Name of the Novel: Strip Jack
Name of Author: Ian Rankin
Publisher: Orion Books Ltd.
Published in : 1992
Pages: 290
ISBN: 0-75287-723-2
"But no, it was worse than that. Much worse. It was an
ordinary bed room, albeit with red lightbulbs in its several lamps. And in an ordinary bed lay an ordinary enough
looking woman, her elbow pressed into the pillow, head resting at an angle on
her clenched fist. And on that bed,
dressed and staring at the floor, sat someone Rebus recognized; the Member of
Parliament for north and south Esk" …… (Page
7)
STORY: -
Strip jack is an intense novel written by Ian Rankin. It is
fourth novel in the John Rebus series. Like previous plots, this story is also
set up in Edinburgh.
Story starts with a raid on a brothel where a local Member
of Parliament, Gregor Jack, caught or found in the premises of brothel. When
much-loved politician Gregor Jack is discovered in a midnight raid on a
discreet brothel, a surprising number of journalists are on hand--a situation
that endangers Jack's political future.
Rebus
has a sympathetic view towards Jack. In his view, he was victim of a conspiracy
which is designed to strip him naked in the society without any power and
image. In the mean time, a dead body of a woman found in the river and a
suspect, William Glass, under police suspicion and Rebus under pressure from
his superiors to accept a homeless derelict as the killer of a woman found in
the river. There are too many unanswered questions for Rebus. Like B why was he
at that particular brothel at that particular time? And why was the press on
the scene practically at the same time as the police? Rebus is an experienced
cop who knows the ways of the politicians
and the criminals. For him, there are too many questions and too few answers.
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| Ian Rankin's Strip Jack |
Jack ‘s personal life with his wife Elizabeth is in sticky
situation after his brothel episode. Rebus wants to meet her to know about her reactions
and mental state but she is found dead. Her
body is soon pulled from a nearby river, a fatality resembling the recent
murder of another, unidentified woman. A drunk who brags of the first killing
gives a false address and vanishes north of the city. From here, a saga of
investigations unravels where many sub plots are intricately woven with main
plot. Rebus comes to know about ‘The Pack’ which is group of young friends of
Jack and Elizabeth. Each character is now settled in the society in different
manners, be it a movie star, transporter or a mental patient. Meanwhile Rebus,
trying to trace a cache of valuable stolen books, finds himself talking again
to the late Elizabeth's coterie of party friends.
Rankin has been able to create a realistic world in which
his weary protagonist operates. He tackles his cases while involved in the
intricacies of the day-to-day life: pints, coffee and hangovers, stumbling
romance with patience (his girlfriend), wet weather, damp clothes, arrogant superiors
and indifferent subordinates. “After all of his stubbornness and failure
of judgments, Rebus closes in on the satisfying solution. Then, the idea of a
quick bath appealed. He looked into the kitchen first, and saw that Mrs. Wilkie
was busy at the stove, humming to herself. So he headed for the bathroom. There
was no lock on the door. Or rather, there was a lock, but half of it was
hanging loose” … (page 123)
MY VIEW: -
Since it is my first meeting with John Rebus, my views may contrasting
to the others. Beginning of the story is
very interesting. The first meeting
between MP Jack and Rebus was able to generate interest for the future. But after
that when rebus investigate about the stolen books or antique books, story
become somewhat slow. The story doesn't begin with the murder and it happens in
due course of the plot and till then, you only had Rebus wandering, casually
talking to the MP who caught, was investigating in a case regarding stolen
books and all these also gave time for the author to bring out the character of
Patience Aitken.
The plot was amazing in the begining, moving across
several places in Scotland, several characters with different occupation,
different background and personality but somehow all of them were connected to
the case in some way or the other but at the same time I felt that the number
of characters were too many which made the reader hard to hold grip on the
events and may lose track of it. It had
nearly everything in it, an enthusiastic, slave-driving police detective with
dull superiors and a troubled relationship, a politician in trouble with his
associates trying their best to protect him and of course, a very good mystery
supported with interesting investigations carried out by the police. But in the
end, as a reader I am surprised of the outcome of the result. I can confess
that after reading Daniel Silva’s international political and spy drama, Rebus
adventures are far more rooted to ground and realistic.
If you are interested in realistic portrayals and pinch of suspense, than you can read the John Rebus adventures created by Ian Rankin.
My Rating : ★★★/★★★★★ (3/5)
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| Back Cover Strip Jack |
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