Watchman (novel)

{{Short description|1988 crime novel by Ian Rankin}} {{for|the 1961 novel by Davis Grubb|The Watchman (Grubb novel)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book | name = Watchman | title_orig = | translator = | image = File:Ian Rankin Watchman.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Ian Rankin | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = Scotland | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = [[Thriller (genre)|Thriller]] | publisher = [[Bodley Head]] | release_date = 1988 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print ([[hardcover]]) | pages = 224 pp | isbn = 0-370-31208-2 | oclc = 17439591 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}

'''''Watchman''''' is a 1988 [[novel]] written by [[Ian Rankin]], and is one of the author's earliest works. Originally published in 1988, it was reissued with a new introduction by Rankin in 2004.

It also exists as an audiobook, read by [[Roger Allam]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Reviews by Karen |date=2004-01-25 |title=Watchman by Ian Rankin; Absolute Friends by John le Carre |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/watchman-by-ian-rankin-absolute-friends-by-john-le-carre-mm9lvnd6tsz |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Plot summary==

The book tells the story of Miles Flint, a surveillance officer who works for [[MI5]].

After two high-profile operations involving Flint are compromised with deadly consequences, he is sent to [[Belfast]] to witness what he believes is going to be the arrest of some [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] men. However, after accompanying the security forces on their mission, he discovers that what has actually been planned is the [[assassination]] of the [[Irishmen]] – and with Flint having come along for the ride, he suddenly realises that his own life is at risk.

As the killings are about to be carried out, Flint stages a daring escape with the aid of one of the Irishmen, Will Collins. Then, on the run, and playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with his own side, Flint and Collins begin to piece together a lethal conspiracy which they ultimately discover goes right to the very core of the [[British Government]].

== Reception == ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' called it: "a gritty appraisal of the bomb-wielding miasma of the 1980s and a highly readable explanation of the demons that drive zealots to switch sides."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ian-rankin/watchman-2/ |title=WATCHMAN {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref>

==Connections to other Rankin books==

* Journalist [[Jim Stevens (journalist)|Jim Stevens]] who appears in this book, first appeared in ''[[Knots and Crosses]]'', the first [[Inspector Rebus]] book, which ended with him leaving Edinburgh for London; he returned to Scotland in this book and future Rebus books.

==Release details== *1988, UK, Bodley Head ({{ISBN|0370312082}}), pub. date 9 June 1988, hardback (first edition) *2003, UK, [[Orion Publishing Group|Orion]] ({{ISBN|978-0-7528-6033-6}}), hardcover (revised edition, with an introduction by the author) *2004, UK, Orion ({{ISBN|0-75285-915-3}}), pub. date 2 September 2004, paperback (revised edition)

==References== *{{cite book | title=Watchman | last=Rankin | first=Ian | publisher=Orion | year=1988 | isbn=0-7528-5915-3 }} <references/>

[[Category:1988 British novels]] [[Category:1988 English-language novels]] [[Category:Novels by Ian Rankin]] [[Category:Books about the Troubles (Northern Ireland)]] [[Category:Novels set in Belfast]] [[Category:The Bodley Head books]]