Watchman

Watchman is an early novel by Ian Rankin, creator of Detective Rebus, set in the world of the secret service spies (Watchers) and the IRA bombing campaign in London. Following an apparent blunder on a simple mission at the start of the story, the central character of the story is an experienced Watcher who finds himself sent to Northern Ireland to carry out what purports to be a simple observing task but ends up being anything but. With his life very much under threat from unexpected areas he is forced to forge an expected alliance of sorts with an IRA terrorist and then uses this alliance to uncover the truth behind a web of corruption and betrayal within the service.

Parts of this story race along with really high intensity, particularly the section describing the immediate aftermath of the observation in Ireland, and are really gripping. But, overall, the story is perhaps a little convoluted and, at times, unbelievable. Still a good read though.