Years after writing this novel and The Flood, Ian Rankin created the Rebus books and became the UK's biggest-selling crime writer. In Scotland, he has become a cultural icon. I haven't read any of the Rebus novels, and so can't comment on them (other than saying the TV versions were excellent). I did read and enjoy The Flood last year; its settings and characters were vivid, authentic and inspired. Not so with Watchman, which features a clichéd plot involving secret agents, black budgets, vague settings, two-dimensional characters and stilted dialogue. One test of a great novel is the extent to which it gets under your skin and compels you to keep turning pages, even when that means fighting sleep and putting off important tasks. The Flood gripped me in that manner, but Watchman had the opposite effect: rather than rattling through the book in a day or two, as I generally do, I took months to read it. Each time I opened it, I became bored after a few pages. There's no problem with the story's mechanics; it has all the right elements. Likewise with the language used; Rankin has an excellent command of English. The key missing ingredient in Watchman is inspiration. Perhaps in this book Rankin disobeyed the adage write what you know: The Flood involves Scottish small-town mining communities, people and rituals...things Rankin knows well, having grown up in such an environment; the Rebus novels are set in Edinburgh, where Rankin went to university and has lived ever since...so he wrote Rebus stories from a place of knowing; Watchman, on the other hand, delves into an arena that Rankin has no experience of...maybe he carried out research before penning the story, but if so it doesn't shine through in the prose.I'd never slag off any writer, especially one as competent as Ian Rankin. Knowing how well he can write made reading this novel all the more frustrating. My guess is this: Watchman is the fruits of a writer still very much finding his literary feet.
Watchman is a novel written by the British crime novelist, Ian Rankin, famous for authoring the John Rebus series. This is his third novel, released in 1989. The book does not feature Ian Rankin's most famous character John Rebus but a similar character named Miles Flint. This novel is a stand alone as of now (and presumably, will remain one).Miles Flint is a spy, working for the MI5. The story takes place in London (as far as I know, this is one of the two plots of Ian Rankin which takes place outside Scotland). He voluntarily takes up a mission of spying an Arab, which he fails, and results in the killing of an Israeli national. This was not even supposed to be his mission and the day when he failed was actually supposed to be a day off for him. Hence, he gets into the bad books of his superiors and he is given a chance to rectify his mistake. His superiors send him to Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the war. Little does he realise that this is the most dangerous mission that he has ever undertaken and every moment that he survives is a bonus.The main reason why I decided to read this book was because I read that Jim Stevens, a journalist who featured in the first John Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses was also a character in this book. But, this book was quite disappointing, partly even because of Jim Stevens' trivial role in it but there are also other significant reasons. There were too many characters and too many turns in the plot which made it difficult to understand. In fact, I felt that the story began only after half the book was over but when it began, it was fast-paced and was nice. What I really appreciate in this book was that at a time when I felt that there were going to be too many loose ends in this book, but, the author brilliantly covered it up, towards the end.This is neither a good book nor a bad one. I don't think might be worth buying but one can certainly lend it from a library or a friend to read it. I give this book a rating of 2/5.
What do You think about Watchman (1990)?
This is a pre-cell phone espionage novel set in London and Scotland and Ireland. Miles Flint is a spy - a "watchman". He observes and reports to his superiors at MI-5. He is an invisible man. He blends in and is not remarkable in any way. This is what makes him so good at his job. But when a surveillance goes horribly wrong Miles begins to question not only himself but his job. Fellow spies are going missing; Miles suspects they are dead. Then he is inexplicably sent to observe the arrest of an IRA terrorist in Ireland. All the dirty secrets start coming forth. I enjoyed this book, and without the whiz-bang technology of modern spy novels, this book focused on the characters.
—Peggy
This is the first book of Ian Rankin's earlier works (his second book?) that I read. It has the structure, potential and quiet spy shadows of John le Carré, though it falls short unfortunately. In the foreword, Rankin admits to some of its shortcoming on his own re-reading of its novel years later. A number of areas and plots feel half-baked, including character and plot development. There could have been so much more to it, in terms of more detailed looks and descriptions; instead, the author seems to be in a hurry to keep things moving along. As Rankin has put it himself, this feels like the writings of a young man on the go. I'm particularly unimpressed by some of the apparent contradictions in the traits of Miles Flint, the protagonist. Here we have a supposedly quiet surveillance guy for MI5 whose nickname is "The Invisible Man" and who loves studying beetles as hobby, yet he drives a Jag (!?!). Flint, the middle age spy who dislike guns and actions, yet spurred into action by a near-death experience when he was almost executed (!?!Really!?!). The rather cumbersome plots, that involves some hit job years ago, IRA, and a recent assassination of a gun-runner that suddenly and somehow drags Flint down with it, sound wobbly and tenuous at best. In the end, I'm like "What? Really?"Although one has to give credits to a writer in his/her first book, this is rather disappointing. If there is half star, I would have given this 2.5 stars. I hope his later books are much more improved than this.
—tiddle
I discovered an earlier Ian Rankin book 'Watchman ' ,that I had not read. His earlier works seem to have a touch of John LeCarre in them....not that that's bad ! 'Watchman ' is a nuanced English mystery filled with 'moles' operating within the Intelligence community. In the eighties, when this was written, England was not only interested in international intrigue but also terror attacks by the IRA. Miles Flint finds himself immersed in this mixed intrigue, when an Israeli is murdered on his watch.....almost in front of his eyes. Miles had inserted himself in this case although he hadn't been assigned to it. And suddenly the man he had been 'watching' somehow changed clothes while Miles was distracted and the Israeli is murdered soon after. Now Miles is under suspicion that somehow he is complicit in the murder and MI5 doesn't know if the man murdered was a Mossad agent. Although he realizes that he is being looked at more closely, Miles knows he has to look for the needle in the haystack and figure out how the murder was set up. Meanwhile his marriage to his wife, Sheila is falling apart and Miles is living up to the bureau's nickname for him...'the invisible man' . Somehow he must solve the mystery and resolve his personal problems. He has to find out who his true friends are within the agency and who is trying to get rid of him. There is also a newspaper reporter, Jim Stevens who has gotten 'wind' of the Israeli murder and the government's attempt to bury the investigation. This Rankin book is slightly different than his later books. It is written a slightly different pace but still a very satisfying read.
—Stephen
