The book that began Ian Rankin's phenomenal career.
From the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES


'The themes that would come to dominate the Rebus books are already here ... the blurred boundaries between good and evil; the pull of superstition and myth; the difficulties in escaping and resolving one's past; the emotional complexities of the male of the species; and, not least, a good mystery' TIME OUT

Mary Miller had always been an outcast. Burnt in a chemical mix as a young girl, sympathy for her quickly faded when the young man who pushed her in died in a mining accident just two days later. From then on she was regarded with a mixture of suspicion and fascination by her God-fearing community.

Now, years later, she is a single mother, caught up in a faltering affair with a local teacher. Her son, Sandy, has fallen in love with a strange homeless girl. The search for happiness isn't easy. Both mother and son must face a dark secret from their past, in the growing knowledge that their small dramas are being played out against a much larger canvas, glimpsed only in symbols and flickering images - of decay and regrowth, of fire and water - of the flood.

The book that began Ian Rankin's phenomenal career.

About the Author
Ian Rankin is the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage and the screen. Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK's most prestigious award for crime fiction. In the United States, he has won the celebrated Edgar Award and been shortlisted for the Anthony Award. In Europe, he has won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the German Deutscher Krimipreis. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from universities across the UK, is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature, and has received an OBE for his services to literature. Website: IanRankin.net X: @Beathhigh Facebook: IanRankinBooks

Reviews
The themes that would come to dominate the Rebus books are already here in embryonic form: the blurred boundaries between good and evil; the pull of superstition and myth; the difficulties in escaping and resolving one's past; the emotional complexities of the male of the species; and, not least, a good mystery * TIME OUT *
A must for lovers of Rankin * GOOD BOOK GUIDE *
Full of secrets and revelations, with an atmospheric sense of time and place, it has Rankin's signature darkness. A young man's book - and the start of something big * CHOICE *
Rankin's talent is clear ... The Flood's use of Scottish mythology is clever. The depiction of the single mother at the book's heart is often finely drawn and always sympathetic ... There is, too, a real tension to its closing chapters -- John Connolly * IRISH TIMES *



Book Information
ISBN 9780752883694
Author Ian Rankin
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 239g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 133mm * 22mm