Publishers Weekly
02/03/2020
First published in 1990 and long out of print, this sophomoric thriller from bestseller Rankin (the John Rebus series) opens at a ground tracking station in England, where technician Paul Vincent notices that Zephyr, Britain’s latest spy satellite, has gone offline. In the U.S., the space shuttle Argos crashes, killing everyone aboard except for a British astronaut, Maj. Mike Dreyfuss. Could there be a connection? To keep the Zephyr fiasco quiet, the Brits seclude Vincent in a hospital, where he’s soon on his deathbed; he manages a final utterance to his friend Martin Hepton: “Argos.” Hepton subsequently realizes he’s being followed and his life is in danger. Meanwhile, Dreyfuss is recovering in a hospital in the States, but is also being kept out of the public eye. Decent prose doesn’t compensate for poor plotting. In a preface, Rankin admits the novel had problems, but finds some resonance with current events. That’s a thin and unconvincing justification for this reissue, which does the author’s reputation no favors. This one’s strictly for Rankin completists. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"[A] techno-action-thriller with its ripped-from-today's-headlines plot...uncanny."—Richard Lipez, The Washington Post
"Rankin fans . . . will welcome this reprinting of a state-of-the-art, high-tech international thriller from 1990. . . . A fast-paced blast from the past . . . and (who knows?) maybe the immediate future as well."—Kirkus Reviews
Praise for In a House of Lies
"There's no one like Ian Rankin for bringing us right into the world of detectives."—Tana French
"Ian Rankin is a genius."—Lee Child
MARCH 2020 - AudioFile
Ian Rankin’s narration of this novel’s insightful introduction helps set the scene for listeners being transported into a world of spies. Fear and mistrust are pervasive in an alternative Europe at the end of the 1980s. Narrator Julian Rhind-Tutt helps to bring the wide cast of characters alive and build the tension as the plot develops. His voicings of the key protagonists are strong and packed full of individuality. A standout character is Martin Hepton, who discovers that covert action, not scientific error, has caused the disappearance of a European satellite. Rhind-Tutt also creates a wonderful adversary in his portrayal of Harry, the female assassin. The result is a thrilling and fun presentation of the novel Ian Rankin at one time wanted to disown! K.J.P. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-12-29
Rankin fans ready for a break from Inspector John Rebus' inimitably dour Edinburgh (In a House of Lies, 2019, etc.) will welcome this reprinting of a state-of-the-art high-tech international thriller from 1990.
As the U.S. prepares to pull all its troops from Europe in a prophetic "America First" move, two apparently unrelated incidents provoke panic among the Brits who face abandonment by their partners in the historic special relationship. One is the period of 3 minutes and 40 seconds during which the satellite Zephyr goes dark, losing all contact with its monitors on the ground. Although it soon returns from the blackness, controller Paul Vincent is deeply shaken by the interruption. He shares his fears with fellow monitor Martin Hepton, and soon both of them are up to their floppy drives in danger. The other problem is more serious from the get-go: The space shuttle Argos crashes to Earth in the middle of a heretofore routine flight, killing all five members of the American crew and leaving only Maj. Michael Dreyfuss, the sole British participant, alive. Like Vincent, Dreyfuss instantly senses that the failure of the craft on which he's hitched a ride is only the tip of a much larger iceberg. And as subsequent events will quickly show, the two incidents are indeed only the most obvious nodes of an international—or, more precisely, post-national—web of intrigue. Picking out the leading malefactors from a cast that includes military officers, career diplomats, agents of the American and British secret services, and the odd professional assassin who all look equally untrustworthy is less rewarding than uncovering the deep-laid and remarkably simple plan behind all the shenanigans. A bonus in this new edition is Rankin's refreshingly candid Introduction, which emphasizes the vicissitudes of his early career in a way that will either inspire wannabe writers or lead them to despair.
A fast-paced blast from the past…and (who knows?) maybe the immediate future as well.
