John Rebus is investigating a crime from World War Two: A war criminal, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of French people, is supposed to have hid in Edinburgh since the end of the war. But Rebus is also drawn into a battle of different gangs in the city, and everything becomes personal when his daughter has an accident that might be connected to it.

I must say that to me this was the best Rebus book so far. All the strands of the story were equally gripping, and I enjoyed the style and atmosphere so much. Usually I am not a fan of the plots involving the Scottish gangsters and too many police persons from the different stations, but while it was still a bit hard to not loose track of who was who, it was easier than in the previous novels and did not distract from the plot. What a superb crime novel! I hope to continue with the series soon! ( )

El joven delincuente Tommy Telford ha llegado a Edimburgo dispuesto a barrer del mapa a Big Ger Cafferty, un capo del crimen organizado que está cumpliendo condena gracias al inspector Rebus. Cuando se desate la guerra entre ambas bandas, Rebus se las verá con la mafia rusa, con la Yakuza, con el servicio de inteligencia británico y hasta con un excriminal nazi. ( )

Los Jardines Colgantes de Babilonia... El ahorcamiento de cuatro aldeanos franceses en la Segunda Guerra Mundial... El ahorcamiento de un anciano en un cementerio escocés... Hechos aparentemente aleatorios vinculados a un hombre...
El inspector John Rebus está enterrado bajo una pila de papeleo generado por sus investigaciones sobre un presunto criminal de guerra, y sus supervisores inmediatos están más que felices de tenerlo escondido en un lugar tranquilo durante varios meses. Sin embargo, la creciente disputa entre el advenedizo Tommy Telford y la pandilla de Big Ger Cafferty pronto le da a Rebus una cláusula de escape. Se sae que Telford tiene estrechos vínculos con un hombre apodado Mr. Ping Eyes, un gángster brutal que dirige un lucrativo negocio que trae refugiadas chechenas a Gran Bretaña para trabajar como prostitutas. Y cuando Rebus toma bajo su protección a una prostituta bosnia angustiada, le da una razón personal para asegurarse de que Telford tome el camino correcto fuera de la ciudad. En cuestión de días, la hija de Rebus es víctima de un atropello y fuga demasiado profesional, y Rebus sabe que no hay nada que no haga para detener al principal sospechoso, Tommy Telford, incluso si eso significa llegar a un acuerdo con el demonio.

Decent Rebus. Plot strains a bit, too much of the international Yakuza stuff. Rebus not quite filled out as a character, still doing the annoying music-reference thing as a crutch for personality. ( )

There’s a gang war brewing in Edinburgh, even though Ger Cafferty is behind bars, thanks to DI John Rebus; a young newcomer from Paisley is determined to take over Ger’s territory, and he has no qualms about bringing in representatives of both the Russian Mafia and the Yakuza. In the meantime, Rebus is assigned to look into the possible presence in Edinburgh for some 50 years of a Nazi war criminal. But all of those puzzles fade away when his daughter Sam is struck by a hit-and-run driver and left in what the doctors won’t yet call a coma…. This is the ninth book in the Rebus series, and it brings together some threads from earlier novels: the return of Patience in Rebus’s life, his struggles with maintaining his sobriety with the help of his friend Jack Morton, Sam’s move to Edinburgh and what it means for Rebus and his ex-wife, in addition to his increasingly compromised position with crime boss Cafferty. Published in the late 1990s, there are references to world events of that time, particularly the conflict in Bosnia, which help keep the story rooted to its time, but one need not be conversant with all of the global political complexities to enjoy this as a hard-boiled crime novel; recommended. ( )