I have been off thrillers for a while. They are nearly as fantastic as fantasy tales. The "never-make-a-mistake-except-to-take-story-forward" strategy bores me to death. The gore can be a put off too.
I picked a book by Ian Rankin - The Complaints. This was my first book by the author and for some reason I missed the "Number One Bestseller" on top - a sure sign that it probably wasn't. Then the summary behind also didn't tune me in to the fact it was a cop story and so a series of lucky breaks that pass off for brilliance.
As I do with all books, I decided to give it a chance. And I was hooked. Mainly because, the cop is a human being - surprise, surprise! He has a family - a father and a sister, and he is not lucky with women - unlike our thriller heroes who only have to look and have women falling at their feet. There is a setting, the good and the bad and the shades of gray. The hero is caught on backfoot, and he fumbles through. Of course, lucky breaks are a must but he is almost always caught on the wrong.
The overall story is told very interestingly. Of course, for a second, I also mistook this to be the original for the Old Fox series, since the cop is called Fox. But that is a German series, apparently.
Overall, my thumbs up for this one. Maybe I will read another of his.
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