Watchman Audiobook

" Early Rankin and, therefore, perhaps least adroit. No Rebus and most of the action takes place in London and Ireland. A spy novel where the watcher has to come to the forefront and become more active. What interested me the most? Rankin started writing this on his honeymoon. "

" I really want to be an Ian Rankin fan but it just hasn't happened yet. I couldn't really get into this book. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I took the time to read more than a few pages at a time. There were a lot of characters and a lot of different things going on and I just couldn't keep it all straight. I'm going to give Rankin another try and hopefully my opinion will be different. "

" Having been introduced to Rankin years ago by fellow book-club lovers of detective fiction, I've been working my way through the Rebus series. It was fun to read this early, non-series book and find, to my surprise, that it was as engrossing as the Rebus books usually are. While I"m not usually a fan of espionage-type mysteries, this one focuses more on characters than spy gimmicks and read like a true Rankin find(though I did miss Rebus!). "

" Rankin is out of his element. You can intuit his intelligence, but he did right to let spy thrillers to LeCarre. "

" Passed the time. Pleasant story, but dated, which I knew going in. Interesting to read seemingly contemporary espionage with no cell phones and no internet. And the plot hinges on a potential "scandal" that seems rather tame by today's POV. I ended up finding the premise--long-time observer drawn into action--more interesting than the plot. "

" Good pace, interesting plot, I think that the short length of the book manages to hide its weaknesses. "

" just couldn't get into this Rankin book...Flint is just no Rebus "

" Very young Ian Rankin and it shows, nothing at all like his later, great Rebus novels. OK for the beach. "

" Nearly gave up on this one early on as it's nothing like the usual Rankin I was expecting. However the other day when I had nothing to read,I picked it up again out of desperation and persevered to the end. It did get better as it went on and the end was pretty good. "

" Rankin definitely has a very peculiar style of writing but so far (this is the second book of his I read), I think his plots lack punch and entertainment "

" In the first half there is trouble sorting out who is who among the characterless spies. If the reader makes the effort to do this the last half is worth the effort. "

" I should have paid attention to Candace, because its not very good so far. I thought this was the first "Rebus" book, and wanted to go back and start the series from the beginning -- but I was wrong. Don't like much about this book so far, and I'm thinking I might not even finish it. "

" Good characters, and an easy read. Not such a clear ending, but good overall. "

" This is one of Ian Rankin's early spy novels. It was a little different to the Rebus books but I liked it alot. I liked the characters and the suspense. Also the fact that it was set in London, Belfast and Edinburgh not just London. This is a must read for Rankin fans. "

" Early Rankin. An MI-5 watchman who must develop new survival skills to when he's faced with death along with two IRA bomb makers. Good read. "

" This is an early book by the author of the Rebus books. "

" I could not get into this one. Perhaps dialog that seemed out of place to me distracted from the focus and took some urgency away from the story. "

" Miles Flint, a government spy, is having difficulties. Something is wrong at the agency that has nothing to do with Miles errors. Bad guys seem to know more than he does. "

" A good read, typical spy novel, only a small book so it was easy to read and digest in a short time. "

" Not very good: the writing is immature even though the concept is fine. I think he's gotten better since. "

" this is a good novel "

" Miles Flint, a government spy, is having difficulties. Something is wrong at the agency that has nothing to do with Miles errors. Bad guys seem to know more than he does. "

" A good read, typical spy novel, only a small book so it was easy to read and digest in a short time. "

" Interesting enough story. Good charcters. Lots of double crossings. A good little spy novel. "

" It's kind of like if James Bond were just a normal guy. I enjoyed it as something different, plus it's set in the UK, but I couldn't keep all of the characters straight. "

" I love Ian Rankin, but in this one I needed to take notes to keep all of the characters straight, and there is so much pipe laying that the action of the book doesn't really start until halfway through. "

" My first by Rankin. I liked it and plan to check out more of his books. "

" Rankin is out of his element. You can intuit his intelligence, but he did right to let spy thrillers to LeCarre. "

" Very young Ian Rankin and it shows, nothing at all like his later, great Rebus novels. OK for the beach. "

" Early Rankin. An MI-5 watchman who must develop new survival skills to when he's faced with death along with two IRA bomb makers. Good read. "

" One of Rankin's early books. Quite different from the Rebus series, but ok. "

" An early Rankin, not up to his Rebus stuff, but enjoyable reading nonetheless "