The Falls: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus Novels, 12)

In The Falls, a brilliant addition to an awardwinning series, both John Rebus and his creator, Ian Rankin, are at the top of their intense and satisfying form.Ian Rankins John Rebus, arguably the most realistic detective in crime fiction, is a brilliant but troubled man. When a young woman goes missing near his native Edinburgh, Scotland, Rebus finds himself just one small cog in the huge wheel of an inquiry set in motion by her powerfully rich father. Struggling to deal with both his own oftenterrifying inner demons as well as the monstrous bureaucracy of the investigative team, Rebus finds himself drawn again and again into the case, desperately searching for the girls salvation, as well as his own.In time Inspector Rebus uncovers two leads: one, a carved wooden doll stuffed tightly into a tiny casket, and the other the missing girls possible involvement in a dark, disturbing Internetbased roleplaying game. He enlists the help of the techsavvy DC Siobhan Clarke, who is young enough to know her way around the net, but who may not be old and wise enough to avoid potentially deadly pitfalls and traps. Meanwhile, Rebus tracks down stories of similar caskets and dolls turning up in the area deep into Edinburghs past, some stretching back to a time when bodysnatchers turned into brutal killers.As Rebus and Clarke delve deeper and deeper into these perilous and obscure worlds, ancient and modern evils begin to converge and soon Rebus finds hes besieged by an impenetrable mass of secrets, lies, and deadly deceit that only he can make sense of.