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Knots and Crosses cover art

Knots and Crosses

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: James Macpherson
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Publisher's Summary

'And in Edinburgh of all places. I mean, you never think of that sort of thing happening in Edinburgh, do you...?' 'That sort of thing' is the brutal abduction and murder of two young girls. And now a third is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer. And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.

©2008 Ian Rankin (P)2011 Orion Publishing Limited

What listeners say about Knots and Crosses

Average Customer Ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story - Terrible Narrator !

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes the narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Unfortunately no-one really stood out as likeable as yet. Given its the first in a series so maybe the characters need time to develop.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of James Macpherson?

Having previously listen to one of Ian Rankin's Fox novel narrated by Peter Forbes, James McPhersons narration lacks depth and subtlety. His intonations are extremely off putting and I don't know if I'll be able to get past them to enjoy another of Ian Rankin's excellent stories on Audible. McPherson tries to make his voice the star instead of Ian's characters.

Was Knots and Crosses worth the listening time?

Yes, because its an excellent story and series in the making.

Any additional comments?

I think I'll be reading the rest of the series instead of listening, all due to the narration.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not sure about this series yet

I thought this book lacked depth of characters, I would have liked the story to focus a little more on the girls who were abducted both on their back story and means of abduction, I think this book was supposed to be a introduction to the main character but it wouldn't have hurt to evolve more of the story as this was quite a short book and also as a audio book I found it hard to distinguish between the Scottish accents, they all sounded the same to me, its a shame because I heard it was a good series and now I'm undecided if I would buy the next book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Jo
  • 01-11-2023

Cliched, sexist, toxic masculinity-ridden writing

I regret buying this and haven’t finished it. When I saw the year it was published, the writing made sense.

SPOILER…



… one good example of the vileness is when the cop or reporter (I can’t remember which one) was thinking about how the victims were killed but not sexually assaulted and he mused about how completely pointless the killing was. I can’t recall the exact words but it was along those lines.

I’m no good woke fanatic and I abhor politically correct sentiments but the references to policemen etc were grating. I cringed at the narrator narrating the sex scenes. Cringed.

And god forbid a 40ish “heavy” woman should flirt with a male or even consider herself worthy of sex with him.

Then when he does have sex with her he has to think of other women because he’s not into overweight women.

Finally, the panicked reaction to a homosexual pass only resulted in this book showing its age.

Don’t waste your money.

I’m disappointed. I was looking for another series like the DI Ford series but this isn’t it.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Don't waste your money

Ridiculous, lazy storyline.
Unengaging characters.
Only finished because lousy weather.
Did Rankin really write this? Very disappointing.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not one of Ian’s best

I was not going to finish glad I did got better as it went along the reader did not help I found him hard to listen to perhaps a different reader would have helped.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t finish this

I have read many of the titles in this series but now need audiobooks as my sight is getting worse. I found this just doesn’t translate to this format. Long winded and failed to engage me.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

bloody brilliant!

thoroughly enjoyable listen , the first of many ian rankin books I will be listening too I suspect. true gritty scottish crime writing. very well narrated too

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The audiobook helped, just

I was struggling to read this book from my home library. I decided to buy the audiobook and listen instead. It certainly helped me get through it, but I am glad that I also had the written word at my disposal, as I went back to it a couple if times to check out what had actually been said.
I like to read series in order (at least the first few) as usually the main characters are developed here. I hope that this was worth my while for this series.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Almost made it half way

I just couldn't make myself listen past half way. It was tedious, the main character...ugh!!!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Can't see what all the fuss is about

Does it get better in future books? it would need to. I don't buy noir books to drown in character analysis.

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