''Bleeding Hearts'' is a 1994

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel ...

, the second of his novels to be published under the pseudonym Jack Harvey.

Plot summary

Michael Weston is a professional

assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

who suffers from

haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

. The wealthy father of a girl he killed by mistake years ago has sworn vengeance, hiring a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

(Hoffer) to track him down.

Background

Rankin has said that he wrote this book under the influence of

Martin Amis Sir Martin Louis Amis (25 August 1949 – 19 May 2023) was an English novelist, essayist, memoirist, screenwriter and critic. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and '' London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Mem ...

's novel ''

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

'' and that Weston was influenced by that novel's protagonist, John Self.

Reception

The novel was not much reviewed on release, but gained more attention when re-released under the name of Ian Rankin in 2006. ''Publishers Weekly'' compared it negatively to the Rebus books, whilst praising the "nonstop action, copious violence and arcane details about weaponry and forensics."

References

1994 British novels British thriller novels Novels by Ian Rankin Works published under a pseudonym Orion Books books {{1990s-crime-novel-stub