A fairly adequate thriller which I'd likely have rated higher had it been by a different author: from Ian Rankin, though, I tend to expect something that leaves most other thrillers in the dust, and this doesn't really do that.A hitman realizes that whoever commissioned his latest job was trying to set him up, so, with the daughter of his chief weapons supplier, he goes on the run from the cops and from Hoffer -- the fat US PI who's been on his tail all these years -- but also on the track of whoever was responsible for the trap. The trail takes him to the Washington State headquarters of an obscure but strangely wealthy cult, and into the sights of an extraordinarily vicious intelligence-services operative.What's interesting is that the narrative allows the hitman to tell his own part of the tale in the first person (in very approximately every other chapter), while the third-person telling in the intervening chapters mainly focuses on Hoffer; further, the hitman, a mass murderer, becomes a far more sympathetic character than the supposed good guy. The novel's skewed morality works pretty well, and does distinguish it from the herd of standard airport thrillers; unfortunately, Bleeding Hearts includes also various of the traits that can make those thrillers so dull (the fascination with lovingly acronymed weapons, the tedious descriptions of the minutiae of the characters' actions [the coffee was good, the coffee was bad, the coffee was hot, the coffee was lukewarm, the coffee came in a Rupert Bear mug], etc.), and the denouement had me curling my lip with disbelief.Overall, then, I felt as if a five-star restaurant had served me a three-star meal: not too shabby a meal, but it suffered because falling so far short of my expectations.
Started out very promising until the most interesting character is eliminated. This is not a spoiler - happens on page one. We soon learn more about her at the beginning of the book, enough to find her a welcome character. Subsequently the loss of her character is not something the rest of the story can make up for since it is ridden with predictable gender cliches. However, there is one quote from the book that made up for everything. The boorish and selfish american PI Leo Hoffer explains why everyone should be nice to children: “He liked kids on principle, the principle being that a day would come when he’d be old and they’d be in their prime. He might need their help then. He wouldn’t be able to smack them in the head or pull his knife on them. You had to have respect for the future, otherwise it might kick away your stick and punch your dentures down your throat.”
Do You like book Bleeding Hearts (2006)?
When you think of cops and robbers, you usually think of stories told from one side; the cops, right, because they're always thought of as 'the good guys'. Bleeding Hearts isn't like that. The two main characters are a hired assassin, who is also a hemophiliac, and a self-absorbed, drug-using private eye. It's somewhat off-putting and brutal at times, but if you can get past the initial characterizations, this is an interesting read. But try not to go into this with any preconceived ideas, because if you do you will be disappointed.
—Barry Martin Vass
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2046244.html[return][return]Most of this is excellent, a tale of a specialist assassin who happens also to have a milder form of h�mophilia, trying to find out who organised his latest hit, and of a private detective hired to find and kill him for a previous assignment. The detail of pursuit around the UK and USA, getting entangled in a nasty cult with links to spooky circles in Washington, is very good. But unfortunately I was completely unconvinced by the twist-in-the-tail resolutions of both main plot strands, which spoiled what was otherwise a very enjoyable read.
—Nicholas Whyte
Michael Weston, Sniper Agent (D-MAN "Demolition Man' After taking his shot, he explodes something to divert attention.) Leo Hoffer, PI in pay of former Senator. His daughter was killed by Weston in error.Max Harrison, Arms dealer in rural England. Father of Belinda Harrison. She takes up with Weston, after her father is murdered and beheaded.Spike, Texas Arms dealer who helps Bel and D-Man. He supplies the artillery, and does it for the Trans Am that Bel and Weston are driving. (Spike calls him 'Wild West')DISCIPLES OF LOVE, Cult which was mistakenly funded by CIA dollars, Five Million.Kline, Rogue CIA agent who is trying to stop mistake from becoming knownEleanor Ricks, Journalist who D-MAN shoots, but somebody had tipped off the police(SPOILER: She did it to facilitate her own suicide, and try to find out, and expose, the funding of THE DISCIPLES OF LOVE)This was an interesting novel, and not at all like the John Rebus series by the author. I like this novel, and the Rebus collection as well.
—Ken
