Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, as well as receiving two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews and Edinburgh. A contributor to BBC2's 'Newsnight Review', he also presented his own TV series, 'Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts', on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons. Jack Harvey 02 - Bleeding Hearts Deadly assassin Michael Weston completes another job successfully. One mistake was enough, a long time ago when a young girl caught his fatal bullet. Ever since, her father has made him the target, hiring a private eye named Hoffer to track him down. Weston knows that Hoffer is never far behind. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56843.jpg Jack Harvey 03 - Blood Hunt It begins with a phone call. Gordon Reeve's brother has been found dead in his car in San Diego - the car was locked from the inside, a gun in his hand. In the US to identify the body Gordon comes to realise that his brother has in fact been murdered. What's more, it is soon obvious that his own life is in danger. Once back in Scotland he finds out that there have been more visitors than usual to his house and his home has been bugged by professionals. But Reeve is a professional too. Ex SAS, he was half of a two man unit with someone he came to fear, then to hate. It looks like his Nemesis is back. The horror has just begun . http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56844.jpg Rebus 01 - Knots And Crosses Once John Rebus was a Para, served in the elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh policeman who spends time evading his memories, missing promotion opportunities, and right now ignoring a series of crank letters. But as the murders go on happening right under his nose, Rebus cannot ignore the presence of a serial killer stalking the city streets any longer. He isn't the only detective working the case, but he is the only one with all the pices to the puzzle and those letters keep on coming. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56832.jpg Rebus 07 - Let It Bleed Two boys hug and jump... One man blows his brains out and does his lady a last favour... Alone in his cell another sets a ball rolling that may demolish a glittering career... Everyone keeps secrets and sometimes not just their own. In an Edinburgh winter the wind blows chill and penetrating. For Rebus it slams one door shut only to open another. Investigating the disappearance of the Provost's daughter leads him from the Old Town to Silicon Gel, from drug addicts to government ministers. And plants the seed that grows into a nagging belief that there may be some criminals beyond the grasp of modern justice. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56838.jpg Rebus 10 - Dead Souls A call from an old friend brings back memories and more than a little guilt for DI John Rebus. An old schoolfriend's son has gone missing, the ghost of Jack Morton is inhabiting Rebus' dreams, a part-time poisoner is terrorising the local zoo and a freed paedophile rouses the vigilantes. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56841.jpg Rebus 10.5 - Death Is Not The End Damon Mee was last seen in a blurred security video on the dance floor of a Kirkaldy nightclub. It was a routine missing persons case and it wasn't even on his patch, but inspector John rebus said he'd look into it as a favour to the boy's father, a friend from his school days. In the deft hands of Ian Rankin, the ripples of the investigation widen rapidly. They lead to the club's greasy owner, to a slightly bent casion croupier, to a drop dead blonde whose name nobody seems to know, to a Hibs striker with a talent for goals and a weakness for gambling and finally to the shadowed men who call the shots in Edinburgh's underworld. When it's over, Rebus has repaid a debt and his boss has received an unexpected birthday present. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56831.jpg Rebus 12 - The Falls A student has gone missing in Edinburgh - completely out of character. She's not just any student, though, but the daughter of extremely well to do and influential bankers. There's almost nothing to go on until Detective Inspector John Rebus gets an unmistakable gut feeling that there's more to this than just another runaway spaced out on unaccustomed freedom. Two leads emerge: a carved wooden doll in a toy coffin, found in the student's home village, and an Internet role playing game. The ancient and the modern, brought together by uncomfortable circumstance . . . 'Rankin continues to be unsurpassed among living British crime writers... He makes the reader feel part of the scene, and enhances the experience with his virtuosity with dialogue . . . But all these virtues would count for little if Rankin didn't also possess the most important asset of them all - the ability to tell a damned good story' Marcel Berlins, The Times http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56846.jpg Rebus 14 - A Question Of Blood A shooting incident at a private school just north of Edinburgh. Two seventeen year olds killed by an ex Army loner who has gone off the rails. As Detective Inspector John Rebus puts it, 'there's no mystery'... except the why. But this question takes Rebus into the heart of a shattered community. Ex Army himself, Rebus becomes fascinated by the killer, and finds he is not alone. Army investigators are on the scene, and won't be shaken off. The killer had friends and enemies to spare ranging from civic leaders to the local Goths leaving behind a legacy of secrets and lies. Rebus has more than his share of personal problems, too. He's fresh out of hospital, hands heavily bandaged, and he won't say how it happened. Could there be a connection with a house fire and the unfortunate death of a petty criminal who had been harrassing Rebus's colleague Siobhan Clarke? Rebus's bosses seem to think so... http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56850.jpg Watchman 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? http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56830.jpg