Watchman by
Ian Rankin
hbk out December 03
Published by Orion
at £14.99
This is a re-issue of an early Ian Rankin, first published in 1988, the second of his books
after the launch of his first Rebus story. It has an interesting retrospective introduction by
the author, which confirmed this reviewer's immediate opinion that he was strongly
influenced by Graham Greene and John le Carre. In fact, much of Watchman reads like a
le Carre Smiley-Circus book, with Watchers, endless departmental intrigues and an aged
Director being jostled by a ruthlessly ambitious Deputy.
The structure of the book also has the stamp of le Carre, in that there are multiple
apparently disconnected episodes, which the reader knows will all come cleverly together
towards the end. To be frank, the author does not manage it quite so well as the master of
spy novels, but this was an early book, when the virtually unemployed Rankin, fresh
from university, had not yet reached his present well-deserved literary eminence.
The anti-hero in Watchman is Miles Flint, a middle-aged and unambitious surveillance
agent in some covert branch of MI5. His marriage to Sheila is stagnant, to say the least -
partly due to the fact that he spends most of his life, including anti-social hours, in boring
and usually fruitless observation of suspects. Much of the rest of time, he seems to spend
in cafes and bars with colleagues, to avoid going home. These other men are inveterate
gossips and plotters concerned with the internal machinations of their department, mainly
revolving around promotion, finding a suspected mole and the ambitions of Partridge, the
Deputy Director, to unseat the almost senile boss.
During an IRA bombing campaign in London, the team is watching a suspected cell in
the suburbs and also keeping tabs on a Arab in Knightsbridge hotel. Flint cocks up the
latter job and an Israeli is assassinated, though he suspects that a departmental leak
sabotaged his surveillance. Later, the IRA watch is called off, leading to another bombing
and Miles Flint is again made the scapegoat. Sent to Ulster ostensibly to witness an
arrest, he becomes the target and after some rather unbelievable adventures, turns up
again in London to turn the tables against his persecutors.
The writing, even in such an early Rankin, is impeccable and presages why he later
became so successful. It is a good read, especially for espionage buffs, but all through I
felt aware that this was a bit of a le Carre copycat.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Watchman by
Ian Rankin
