The Black Book (42 page)
Authors: Ian Rankin
‘
Despite being English, there was something of the Scottish Protestant in Siobhan Clarke
.’ What does this mean, and is this perhaps why she and Rebus get on? What distinction does Rebus make between a Protestant work ethic and Calvinist guilt?
How does Siobhan feel that Rebus draws one into a case?
Why does Rebus find his visit to Auntie Ena so touching?
Big Ger Cafferty recognises that there are similarities between him and Rebus; why does Rebus not see this? How does Big Ger manipulate the meeting he and Rebus have?
What effect is Rebus’s behaviour having on his relationship with Patience?
Where does Rebus stand on the potential of ‘rehabilitation’ for offenders?
‘
The bullets shook in the box like a baby’s toy
.’ How does this simile work? And how does Rebus justify to himself the fact that he has acquired a gun?
Even though his faith is different, Rebus visits the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Hell (Help) where he has his first meeting with an unnamed Catholic priest who will reappear in later books. What does Rebus find so thought-provoking about the conversation?
AN ORION EBOOKFirst published in Great Britain in 1993 by Orion Books.
First published in ebook form in 2008 by Orion Books.
This updated ebook published in 2011 by Orion Books.
Copyright © John Rebus Limited 1993
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
The right of Ian Rankin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 0767 5
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