Watchman
Written by Ian Rankin
Narrated by John Lee
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Despite the Director's assurances, Miles begins his own internal investigation, to the dismay of his colleagues and even his wife. Then Miles is sent to Belfast to oversee the arrest of two suspected terrorists, a supposedly routine mission that only strengthens his darkest suspicions. Has the Director issued Miles his final assignment?
Determined to discover the truth, Miles enters a dangerous world he normally only observes-even as it threatens his life at every turn. With the riveting suspense and razor-sharp dialogue that have made him an internationally renowned bestseller, Ian Rankin examines an ordinary man forced into extraordinary circumstances, and proves why he "just keeps getting better and better" (Michele Ross, Cleveland Plain Dealer ).
From the Compact Disc edition.
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin is the worldwide #1 bestselling writer of the Inspector Rebus books, including Knots and Crosses, Let It Bleed, Black and Blue, Set in Darkness, Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, The Falls and Exit Music. He is also the author of The Complaints and Doors Open. He has won an Edgar Award, a Gold Dagger for fiction, a Diamond Dagger for career excellence, and the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to literature. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife and their two sons.
More audiobooks from Ian Rankin
Bookshop Mysteries: Five Bibliomysteries by Bestselling Authors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dangerous Women: Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bibliomysteries Volume 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Watchman
Related audiobooks
The Maid's Diary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enticing Liam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Spell of Trouble Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ten-Second Staircase Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Survivor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Common Murder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Most Novel Revenge: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bryant & May Off the Rails Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thatcher's Spy: My Life as an MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastermind: The Many Faces of the 9/11 Architect, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paying the Piper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSomeone You Know: An Unforgettable Collection of Canadian True Crime Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enemies Within: Communists, the Cambridge Spies and the Making of Modern Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wired Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homicide Is My Business: Luigi the Zip: A Hitman's Quest For Honor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cold Cases: Solved Volume 1: 18 Fascinating True Crime Cases Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Blink of an Eye: The FBI Investigation of TWA Flight 800 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Red Seal (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sanctuary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert Ludlum's The Cassandra Compact: A Covert-One Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture & Killing of America's Most Wanted Crime Boss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shock Therapy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Soldiers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDays of Drums: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Comey Gang: An Insider's Look at an FBI in Crisis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Thrillers For You
The Fury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Teacher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inmate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Guest List: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Dangerous Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: a completely gripping psychological suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Family Upstairs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silent Patient Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night She Disappeared: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turn of the Key Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfect: A Thriller That Will Grab You By Your DNA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Green Mile Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Billy Summers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fool Me Once Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Watchman
137 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This spy novel is a bit of a departure for Rankin as he introduces us to Miles Flint. Set during the IRA terrorist bombings in London, we follow a complex plot where the issues are not what they seem. Typically spy novels have convoluted plots, difficult to follow as each character hides his true motive. Whereas Rankin does play on this classical line, the story is not so obfuscated that it's impossible to follow - just enough to keep the reader interested and motivated to find out more.A nice little read
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dig out this republication of a very early Rankin novel - very well crafted and with the kind of anti-hero that other spy writers adopted while Rankin pursued the non-spy Rebus crime novels.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An early one from Rankin, a standalone spy novel written between writing the first and second Rebus novels. As it's the first book by Rankin I've read, I can't say how it compares with his series or later work, but I found it an enjoyable read in its own right. It was written in 1988 and is very much a period piece, not least because the setting is London during an IRA bombing campaign. The titular Watchman is a member of MI5's Watcher Service. His job is to do just that -- watch people and note where they go, who they talk to and what they do. A watching brief goes wrong and someone is killed. Miles gets a large part of the blame, and a shift to a punishment operation. But there's something slightly off about the scenario, and Miles suspects that there might be a mole. With retirements and promotions due in the upper ranks, the upper ranks don't want a scandal, and Miles is offered a "last chance" assignment -- in Belfast. It's clearly intended to force him to resign quietly, but Miles is too stubborn. And so he finds himself tipped from his quiet role of professional voyeurism into a far more violent and dangerous game.It's definitely got the feel of an early work by a good writer. The characterisations are solid and the plot draws you in, but there were a couple of places where I had a major suspension of disbelief problem, and they were key elements of the plot. So a little disappointing part way through after a good start, but still a satisfying ending. Probably not a keeper for me, but I'm glad to have read it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A departure from the Inspector Rebus line of novels. The Watchman is about a British MI6 agent (kinda of like the CIA) whose job it is to go on stakeouts. Normally he's good at his job but recently he's been distracted and finds himself on the other side of the lense. Like all of Rankin's crime novels this one is a very compelling enjoyable read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ian Rankin wrote this book just after his first Rebus book was published. However this book is a stand-alone spy novel which was first published in 1988. This copy is the paperback reissued in 2004. I had been looking for a copy for quite a while and nabbed it when I saw it for sale at the Friends of the Library book sale. Miles Flint is a spy with "the firm" which I believe refers to MI5. He is part of the Watchmen section so he never does anything like James Bond; he mostly just sits and watches. He and a few others have been watching an Arab who is suspected of being a contract killer but the Arab gives them the slip and later that night an Israeli attache is killed. Flint thinks someone in the firm tipped off the Arab and that means that someone is a double agent. So he starts making some discrete enquiries but maybe he wasn't as discrete as he thought because people he consulted disappear from the firm. London is in the throes of an IRA bombing campaign. Soon Flint and others are watching a house with four Irish citizens who may be involved. At the same time Flint has discovered that his wife and a friend also in the firm have been meeting in secret. Flint moves out and into the house where they are conducting their watching activities. And then the operation is shut down because it doesn't seem to be producing any results. Before Flint can even find a new place to live he is sent to Belfast to witness an arrest of a couple of the people believed to be making the bombs. There, in the Emerald Isle, things really go to hell. This was a gripping read and if I didn't love the Rebus books so much maybe I would wish that Rankin would write more spy novels.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was an interesting early book written by Ian Rankin that he was planning during his honeymoon! At first moving along quite gently and you are trying to work out who is behind things and why, but when it moves to Northern Ireland and Ireland it really takes off, grabs you by the threat and doesn't let you go until the end. Also one or two good links in the book to the Rebus series. Very glad I read it, and I think he would write some more espionage books.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Probably the wrong book to start my exploration of the extensive Ian Rankin ouevre as I believe it's not typical. Nevertheless there is plenty of intrigue and drama in MI5 and Irish Troubles to keep one reading right through. There are hints of a writer-in-the-making. I look forward to finding those hints fulfilled in later books by Rankin.