Blood Hunt – the last novel written by Ian Rankin under the pen name Jack Harvey. Any person who has already read Ian Rankin's first Inspector Rebus novel Knots & Crosses, would naturally be attracted to this piece of work, as it features Gordon Reeve – showing the other side of his life. But, it is not necessary for you to have read Knots & Crosses to understand this novel – this makes absolutely no reference to any Rebus novel and is very much a stand alone.Ex-SAS personnel, Gordon Reeve, now a tutor, doing survival training programmes for aspiring bodyguards or any other dangerous profession at South Uist, a Scottish Island in the Atlantic. He gets a phone call, informing that his brother had been found dead at San Diego, California, USA. On reaching there, Gordon Reeve is convinced that his brother has been murdered. However, the police are not willing to cooperate with Reeve and he isn't willing to let all the mysterious questions surrounding his brother's death (as mentioned by the publisher) go unanswered. His brother was working on an article on Bovine spongiform encephalopathy[BSE(commonly known as mad cow disease)] which might embarrass certain parties if the article comes to light. So, Reeve is now an avenger, although, he doesn't know who he is against and if he thinks he is not in danger, he is mistaken.This book was is a wonderful thriller, probably the best I've read so far. It has a brilliant plot, good language, expressions and dialogues and to top it all, no boring sub-plots. What I like about Rankin's non-Rebus novels are his complex characters which gives me a lot of knowledge such as Miles Flint in Watchman (although it was on bugs, which didn't interest me) and Gordon Reeve in Blood Hunt. Gordon Reeve's interest in anarchism and Nietzsche and Reeve has managed to pass on his interest in anarchism to me. I had also failed to find any loose ends in the book, maybe because I read the last 150 pages in around two hours (my reading speed is around a page per minute). The best thing I liked about this book was that it had a very proper and precise ending, which was lacking in most of the other Ian Rankin books which I've read so far.The downsides of the book were very few, but for someone who had read Knots & Crosses, the fact that there was no reference to John Rebus considering that he was supposed to be such a close friend, it would have definitely been disappointing. Moreover, Gordon Reeve reminded me of the protagonist in an Alistair MacLean novel which I just read.This is a very good book to read if you're interested in thrillers and it deserves a rating of five.
This was a fairly run-of-the-mill, ex-SAS, righter-of-wrongs story. It looked as if there might be an interesting anger management problem for our protagonist but nothing much was made of this angle – it was stated but barely developed.Two aspects stood out for me: I didn't really believe in Gordon's SAS background; research had been done but his words and actions didn't ring true for some of the time. For example, referring to an LUP (lying up point) as 'a hiding place' didn't fit the Regiment's image. The Argentinian drama was probably the most believable even if Jay wasn't. And the second aspect was that there didn't seem enough hurdles in Gordon's way. He had a relatively easy ride considering the nature of the opposition – he made too many friends and much of the conflict was a walkover.All together though, the writing flowed and the pages turned without sighs or hrmphs (is that a word?) of dissatisfaction. Made a change from Rankin, but only because Gordon was fitter and enjoyed killing.
What do You think about Blood Hunt (2006)?
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2000701.html[return][return][return]This standalone tale by Rankin is about a Scottish SAS veteran seeking revenge for his murdered brother (NB that brothers crop up a lot in Rankin's plots). The story is supposedly about the global chemicals industry's conspiracy to poison our food, which was even more topical back in 1995, but actually the real point is the central character's quest for vengeance across America, England, France and Scotland, and how it unexpectedly ties into an old and forgotten personal feud. Exciting action stuff at the end, but presumably our hero would end up facing a significant jail term for the methods he uses to deal with his brother's killers.
—Nicholas Whyte
BLOOD HUNT (Suspense-California-Cont) – OkayRankin, Ian - StandaloneLittleBrown, reprint 2006- Paperback*** Former soldier Gordon Reeve flies to California to claim the body of his brother Jim, an apparent suicide. But it soon becomes obvious that the facts aren't fitting together and that Jim's death was murder. *** In spite of three attempts, I just could not get into this book. I will admit I'm not a big fan of conspiracy themes but, that aside, I didn't find the character interesting or the plot compelling. For me, this was a Rankin practice book until he started writing Rebus.
—LJ
Another one from Ian Rankin under a pseudonym. This time the theme is a personal enmity between two ex SAS personal.The one Jay has disappeared after a reconnaissance mission in the Malvinas/Falklands islands. Gordon and Jay had been the only ones on this mission and there was lot of bad blood between the two.Second Gordon Reeve has retired and is not training people the ropes of clandestine operations in the highlands of Scotland. His brother, a journalist, has shifted to America and keeps in touch once in a while. The latest contact has been a gift from him to his nephew, Gordon's son, a spanking new computer game.The gift from his brother is followed by the news of his brother's suicide. He decides to go to the USA to pick up his brother's remains and plans to bring it back to England for burial. When he reaches there he is met by one local police official who helps him with the formalities. He stumbles upon a person who has been with his brother during his last days. This person says that his brother has been murdered and has not committed suicide.This sets him thinking and he starts investigating and this leads him to series of information which is startling. In the process he also encounters Jay. Soon he finds himself running away and chasing Jay alternately.The climax is set in one of the many islands off the coast of Scotland and is a literal cliff hanger like many a Bollywood movies.Although not bad one does not feel the warmth that one gets when Rebus is present.
—Sundarraj Kaushik
