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  • The Falls

  • An Inspector Rebus Novel, Book 12
  • By: Ian Rankin
  • Narrated by: James Macpherson
  • Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (684 ratings)

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The Falls cover art

The Falls

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: James Macpherson
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Summary

A student has gone missing in Edinburgh - completely out of character. She's not just any student, though, but the daughter of extremely well-to-do and influential bankers. There's almost nothing to go on until Detective Inspector John Rebus gets an unmistakable gut feeling that there's more to this than just another runaway spaced out on unaccustomed freedom or worse.

Two leads emerge: a carved wooden doll in a toy coffin, found in the student's home village, and an Internet role-playing game. The ancient and the modern, brought together by uncomfortable circumstance and a curmudgeonly detective happier with long-playing records than digital technology. In this powerful novel, Rankin brings together past, present, and future in a terrifying duel of good - in the persons of DI Rebus and DC Siobhan Clarke - and evil.

Read by James Macpherson.

©2001 John Rebus Ltd (P)2001 W. F. Howes Ltd

What listeners say about The Falls

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Addictive

I am really enjoying this series, sometimes the plot gets a little complex for my small brain, but I can repeat a chapter and be back on track. The characters are another reason I enjoy them. The narrator or should that be reader is great also. I watched a TV episode of Rebus... not a patch on the books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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One of the bests

Did not see some of the twists and turns in this one. just love Rebus.

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brilliant

great story enjoyed other characters taking centre stage in parts. my favourite boo so far

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    5 out of 5 stars
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great listen as always

A good story as always from this author , very well read as always . what more do you need!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Ian Rankin

Excellent story as always. Recommended Can always depend on this author to come up with a good one!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

really enjoyed this book

Another Rebus winner - likeable characters, interesting plotline and a great narrator too. Will be downloading more

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Gripping hard to stop listening to

Almost impossible to press pause - great story very well read. The drama is cranked up as well the interesting and touching back stories of the characters - good and bad. Nice to be in the posh part of Edinburgh for once even though the people are just as badly behaved. Loved it

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Excellent as ever

Another detailed and interwoven masterpiece by Rankin and expertly narrated by James Macpherson as ever.

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  • CT
  • 05-08-23

So very clever!

Ian Rankin is superb as always. Interwoven plots with realistic characters. He makes the reader feel involved in the unravelling of the stories. Edinburgh and environs are major stars again.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Quests, coffins and cold case killers

Rebus and colleague ‘Shiv’ are confronted with all three in The Falls. A sinister ‘gamesmaster’ creates online puzzles and riddles - a digital breadcrumb trail which may or may not lead to the unmasking of a killer.
Then there’s the discovery of mysterious empty miniature coffins, which may or may not be linked to the disappearance of a well-off student - and a host of other deaths and missing people in the cold case files. Rebus, meanwhile, is in trouble with his bosses - not surprisingly - and is suspended. There’s a kind of romance, and he ponders selling his flat. A tabloid hack (something of a panto villain/crude stereotype) causes the problems by sparking a CID mole hunt to identity who’s been leaking confidential details to the Press. The disparate plot strands are woven together as skilfully as always, though this time credulity is stretched close to breaking-point - and the final ‘reveal’ is a little hard to swallow (and possibly fairly predictable - or at least not exactly a shock when it comes). It’s a long listen, and I was grateful that Cafferty - Rebus’s gangster nemesis - didn’t make an appearance. I find him a bore… Rebus’s erstwhile boss ‘Farmer’ Watson retires, depriving us of one of the more comedic regional accents attempted by the (always excellent and reliable) narrator. The twists and turns of the investigation, and Rebus’s run-ins with his bosses, hold the listener’s attention. The conceit of the empty coffins works well - and the concept of the online riddles hasn’t dated as badly as you might have anticipated. This is a creditable Rebus adventure but for my money under-delivers - all of the ingredients are there, or most of them, but the composite effect is a little underwhelming.

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