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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Murders at the G8 perimeter; the backdrop of the 7/7 bombings; some graphic violence
Language
Some
Strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
A lot
Very heavy drinking; Rebus's alcoholism is beginning to show serious consequences
Emotional Intensity
A lot
A man confronting his own ending in a world that is also at a turning point; the gap between the global stakes inside the fence and the personal crime outside it
What this book is about
World leaders have gathered at Gleneagles for the G8 summit. The eyes of the world are on Scotland, the Make Poverty History march is filling Edinburgh's streets, and a killer is leaving bodies near the hotel's perimeter fence — victims with connections to the people inside. On the same day as the London bombings of July 7, 2005. Ian Rankin's sixteenth Rebus novel is his most explicitly political — a portrait of power and protest and the violence that emerges in their proximity — and the one most anchored in a specific historical moment. Rebus is aging, increasingly aware that he and the job are approaching a separation he's not ready for.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
16th in the Rebus series; character arc is important by this point
7/7 bombings as backdrop
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