The Black Book cover art

The Black Book

The number one bestselling series that inspired BBC One’s REBUS

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The Black Book

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: James Macpherson
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About this listen

 When a close colleague is brutally attacked, Inspector John Rebus is drawn into a case involving a hotel fire, an unidentified body, and a long forgotten night of terror and murder.

Pursued by dangerous ghosts and tormented by the coded secrets of his colleague's notebook, Rebus must piece together the most complex and confusing of jigsaws.

But not everyone wants the puzzle solved - perhaps not even Rebus himself...

Read by James Macpherson

(p) 2011 Orion Publishing Group©1993 John Rebus Ltd Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Thriller Traditional Detectives Crime Suspense

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Critic reviews

No one in Britain writes better crime novels today
A very impressive piece of work ... This is totally involving stuff
There are few writers who can match him for imaginative, multi-layered plots ... thrilling
He is an addictive writer ... a remarkable talent
The quality of the writing and the scalpel-sharp characterisation ... make this a class act
Ian Rankin is a genius (Lee Child)
All stars
Most relevant
As always excellent, really enjoy the Rebus books. Well read and great to run to! Can get lost in the story whilst the miles go by!

Well worth a listen

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I'm working my way through all the Rebus books, so my statement might change haha

The best Rebus book so far.

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I do enjoy Ian Rankins writing of Rebus and characters. This is another complicated but exciting detective thriller.
The main characters are developing and we see a little more of them in this book.
Another Great Read.

Another Rebus Adventure

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The best Reubus book so far in my opinion. Another great read, very much enjoyed it.

loved it

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I enjoyed this overall. Top class narration and well-written. Story was slow to crank up with a lot of similar characters I found hard to keep track of at times. It may not be your favourite listen of all time, but you will have enjoyed it while it lasted. 8/10

Entertaining after a slow start

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