I've always been curious about the Inspector Rebus series. The Flood is not one of the books in the series but the first novel by the same author. I kept in mind that Ian Rankin wrote this while he was still a student in his 20s, so I didn't expect much from it. Rankin also made it clear in the introduction that this book is not a crime or thriller novel, but simply a book about "the perils and pitfalls of growing up".
Mary Miller's childhood background was introduced in the first part of the book. The incidents which lead to her seclusion from the community were interestingly narrated. The chapters ended with the birth of Sandy and the mystery of who was Sandy's real father.
The second part of the book mainly told the story of Sandy's adolescence and how had his mother coped over the years. It was a rather long read, with lengthy descriptions of less significant incidents. Rian, Sandy's crush (or girlfriend) was later introduced.
More suspense grew in the third part of the book. Questions and conflicts reached their peaks and the author unravelled the unsurprising truth about Sandy's father. I found it unsurprising as it was not difficult to guess since the man's character was described a lot prior to the revelation. The twist in the story was a good one, nevertheless.
Rankin managed to describe well the conditions of living in a small village community—with judgements and gossips going around even in churches, the mindsets of young men who refuse to be more ambitious, and difficulties of the older generation to embrace changes in their community.
I would have to agree with the other reviewers who said that Rankin used many odd similes throughout the story. I would have listed them down if I hadn't been lazy. The abrupt ending was also a bit of a disappointment. Overall it was not a bad book but it wasn't something that I would want to reread either. I would still want to try reading Rankin's other books to see how much he has improved since 1984.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
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