Meh
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It's not a bad book, it's just not that great, and it being Rankin, you do expect something far more than half-decent. And that's all this book is really, half-decent. Compared to most of the Rebus books, it's very thin on the ground plot-wise. Most of the characters are fairly forgettable; though the premise of the heist is not without interest. It's still the page turner we have come to expect from Rankin, but you get the feeling you know what is coming on the next page. To some extent this is true of any author you get used to reading - you get to know the style and way they tell a story. You knew with the Rebus novels that the loose ends would tie up at the end somehow, but not much of an idea how. In this book, the only suspense at the end is over who will be screwing who.
My take on this is it is just an overlong Fredrick Forsyth short story - it should be 200 words shorter, sold in a volume.
And is it just me, or is anyone else really bored of reading about Edinburgh yet?
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Disappointing
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Since finishing this book, I've been wondering why it is I was so disappointed. The story is good, it goes without saying that it is well written, but I struggled to finish it. I think a problem was that I just didn't care about any of the characters or what happens to them. I had been looking forward to this book, despite it being a novel without Rebus, but it just didn't work for me.
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A waste of an otherwise perfectly good Sunday....
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Ian Rankin is an excellent writer and has proved this repeatedly throughout the Rebus series, but 'Doors Open' is simply boring and left me with a feeling of having wasted most of my Sunday. Not at any time did I feel a connection with any of the (not so bright) characters, and the plot was a dead giveaway.
I don't expect John Rebus to reappear but he was so much more entertaining and sympathetic than Mike Mackenzie, 'the self-made man with too much time on his hands and a bit of the devil in his soul' as the dust jacket says. Give me a break, please.
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1 Door Opens...
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I think the reviewers who gave this one star are a little harsh, but I can understand the frustration when you consider the expectations of the author of the Rebus stories. The pace of the story attempts to keep the reader on their toes but makes the characters somewhat 2 dimensional. The main protagonist seems to be a confusing mix of a playboy and wannbe hard man but doesn't seem to really be compelling enough as a character to care about. As the plot progresses, rather obviously it must be said, the ending does become rather predictable, however the ending itself is a bit of an anti-climax and the biggest puzzle to me was the romantic interest of the central character, who after geting involved with evil criminals, taking a lead part in a serious crime and nearly getting her killed, seems to finally fall for him. Like a few other areas some things just weren't quite neat enough to make you feel like you have read a slick, faced paced and innovative crime book. However the overall idea is a good one and some of the characters have their good moments which improves the overall enjoyment. Just don't expect too much if you are a Rebus fan.
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Boring, yawn, boring
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What a disappointment this book was. I wish I'd read the reviews on here first, but being a Rankin fan I just naturally picked the book off the shelf and looked forward to reading it. Mistake. It's a very long time since I've been daft enough to buy a book I couldn't finish. I'll make sure I read someone else's reviews before I buy another one.
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