Watchman - Softcover

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. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America's celebrated Edgar Award for 'Resurrection Men'. He has also been shortlisted for the Edgar and Anthony Awards in the USA, and won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. 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'. 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.

'Very impressive...If you're worried you'll miss the comfortable presence of Jack Rebus, don't - this is totally involving stuff, delivered with the kind of panache that hallmarks the Edinburgh-set thrillers' -- Barry Forshaw DAILY EXPRESS 'What is impressive in the novel is Rankin's ability to handle a complicated plot, so that in the end its various strands cohere' -- Allan Massie THE SCOTSMAN 'WATCHMAN is one for Rankin aficionados, interesting in itself, but also revealing as to a direction he might have taken with his fiction, following his first novel, KNOTS AND CROSSES, which introduced us to Inspector Rebus' -- Keith Jeffery TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'A riveting read that will have you turning page after page until there are none left' -- Alex Gordon PETERBOROUGH TELEGRAPH 'A curiosity from the pen of Ian Rankin: a hardback re-issue of an early, pre-Rebus novel. Though it's not a bad read, it shows he has improved' -- Allan Laing GLASGOW HERALD 'This splendid piece of espionage fiction has not worn badly with age, nor does it seem the work of a yet immature talent. Brilliantly subdued, it has the air of a le Carre...Atmospheric and subtle, Watchman shows just how long Rankin has been our best genre novelist' GOOD BOOK GUIDE 'Intriguing to compare it with his Rebus books. It's less introspective, but still a must' GLASGOW EVE TIMES 'Watchman is of its time, of course, but it moves along at a fair old clip and shows Rankin to be as adept at writing thrillers as he is at putting together more meditative crime stories' -- Peter Gutteridge OBSERVER 'This is a biting and superbly wrought thriller that will enthrall' WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY 'more than holds its own among recent spy thriller fare, despite its age' -- Mark Evans IRISH EXAMINER 'Essential for Rankin fans - and that means most of us' CRIME TIME