.
But any plan is only as strong as its weakest link. And there are lots of weak links. And Mike doesn't take into account a very alert policeman looking to collar Calloway for previous misdemeanors, a gang boss with international connections to whom Calloway owes money, and a double cross by one of their own. Just at the point when Mike is congratulating himself on getting away with it all, things begin to crumble.
This is Rankin's first novel since EXIT MUSIC, in which he retired his "alter ego", D.I. Rebus. Followers were very keen to find out whether Rankin could exist without Rebus, and in the interviews that followed the release of EXIT MUSIC he was pretty coy about what Rebus' role would be in any future novels. Well, the critics are answered. There is not a sign of Rebus in DOORS OPEN.
Can Rankin write stand-alones? Well, yes, he can. He hasn't really ground to a halt or lost his touch with Rebus' retirement. This is a relatively short novel by his standards, and not really so complex. There are few signs of Rankin's social conscience, and I spent of my reading time thinking it wouldn't rank as highly in my rating system as other Rankin novels in my records. I gave 5.0 to EXIT MUSIC and DOORS OPEN isn't at that level. But the last 50 pages or so pushed the rating up for me, although I didn't particularly like the gung-ho with a romantic element of the final denouement of the heist plot. But then came the Epilogue with its write your own ending element. Niot every one will like that. But it left the door nicely open ....
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paintings.Realising they don't actually have the physical power to carry out the heist on their own, Mackenzie involves Chib Calloway, a second string Edinburgh gangster whom he just happened to go to school with.
But any plan is only as strong as its weakest link. And there are lots of weak links. And Mike doesn't take into account a very alert policeman looking to collar Calloway for previous misdemeanors, a gang boss with international connections to whom Calloway owes money, and a double cross by one of their own. Just at the point when Mike is congratulating himself on getting away with it all, things begin to crumble.
This is Rankin's first novel since EXIT MUSIC, in which he retired his "alter ego", D.I. Rebus. Followers were very keen to find out whether Rankin could exist without Rebus, and in the interviews that followed the release of EXIT MUSIC he was pretty coy about what Rebus' role would be in any future novels. Well, the critics are answered. There is not a sign of Rebus in DOORS OPEN.
Can Rankin write stand-alones? Well, yes, he can. He hasn't really ground to a halt or lost his touch with Rebus' retirement. This is a relatively short novel by his standards, and not really so complex. There are few signs of Rankin's social conscience, and I spent of my reading time thinking it wouldn't rank as highly in my rating system as other Rankin novels in my records. I gave 5.0 to EXIT MUSIC and DOORS OPEN isn't at that level. But the last 50 pages or so pushed the rating up for me, although I didn't particularly like the gung-ho with a romantic element of the final denouement of the heist plot. But then came the Epilogue with its write your own ending element. Niot every one will like that. But it left the door nicely open ....
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LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
If this book had not boasted the name 'Ian Rankin', I doubt that I would have made it to page 150. The opening half is turgid, formulaic and frankly, tedious. The second portion is fascinating, up to Rankin's standard and well worth the read. I did wonder if this was a short story, or a novelette,
Rankin has consigned his long term detective, Rebus, to history and this opus is a fill before starting a new series based around the police complaints department. In this book, the cops take a back seat, as the robbers move to the fore. The opening is a rather standard Italian Job rip off: smooth planning and tenuous reasoning lead a group of innocents into a robbery with a small time heavy with money troubles.
The second half, when the plan unravels, is much more interesting and by the end, I was thoroughly enjoying the story and, quite unusually for a crime aficionado such as myself, I did not see the twists coming: I'll say no more, as it would be a pity to spoil the conclusion.
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which had been stretched.Rankin has consigned his long term detective, Rebus, to history and this opus is a fill before starting a new series based around the police complaints department. In this book, the cops take a back seat, as the robbers move to the fore. The opening is a rather standard Italian Job rip off: smooth planning and tenuous reasoning lead a group of innocents into a robbery with a small time heavy with money troubles.
The second half, when the plan unravels, is much more interesting and by the end, I was thoroughly enjoying the story and, quite unusually for a crime aficionado such as myself, I did not see the twists coming: I'll say no more, as it would be a pity to spoil the conclusion.
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LibraryThing member theforestofbooks
I’ve been a huge fan of Ian Rankin since I started his Rebus series of books over ten years ago. With Rebus now retired Doors Open is Rankin’s first book away from his colourful larger than life detective inspector. The story trails a self made man who despite wealth, no commitments and all the
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time in the world feels little attachment or emotion to anything in his life. Consequently when the idea is proposed to him of relieving an art gallery warehouse of some of its paintings he suddenly finds criminality an alluring distraction. The story moves from the planning and the completion of the heist to its natural, for purposes of fiction, fallout. Unfortunately as a reader, I had a hard time accepting this self made man’s sudden change in character. His motives came across as thin and hollow which I never bought into. It was also difficult to find any likeable character in this book. Even the main investigating officer came across as creepy. This is not to say the book isnt well written or the dialogue as cutting as I would expect and I did enjoy the fallout after the heist, but overall, for me it was a book which fell flat. As an aside, I loved the little cameo reference to Rebus between the two investigating officers. Show Less
LibraryThing member edwardsgt
Rankin's first post-Rebus novel, which inhabits the same Edinburgh locations, but this time with a new cast of characters, the main one being Mike Mackenzie, a retired software millionaire with time on his hands and not enough challenges. He decides to create the perfect art heist, but makes the
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mistake of recruiting a former school acquaintance, now a leading member of Edinburgh's crime fraternity. Good plotting keeps you turning the pages to the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member jimrbrown
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Rebus series over 20 years and had to read this novel. It is different to the Rebus books, lighter and less personal, but that's not a bad thing. It was a slow starter but after halfway I found it difficult to put down (always a good sign for me). I liked the
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characters, especially Mackenzie, although his motives for getting involved were not very believable. The ending also stretched the imagination a bit. 4 out of 5 (Rebus normally scores 4.5 to 5 for me). Show Less
LibraryThing member cajela
A Rankin crime novel set in Edinburgh without Rebus? This is quite different from the Rebus novels, so don't expect Rankin's usual style or you will be disappointed. The police detective Ransome is a relatively minor character, as we follow the progress of an art heist from the point of view of one
It's relatively light in tone, with some nice comedy of manners among the Edinburgh art set. Mike Mackenzie is a software millionaire and doesn't need money, he's mostly just bored. But he gets sucked in to a plot to swap forgeries for real artworks, and things get more and more complex and more and more dark. Especially when the local ganglord gets involved, and draws in his wide boys, and the international drug dealers' very scary debt collector...
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of the criminals. It's relatively light in tone, with some nice comedy of manners among the Edinburgh art set. Mike Mackenzie is a software millionaire and doesn't need money, he's mostly just bored. But he gets sucked in to a plot to swap forgeries for real artworks, and things get more and more complex and more and more dark. Especially when the local ganglord gets involved, and draws in his wide boys, and the international drug dealers' very scary debt collector...
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LibraryThing member dherrick52
A favorite author, and an interesting point of view in this mystery, but I miss Inspector Rebus.
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
A carefully crafted heist turns into a nightmare as two friends embark in a sophisticated plot. A very slow and elaborate sophisticated plot. I did enjoy the characters, the variety in personalities, the description of the art pieces and the evolution of the story. Each piece has its place and
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there are no gaps left in the plot - the twists are subtle but keep the story running. The rhythm, however, is extremely slow, plodding even - there was enough material to keep me interested but not enough to keep me engrossed, and in the end, I was happy to be rid of it. A cerebral work for the even tempered reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member Daftboy1
Easy enough book to read. Mike Mackenzie is the main character he is a millionaire who is bored, he takes a likng for art.
Gets in with the small art crowd in Edinburgh and also meets one of the local villians he was at school with.
They rob a warehouse in Edinburgh were some old paintings are
Keeps you guessing this book. Well worth a read.
Gets in with the small art crowd in Edinburgh and also meets one of the local villians he was at school with.
They rob a warehouse in Edinburgh were some old paintings are
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being stored. There are a few twists and turns along the way. Keeps you guessing this book. Well worth a read.
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LibraryThing member Ameise1
It is a wonderful humorous story. The first half is affected by the planning and organizing of the art heist. The head of the planning is a professor and he is looking for some wealthy naive gentlemen chiseller and a forger who has been found in a young student artist who is addicted to drugs. As a
The focus of the second part is how each taker is handling the situation and how they are stumbling deeper into their misfortune after the heist. The police stands on the verge of the events. With his cleverly asked questions DI Ransom is confusing everybody so that the solution was at least obvious.
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matter of course an other main player is a real ganster who is looking for an easy deal to solve his outstanding debts.The focus of the second part is how each taker is handling the situation and how they are stumbling deeper into their misfortune after the heist. The police stands on the verge of the events. With his cleverly asked questions DI Ransom is confusing everybody so that the solution was at least obvious.
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LibraryThing member sharonlflynn
This was a good page-turner and a very light read. Unlike the Rebus books, which I love, its point of view is that of the criminals - or more specifically Mike, the hugely successful but bored businessman.
From the very beginning we are made aware that something is going to go disastrously wrong
As another reviewer suggested, this is ready made movie material.
Excellent reading for long train journeys!
From the very beginning we are made aware that something is going to go disastrously wrong
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with the whole scheme. Once Mike starts to involve elements of Edinburgh's criminal underworld (hasn't he read any of Rankin's novels?) it is quite clear that he is completely out of his depth. We just don't know exactly where the weak link is.As another reviewer suggested, this is ready made movie material.
Excellent reading for long train journeys!
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LibraryThing member Vivl
I found this a great read and so have been surprised to read less than brilliant reviews from other readers. Rebus on TV was my only prior knowledge of Rankin. If this is an example of his second-best writing, I have a lot to look forward to. I plan to start from book one in the Rebus series.
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Great, another lengthy collection to add to my "must read before I die" list, and the years are flying by. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ant.Harrison
Ian Rankin’s Doors Open is a heist-cum-caper story set in contemporary Edinburgh, and his first novel since he announced that he was not planning to write any more Rebus stories. A group of middle class academics and a banker get involved in planning and executing the ‘perfect crime’ – a
The writing was fairly low-key – no stylistic challenges to be found here – with a somewhat wearing use of copious amounts of dialogue to explain the plot and keep things moving. I would assume that this is a book that could easily be adapted into a fairly uninspiring ITV drama, as there would be relatively little for the screen writer to do when adapting it for the screen. I can’t really recommend this, except that it’s an easy read, great for a long train journey say, when it doesn’t matter if your attention wanders, or you’re distracted by the noisy family across the aisle.
© Koplowitz 2012
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plan to ‘steal’ artworks from galleries across Edinburgh whilst they’re not on public display. Like most stories of this kind, it doesn’t turn out to be as straightforward as first planned, and events soon start to spiral out of control. There’s the obligatory Rankin stock characters – the disgruntled police officer and a local small-time crook that has delusions of grandeur by believing he’s actually Edinburgh’s Mr Big. The ending’s just about OK, but nothing spectacular, and at times I had to force myself to care enough about these lacklustre individuals enough to finish the book.The writing was fairly low-key – no stylistic challenges to be found here – with a somewhat wearing use of copious amounts of dialogue to explain the plot and keep things moving. I would assume that this is a book that could easily be adapted into a fairly uninspiring ITV drama, as there would be relatively little for the screen writer to do when adapting it for the screen. I can’t really recommend this, except that it’s an easy read, great for a long train journey say, when it doesn’t matter if your attention wanders, or you’re distracted by the noisy family across the aisle.
© Koplowitz 2012
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LibraryThing member bsquaredinoz
I know it’s somewhat heretical but I’ve never been a fan of Ian Rankin’s most famous creation. However I do like to try other things Rankin writes, even when I suspect it’s not really my thing; a category which DOORS OPEN, being a heist tale, definitely belongs to. Happily though I found
The heist in this instance involves the theft of paintings from the National Gallery’s warehouse in Edinburgh. The thieves are a Robert Gissing, a professor and curator; Mike Mackenzie, a software millionaire who is a little bored with life and Allan Cruikshank, a banker. The three friends decide, almost on a whim, to relieve the gallery of a few of its undisplayed works during the annual ‘Doors Open’ day when various institutions around the city offer public tours. During their planning, which includes adding a weed-smoking art student who specialises in copying famous works to their number, they realise they need a bit more infrastructure and so enters Chib Galloway, a former schoolmate of Mike’s and a local petty crook. The heist itself occurs about halfway through the novel and the rest of the book depicts things going rather horribly awry.
The novel’s plot starts strongly offering a more believable heist than most in that it doesn’t involve a load of fanciful technology and the motivations for the three friends are also credible. That doesn’t mean the reader doesn’t question the sense of their plan (could a painting that’s only a few days old ever fool anyone for more than a moment that it is an old masterpiece for example?) but it’s not difficult to imagine three blokes of a certain type talking themselves into carrying out this kind of hair-brained scheme. And even when things start to unravel I stayed with them, accepting that one of them would fall apart when the reality of what they’d done hit home and that someone else might get greedy after the event. But by about the three-quarter mark, when the Viking thug called Hate and the policeman not assigned to the investigation but butting in because he could made their presence felt, I’d lost my capacity to suspend disbelief. These elements felt like over-the-top nonsense but they weren’t quite ridiculous enough to take the book into full blown comedy caper territory so, for me anyway, it ended up in a kind of no-man’s land of awkwardness.
There are a lot of characters in DOORS OPEN and it’s a fairly short book so none of them is terribly well fleshed out and quite a bit of what we ‘know’ about them relies on our understanding of certain stereotypes. That said there is some genuine black humour in some of the dialogue between the characters and the references to other, more famous heist tales are nicely done.
As someone who is a bit fed up with genre publishing’s current conservatism, manifest most starkly in its capacity to push series well beyond the point where they cease being creative, I have to applaud the decision to publish something like DOORS OPEN. It’s not a perfect novel but it is pretty entertaining and full of genuine surprises right to the end.
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myself well entertained.The heist in this instance involves the theft of paintings from the National Gallery’s warehouse in Edinburgh. The thieves are a Robert Gissing, a professor and curator; Mike Mackenzie, a software millionaire who is a little bored with life and Allan Cruikshank, a banker. The three friends decide, almost on a whim, to relieve the gallery of a few of its undisplayed works during the annual ‘Doors Open’ day when various institutions around the city offer public tours. During their planning, which includes adding a weed-smoking art student who specialises in copying famous works to their number, they realise they need a bit more infrastructure and so enters Chib Galloway, a former schoolmate of Mike’s and a local petty crook. The heist itself occurs about halfway through the novel and the rest of the book depicts things going rather horribly awry.
The novel’s plot starts strongly offering a more believable heist than most in that it doesn’t involve a load of fanciful technology and the motivations for the three friends are also credible. That doesn’t mean the reader doesn’t question the sense of their plan (could a painting that’s only a few days old ever fool anyone for more than a moment that it is an old masterpiece for example?) but it’s not difficult to imagine three blokes of a certain type talking themselves into carrying out this kind of hair-brained scheme. And even when things start to unravel I stayed with them, accepting that one of them would fall apart when the reality of what they’d done hit home and that someone else might get greedy after the event. But by about the three-quarter mark, when the Viking thug called Hate and the policeman not assigned to the investigation but butting in because he could made their presence felt, I’d lost my capacity to suspend disbelief. These elements felt like over-the-top nonsense but they weren’t quite ridiculous enough to take the book into full blown comedy caper territory so, for me anyway, it ended up in a kind of no-man’s land of awkwardness.
There are a lot of characters in DOORS OPEN and it’s a fairly short book so none of them is terribly well fleshed out and quite a bit of what we ‘know’ about them relies on our understanding of certain stereotypes. That said there is some genuine black humour in some of the dialogue between the characters and the references to other, more famous heist tales are nicely done.
As someone who is a bit fed up with genre publishing’s current conservatism, manifest most starkly in its capacity to push series well beyond the point where they cease being creative, I have to applaud the decision to publish something like DOORS OPEN. It’s not a perfect novel but it is pretty entertaining and full of genuine surprises right to the end.
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LibraryThing member BillPilgrim
This is not an Inspector Rebus book.
Three friends without any criminal past, but all art lovers, stage a heist of valuable art from the storehouse for the Scottish Museum. They get help from a local mobster. Since the mobster had been under surveillance, the inspector is able to figure out what
Problem with the plot for me was the the art Professor who first proposes the job to his friends initially makes it sound like the plan is genius because no one would even know that there was any theft, but then it turns out to be another thing entirely and no one raises a question about it.
Three friends without any criminal past, but all art lovers, stage a heist of valuable art from the storehouse for the Scottish Museum. They get help from a local mobster. Since the mobster had been under surveillance, the inspector is able to figure out what
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happened, mostly, fairly straight-on.Problem with the plot for me was the the art Professor who first proposes the job to his friends initially makes it sound like the plan is genius because no one would even know that there was any theft, but then it turns out to be another thing entirely and no one raises a question about it.
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LibraryThing member Cassandra2020
I do seem to struggle with Ian Rankin and I have no idea why. He should tick all the boxes for me, Crime Fiction, well written, Edinburgh setting, certain degree of humour, but time and time again I find myself struggling to retain interest & to finish the book. I recently (well a couple of months
So this isn't a Rebus novel, but still Edinburgh based. It centres around Doors Open Day (do they have that in England?) when various institutions open their doors to the public to let them see places they don't normally have access to. In particular, the storage facility for the National Galleries of Scotland are included in this extravaganza and so the crime is inspired: why not fake some pictures and replace the originals during a tour? What could possibly go wrong?
The characters were well drawn and the places all recognisable to a resident, even the plot worked ok, but somehow it dragged and I suspect was a couple of chapters too long. I usually give a book 50 pages to capture my interest, it did that easily - it was around the mid section that it began to drag & I had to force myself to keep going. Once the heist took place, then it picked up. Even so,
I didn't really care what happened: they could succeed or fail I didn't care enough about the 'crooks' or the 'cops' to be bothered about the outcome.
Not sure whether Ian Rankin usually uses humour in his writing, but a far better exponent of comedy in Scottish Crime is Christopher Brookmyre and I love his books, so maybe I'd be better sticking to his work. My only dilema now is the Rebus books I have on Mount TBR: do I keep them and have another go, or release them for someone else, who might enjoy them, to read?
One last thought: I'd intended to read this quickly so that I could release it on Doors Open Day at one of the venues. I failed miserably - this took me a week longer than I expected to read it. Think that probably says everything!
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ago now) read a book of his short stories and really enjoyed them, hence having another go at one of his full length novels, but....So this isn't a Rebus novel, but still Edinburgh based. It centres around Doors Open Day (do they have that in England?) when various institutions open their doors to the public to let them see places they don't normally have access to. In particular, the storage facility for the National Galleries of Scotland are included in this extravaganza and so the crime is inspired: why not fake some pictures and replace the originals during a tour? What could possibly go wrong?
The characters were well drawn and the places all recognisable to a resident, even the plot worked ok, but somehow it dragged and I suspect was a couple of chapters too long. I usually give a book 50 pages to capture my interest, it did that easily - it was around the mid section that it began to drag & I had to force myself to keep going. Once the heist took place, then it picked up. Even so,
I didn't really care what happened: they could succeed or fail I didn't care enough about the 'crooks' or the 'cops' to be bothered about the outcome.
Not sure whether Ian Rankin usually uses humour in his writing, but a far better exponent of comedy in Scottish Crime is Christopher Brookmyre and I love his books, so maybe I'd be better sticking to his work. My only dilema now is the Rebus books I have on Mount TBR: do I keep them and have another go, or release them for someone else, who might enjoy them, to read?
One last thought: I'd intended to read this quickly so that I could release it on Doors Open Day at one of the venues. I failed miserably - this took me a week longer than I expected to read it. Think that probably says everything!
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LibraryThing member _amritasharma_
I wish had never read this book: or better still, Ian Rankin had never written it.Then I would have continued loving Ian Rankin for his writing. But this book has changed it all. I think I need to read another Rebus novel to restore the status quo of my opinion of Ian Rankin's writing prowess.
I
Totally disappointed in the weak plot, unconvincing premise of 3 friends coming together to commit art heist only for the love of art. Characters which are the strength in all Rankin books are mere outlines here and that is the biggest weakness. We cannot understand their motivations and fail to sympathise with them in their predicament
I
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discovered Ian Rankin only last year, thanks to the recommendation of a dear friend. And Ian Rankin became my favourite author from the word "go". After finishing the very first book, I had decided that I am going to read every book written by this author. Today I am regretting this decision. Totally disappointed in the weak plot, unconvincing premise of 3 friends coming together to commit art heist only for the love of art. Characters which are the strength in all Rankin books are mere outlines here and that is the biggest weakness. We cannot understand their motivations and fail to sympathise with them in their predicament
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
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
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member altonmann
Worst book Rankin has written by a large margin. It's actually so trivial it's hard to believe that he wrote it.
LibraryThing member PattyLee
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.
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
I usually enjoy anything that Ian Rankin writes. His long-running series featuring Inspector Rebus has been consistently good and his new series, featuring an utterly un-Rebus-like detective, is even better. So I expected quite a bit from Doors Open, a stand-alone novel. Doors Open tells the story
This is where Rankin lost me for a while. Liberating artwork from the unappreciative mega-wealthy is one thing; stealing from the public in order to own a piece of art that can then never be shared is quite another. It turned the book from a fun crime romp into something less fun, for me, anyway. Rankin turns it around, but it took me awhile to see what he was doing. In any case, the final third of the book is brilliant in it's unraveling.
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of Mike, self-made millionaire who, having sold his company, is bored. He's started collecting art, which is fun and has made him two friends, a soon-to-retire art professor and a banker who buys art for the bank he works for. They talk about the usual things people interested in art discuss and agree that art purchased for investment and stored in vaults is an abomination. From there, there is a leap to deciding that they would be more appreciative owners and, after not being able to come up with a way to rob a bank, they come up with a cunning plan to rob a museum. This is where Rankin lost me for a while. Liberating artwork from the unappreciative mega-wealthy is one thing; stealing from the public in order to own a piece of art that can then never be shared is quite another. It turned the book from a fun crime romp into something less fun, for me, anyway. Rankin turns it around, but it took me awhile to see what he was doing. In any case, the final third of the book is brilliant in it's unraveling.
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LibraryThing member icolford
Doors Open, Ian Rankin’s first stand-alone novel after putting John Rebus out to pasture in Exit Music, concerns a group of amateur art thieves who fall out with one another in the aftermath of a successful heist. In his late 30s, Mike McKenzie made a fortune from the sale of his software company
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but is finding the quiet life of leisure and luxury somewhat of a bore. This explains why he’s tempted when his friend, art professor Robert Gissing, describes a plan to “liberate” paintings from a storage facility where the Scottish National Gallery stashes surplus holdings. Gissing, who’s been obsessed with the idea for some time, has it all worked out. The upcoming Doors Open event—a showcase for the city of Edinburgh in which buildings normally closed to the public throw open their doors to all and sundry—includes the warehouse in question. Mike enlists his banker friend Allan, but the group needs talent of a less polite nature to pull off such a brazen theft. Enter gangster Chib Calloway, an old school acquaintance of Mike’s, brought on board to provide muscle and fire-power. Gissing enlists “Westie,” a student from the art college, to produce the forgeries that will replace the paintings they’re going to steal. On the day, everything apparently goes without a hitch. A diversionary tactic meant to fool police seems to have worked. Are they really in the clear? But it’s not long before cracks start forming. Mike had not accounted for the fact that Calloway, being a criminal and all, would be under police surveillance, and in the days after the theft, the dogged DI Ransome senses a connection between Calloway, his new art-loving friends, and the heist. Toss in a few complications—Calloway is up to his ears in debt to some very shady Scandinavians, Westie’s mouthy girlfriend Alice feels that her talented boyfriend’s been shortchanged—and things quickly start to unravel. Rankin serves up a complex, multi-layered and mightily entertaining plot. Mike McKenzie is an appealing anti-hero with plenty of smarts, a young man who acts rashly and gets what he deserves. But it turns out that, as the victim of a double cross he never saw coming, he’s not as smart as he thought he was. Undeniably fun, the novel lacks the moral heft of the author’s typical work. Still, Doors Open is a top-notch heist thriller by a seasoned writer who knows how to keep his reader guessing. Show Less
Awards
Crimefest Awards (Winner — 2009)
Theakstons Old Peculier Prize (Longlist — 2010)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
416 p.; 7.64 inches
ISBN
1409102017 / 9781409102014
Similar in this library
DDC/MDS
| 823.914 |