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Witch Hunt (2015)

Witch Hunt (2015)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Series
Rating
3.58 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0752877313 (ISBN13: 9780752877310)
Language
English
Publisher
orion books

About book Witch Hunt (2015)

A decent enough spy thriller that becomes better once the individual spy hunters start developing separate personalities, but nothing out of this world fantastic. Witch--an elusive terrorist who is linked to a string of bombings and assassinations by the barest of hints--is an engaging, enigmatic character that eventually falls flat due to the discovery of her ultimate motive. The team tasked with hunting her down are typical archetypes (the new guy looking to prove himself, the smartass, the veterans looking for closure in the case, etc), but are handled decently enough.The real problem I had with the narrative is that so much of it hinges on the fact that Witch is a woman who is so mysterious!and elusive! due to her ability to (gasp!) adopt a range of disguises and change her appearance and posture at a whim so that no one is ever entirely sure whether or not they are looking at her. Because--obviously--no man could ever change the way he looks with wigs or clothing or different postures. Ever. It's just not possible. At least not in Rankin's world.I would have liked it much more had the stakes been higher at the ending instead of Witch trying to resolve her Mommy and Daddy issues, and had Witch and Elder had more interactions together, or at least more of a pursuit at the end. The conclusion was just too much of a letdown on too many levels for me to rate this any more than 2 stars.

A book on terrorism by Ian Rankin. The book starts with the sinking of two ships along the channel, one on the French side and one on the British side by a lone female anarchist who has been labelled as "The Witch" by the British Intelligence. The secret agencies in Britain start their investigation. Before they can figure out much an Arab banker is murdered.This brings into picture a key character who is a retried officer. His daughter has been killed in a terror attack plausibly launched by The Witch. He has encountered the Witch in an earlier investigation which he had taken into his hands and hand failed. He is brought back from retirement to support the rookies in charge of the investigation. This character bears a resemblance to John Rebus in that he is a nonconformist.The target seems to be one of the several heads of state who are expected to converge on London for a conference.The book covers investigation on both sides of the channels with a little romance thrown in between rookie the secret agents from both sides. The Witch leads them on a wild goose chase, but finally is caught trying to get even for a personal reason.

Do You like book Witch Hunt (2015)?

I picked this up from my bookshelf after picking up John Deaver's THE EMPTY CHAIR when I checked that I have read this already.I have fallen in love with Rankin's writing and this has not failed me. This particular book is good because it introduces a character that has no experience in police work but found the link that connects several incidents that involves the Witch.This book is 'commenting' that police footwork is much better than relying too much on technology. The old schooler showing the newbies that's how it should be done. Love that but then am a traditionalist.I just love this book that I ended up sleeping at 3am to finish the book. The camaraderie between the major players were wonderful and I felt so sad when I finished the last page. Especially when one of them was jealous of the other: "... is he your protege?"I wonder if this is the first of a series. I just love to see how the relationships blossomed for them all.
—Zarina

as i've found with ian rankin before... i enjoy his random stories rather than his inspector rebus novels. here it's no different. don't get me wrong as some of the rebus books are good! it's just this other story for instance has a broader range of characters and seems to be even better thought out plot-wise than usual. i thought the character of dominique... the french girl that rankin created was a great character. the idea of a female assassin as well... the characters were really thought through in depth. yes, really good book! i thought greenleaf was a similar character to rebus anyway... tbh, you just got a bit less of a dose of that type of character in this book as there were alot more protagonist characters. i've just said character a million times or so havent i?
—Sanity Assasin

Over the last 20 years, Ian Rankin has not lost his edge. Yes, you have to pay attention, but his thrillers will keep you turning pages. In this exciting book, many law enforcement agencies in several countries are desperately trying to find as assassin known as 'witch '. She is female, attractive and very clever. Is she just an assassin for hire, or does she have a political agenda?? She has been the obsession of Dominic Elder, a retired British spy master. And she is well aware of Dominic and, in fact, he may be her next target !! Many of the top security agencies are racing to determine her next assignment. A big international conference is about to take place in London and it makes sense that her next target is going to attend. Somehow the hunt for ' witch' is personal to Elder. They have clashed in the past and they may faceoff again at the London International conference. If you are a fan of the English thriller , this book should be on your must read this. After the era of PD James, Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth George, the English tradition is carried forward by Ian Rankin and Charles Todd......enjoy !
—Stephen

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