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    Doors Open
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    Doors Open
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    Doors Open
    Audiobook10 hours

    Doors Open

    Written by Ian Rankin

    Narrated by James Macpherson

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Three friends descend upon an art auction in search of some excitement. Mike Mackenzie-retired software mogul, bachelor and fine art enthusiast-wants something that money can't buy. Fellow art-lover Allan Cruickshank is bored with his banking career and burdened by a painful divorce. And Robert Gissing, an art professor, is frustrated that so many paintings stay hidden in corporate boardrooms, safes and private apartments. After the auction-and a chance encounter with crime boss Chib Calloway-Robert and Allan suggest the "liberation" of several paintings from the National Gallery, hoping Mike will dissuade them. Instead, he hopes they are serious.

    As enterprising girlfriends, clever detectives, seductive auctioneers and a Hell's Angel named Hate enter the picture, Ian Rankin creates a highly-charged thriller, a faced-past story of second guesses and double crosses that keep changing the picture, right until the harrowing finish.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJan 15, 2010
    ISBN9781600249334
    Unavailable
    Doors Open
    Author

    Ian Rankin

    Ian Rankin is the worldwide #1 bestselling writer of the Inspector Rebus books, including Knots and Crosses, Let It Bleed, Black and Blue, Set in Darkness, Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, The Falls and Exit Music. He is also the author of The Complaints and Doors Open. He has won an Edgar Award, a Gold Dagger for fiction, a Diamond Dagger for career excellence, and the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to literature. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife and their two sons.

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    Reviews for Doors Open

    3.5/5

    263 ratings22 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Worst book Rankin has written by a large margin. It's actually so trivial it's hard to believe that he wrote it.
    • 5/5
      Rebus is gone but the crime scene in Edinburgh goes on. And it's not just the usual criminal gangs that are pulling heists. Respectable people like an art professor and a rich software mogul and a bank executive decide that they can pull off the perfect crime. Professor Robert Gissing is about to retire but before he goes he wants to liberate some works of art that are just being warehoused by the National Gallery of Scotland. His friends Mike Mackenzie and Allan Cruickshank are intrigued but just for discussion at first. Mike is filthy rich having sold his shares in the software firm he and a friend started for lots of money. He has started collecting art but one work he will never be able to own, Monboddo's painting of his wife. Allan handles a lot of other people's money but never seems to have enough of his own and the idea of owning art that even his employer can't have intrigues him. When Mike runs into his old schoolmate Chib Calloway who is now a gangster the heist seems possible because Chib can provide the missing elements. They'll enter the warehouse during the annual Doors Open festival and walk off with 7 masterpieces. They'll switch these with 7 fakes and abandon the fakes in the getaway van. Professor Gissing will be called to authenticate the artworks and everything will be fine. Except of course it isn't. Rankin hasn't lost his touch. I read this book in about a day on vacation because I just had to know how the ending came about (we're privy to the end from the very beginning). Just because Rebus isn't around doesn't mean there aren't lots of interesting characters. D.I. Ransome is as dogged as Rebus when it comes to catching a criminal and Mike Mackenzie certainly has potential for some more action. The ending even hints that there may be more to come from that quarter.
    • 2/5
      I wish had never read this book: or better still, Ian Rankin had never written it.Then I would have continued loving Ian Rankin for his writing. But this book has changed it all. I think I need to read another Rebus novel to restore the status quo of my opinion of Ian Rankin's writing prowess.

      I discovered Ian Rankin only last year, thanks to the recommendation of a dear friend. And Ian Rankin became my favourite author from the word "go". After finishing the very first book, I had decided that I am going to read every book written by this author. Today I am regretting this decision.

      Totally disappointed in the weak plot, unconvincing premise of 3 friends coming together to commit art heist only for the love of art. Characters which are the strength in all Rankin books are mere outlines here and that is the biggest weakness. We cannot understand their motivations and fail to sympathise with them in their predicament
    • 4/5
      I found this a great read and so have been surprised to read less than brilliant reviews from other readers. Rebus on TV was my only prior knowledge of Rankin. If this is an example of his second-best writing, I have a lot to look forward to. I plan to start from book one in the Rebus series. Great, another lengthy collection to add to my "must read before I die" list, and the years are flying by.
    • 4/5
      This is not an Inspector Rebus book.Three friends without any criminal past, but all art lovers, stage a heist of valuable art from the storehouse for the Scottish Museum. They get help from a local mobster. Since the mobster had been under surveillance, the inspector is able to figure out what happened, mostly, fairly straight-on.Problem with the plot for me was the the art Professor who first proposes the job to his friends initially makes it sound like the plan is genius because no one would even know that there was any theft, but then it turns out to be another thing entirely and no one raises a question about it.
    • 4/5
      If this book had not boasted the name 'Ian Rankin', I doubt that I would have made it to page 150. The opening half is turgid, formulaic and frankly, tedious. The second portion is fascinating, up to Rankin's standard and well worth the read. I did wonder if this was a short story, or a novelette, which had been stretched.Rankin has consigned his long term detective, Rebus, to history and this opus is a fill before starting a new series based around the police complaints department. In this book, the cops take a back seat, as the robbers move to the fore. The opening is a rather standard Italian Job rip off: smooth planning and tenuous reasoning lead a group of innocents into a robbery with a small time heavy with money troubles. The second half, when the plan unravels, is much more interesting and by the end, I was thoroughly enjoying the story and, quite unusually for a crime aficionado such as myself, I did not see the twists coming: I'll say no more, as it would be a pity to spoil the conclusion.
    • 4/5
      Rankin's first post-Rebus novel, which inhabits the same Edinburgh locations, but this time with a new cast of characters, the main one being Mike Mackenzie, a retired software millionaire with time on his hands and not enough challenges. He decides to create the perfect art heist, but makes the mistake of recruiting a former school acquaintance, now a leading member of Edinburgh's crime fraternity. Good plotting keeps you turning the pages to the end.
    • 4/5
      I have thoroughly enjoyed the Rebus series over 20 years and had to read this novel. It is different to the Rebus books, lighter and less personal, but that's not a bad thing. It was a slow starter but after halfway I found it difficult to put down (always a good sign for me). I liked the characters, especially Mackenzie, although his motives for getting involved were not very believable. The ending also stretched the imagination a bit. 4 out of 5 (Rebus normally scores 4.5 to 5 for me).
    • 5/5
      Bored, too much time on his hands, too much money available, probably best describes self made Edinburgh milllionaire Mike Mackenzie. He and two other artlovers decide to take advantage of Edinburgh's annual Doors Open Day to rob the National Gallery of Scotland's warehouse of some valuable paintings.Realising they don't actually have the physical power to carry out the heist on their own, Mackenzie involves Chib Calloway, a second string Edinburgh gangster whom he just happened to go to school with.But any plan is only as strong as its weakest link. And there are lots of weak links. And Mike doesn't take into account a very alert policeman looking to collar Calloway for previous misdemeanors, a gang boss with international connections to whom Calloway owes money, and a double cross by one of their own. Just at the point when Mike is congratulating himself on getting away with it all, things begin to crumble.This is Rankin's first novel since EXIT MUSIC, in which he retired his "alter ego", D.I. Rebus. Followers were very keen to find out whether Rankin could exist without Rebus, and in the interviews that followed the release of EXIT MUSIC he was pretty coy about what Rebus' role would be in any future novels. Well, the critics are answered. There is not a sign of Rebus in DOORS OPEN.Can Rankin write stand-alones? Well, yes, he can. He hasn't really ground to a halt or lost his touch with Rebus' retirement. This is a relatively short novel by his standards, and not really so complex. There are few signs of Rankin's social conscience, and I spent of my reading time thinking it wouldn't rank as highly in my rating system as other Rankin novels in my records. I gave 5.0 to EXIT MUSIC and DOORS OPEN isn't at that level. But the last 50 pages or so pushed the rating up for me, although I didn't particularly like the gung-ho with a romantic element of the final denouement of the heist plot. But then came the Epilogue with its write your own ending element. Niot every one will like that. But it left the door nicely open ....
    • 2/5
      I do seem to struggle with Ian Rankin and I have no idea why. He should tick all the boxes for me, Crime Fiction, well written, Edinburgh setting, certain degree of humour, but time and time again I find myself struggling to retain interest & to finish the book. I recently (well a couple of months ago now) read a book of his short stories and really enjoyed them, hence having another go at one of his full length novels, but....

      So this isn't a Rebus novel, but still Edinburgh based. It centres around Doors Open Day (do they have that in England?) when various institutions open their doors to the public to let them see places they don't normally have access to. In particular, the storage facility for the National Galleries of Scotland are included in this extravaganza and so the crime is inspired: why not fake some pictures and replace the originals during a tour? What could possibly go wrong?

      The characters were well drawn and the places all recognisable to a resident, even the plot worked ok, but somehow it dragged and I suspect was a couple of chapters too long. I usually give a book 50 pages to capture my interest, it did that easily - it was around the mid section that it began to drag & I had to force myself to keep going. Once the heist took place, then it picked up. Even so,
      I didn't really care what happened: they could succeed or fail I didn't care enough about the 'crooks' or the 'cops' to be bothered about the outcome.

      Not sure whether Ian Rankin usually uses humour in his writing, but a far better exponent of comedy in Scottish Crime is Christopher Brookmyre and I love his books, so maybe I'd be better sticking to his work. My only dilema now is the Rebus books I have on Mount TBR: do I keep them and have another go, or release them for someone else, who might enjoy them, to read?

      One last thought: I'd intended to read this quickly so that I could release it on Doors Open Day at one of the venues. I failed miserably - this took me a week longer than I expected to read it. Think that probably says everything!
    • 3/5
      I usually enjoy anything that Ian Rankin writes. His long-running series featuring Inspector Rebus has been consistently good and his new series, featuring an utterly un-Rebus-like detective, is even better. So I expected quite a bit from Doors Open, a stand-alone novel. Doors Open tells the story of Mike, self-made millionaire who, having sold his company, is bored. He's started collecting art, which is fun and has made him two friends, a soon-to-retire art professor and a banker who buys art for the bank he works for. They talk about the usual things people interested in art discuss and agree that art purchased for investment and stored in vaults is an abomination. From there, there is a leap to deciding that they would be more appreciative owners and, after not being able to come up with a way to rob a bank, they come up with a cunning plan to rob a museum. This is where Rankin lost me for a while. Liberating artwork from the unappreciative mega-wealthy is one thing; stealing from the public in order to own a piece of art that can then never be shared is quite another. It turned the book from a fun crime romp into something less fun, for me, anyway. Rankin turns it around, but it took me awhile to see what he was doing. In any case, the final third of the book is brilliant in it's unraveling.
    • 4/5
      It is a wonderful humorous story. The first half is affected by the planning and organizing of the art heist. The head of the planning is a professor and he is looking for some wealthy naive gentlemen chiseller and a forger who has been found in a young student artist who is addicted to drugs. As a matter of course an other main player is a real ganster who is looking for an easy deal to solve his outstanding debts.The focus of the second part is how each taker is handling the situation and how they are stumbling deeper into their misfortune after the heist. The police stands on the verge of the events. With his cleverly asked questions DI Ransom is confusing everybody so that the solution was at least obvious.
    • 4/5
      This was a good page-turner and a very light read. Unlike the Rebus books, which I love, its point of view is that of the criminals - or more specifically Mike, the hugely successful but bored businessman. From the very beginning we are made aware that something is going to go disastrously wrong with the whole scheme. Once Mike starts to involve elements of Edinburgh's criminal underworld (hasn't he read any of Rankin's novels?) it is quite clear that he is completely out of his depth. We just don't know exactly where the weak link is.As another reviewer suggested, this is ready made movie material.Excellent reading for long train journeys!
    • 4/5
      This is the first post-Rebus novel from Ian Rankin. He moves from crime fiction to thriller with this book.The plot is simple. A rich entrepreneur is bored with his life and finds a new thrill in committing the "perfect crime", being a robbery of art from the depot of the Natonal Gallery of Scotland. From page one of the novel it is clear something goes terribly wrong.The story clearly reminds us of "The Thomas Crown Affair", and in some spots of "Reservoir Dogs". Rankin explicitly refers to both films. I also thought of The bonfire of the Vanities, with the rich guy going under and losing a lot (not everything as in Thomas Wolfe's book).It is a well written, rather slick thriller, ready to be translated into a movie. Rankin even provides the girl. But the plot line itself is a bit thin, even with the twist at the very end.And of course, there is a small reference to our friend Rebus in there.
    • 4/5
      Easy enough book to read. Mike Mackenzie is the main character he is a millionaire who is bored, he takes a likng for art. Gets in with the small art crowd in Edinburgh and also meets one of the local villians he was at school with. They rob a warehouse in Edinburgh were some old paintings are being stored. There are a few twists and turns along the way. Keeps you guessing this book. Well worth a read.
    • 3/5
      A carefully crafted heist turns into a nightmare as two friends embark in a sophisticated plot. A very slow and elaborate sophisticated plot. I did enjoy the characters, the variety in personalities, the description of the art pieces and the evolution of the story. Each piece has its place and there are no gaps left in the plot - the twists are subtle but keep the story running. The rhythm, however, is extremely slow, plodding even - there was enough material to keep me interested but not enough to keep me engrossed, and in the end, I was happy to be rid of it. A cerebral work for the even tempered reader.
    • 3/5
      A favorite author, and an interesting point of view in this mystery, but I miss Inspector Rebus.
    • 4/5
      A Rankin crime novel set in Edinburgh without Rebus? This is quite different from the Rebus novels, so don't expect Rankin's usual style or you will be disappointed. The police detective Ransome is a relatively minor character, as we follow the progress of an art heist from the point of view of one of the criminals. It's relatively light in tone, with some nice comedy of manners among the Edinburgh art set. Mike Mackenzie is a software millionaire and doesn't need money, he's mostly just bored. But he gets sucked in to a plot to swap forgeries for real artworks, and things get more and more complex and more and more dark. Especially when the local ganglord gets involved, and draws in his wide boys, and the international drug dealers' very scary debt collector...
    • 1/5
      What can I say? I love Rankin. Even tried Irn-Bru when we were in Scotland as an homage to Rebus. (Warning! Do not do this. It tastes AWFUL. No matter how much you love Rebus.) This book was a total waste. Such a disappointment.
    • 2/5
      Ian Rankin’s Doors Open is a heist-cum-caper story set in contemporary Edinburgh, and his first novel since he announced that he was not planning to write any more Rebus stories. A group of middle class academics and a banker get involved in planning and executing the ‘perfect crime’ – a plan to ‘steal’ artworks from galleries across Edinburgh whilst they’re not on public display. Like most stories of this kind, it doesn’t turn out to be as straightforward as first planned, and events soon start to spiral out of control. There’s the obligatory Rankin stock characters – the disgruntled police officer and a local small-time crook that has delusions of grandeur by believing he’s actually Edinburgh’s Mr Big. The ending’s just about OK, but nothing spectacular, and at times I had to force myself to care enough about these lacklustre individuals enough to finish the book.

      The writing was fairly low-key – no stylistic challenges to be found here – with a somewhat wearing use of copious amounts of dialogue to explain the plot and keep things moving. I would assume that this is a book that could easily be adapted into a fairly uninspiring ITV drama, as there would be relatively little for the screen writer to do when adapting it for the screen. I can’t really recommend this, except that it’s an easy read, great for a long train journey say, when it doesn’t matter if your attention wanders, or you’re distracted by the noisy family across the aisle.

      © Koplowitz 2012
    • 3/5
      I’ve been a huge fan of Ian Rankin since I started his Rebus series of books over ten years ago. With Rebus now retired Doors Open is Rankin’s first book away from his colourful larger than life detective inspector. The story trails a self made man who despite wealth, no commitments and all the time in the world feels little attachment or emotion to anything in his life. Consequently when the idea is proposed to him of relieving an art gallery warehouse of some of its paintings he suddenly finds criminality an alluring distraction. The story moves from the planning and the completion of the heist to its natural, for purposes of fiction, fallout. Unfortunately as a reader, I had a hard time accepting this self made man’s sudden change in character. His motives came across as thin and hollow which I never bought into. It was also difficult to find any likeable character in this book. Even the main investigating officer came across as creepy. This is not to say the book isnt well written or the dialogue as cutting as I would expect and I did enjoy the fallout after the heist, but overall, for me it was a book which fell flat. As an aside, I loved the little cameo reference to Rebus between the two investigating officers.
    • 3/5
      Mike Mackenzie, a self-made software mogul, is rich and bored and looking for excitement. He's become somewhat of an art connoisseur while spending him time in auction houses and building up a private collection of Scottish art. With all his millions, there is one portrait he wants which he can't have since it belongs to the national collection. Until one day one of his friends, the head of the local college of art Robert Gissing, approaches Mike with a plan for the perfect crime. They will steal works of art from the national archive on 'Doors Open' day, a special yearly event when various institutions open their doors to the public. The brilliance of Gissing's plan is that the theft will go undetected since they will simply substitute the works of their choosing with copies made to order by a talented art student. Mike is tempted to go along with it, but the only thing holding back the gang is their lack of criminal experience and access to weapons and vehicles. When Mike runs into an old school mate, 'Chib' Calloway—who just happens to be Edinburgh's head of organized crime—it seems like all the elements have fallen into place to perform the heist of his dreams. This was an amusing enough premise, but I can't say there were all that many surprises along the way. Everything just seemed to fall into place a little bit too easily and then there were a few truly cringe-worthy sections such as a bit of dialogue when an inspector of police meets his informant—one of 'Chib' Calloway's bodyguards—in a café. They're sitting at different tables and talking on their mobile phones so they won't be spotted together while exchanging sensitive information. I was wondering why they'd even be in the same establishment if they're worried about detection but then things got truly ridiculous when they started discussing the merits of the drinks they were having, as if they were two girlfriends taking a break during a shopping session. Maybe that was Rankin's sense of humour at work and I missed the point for all I know. I won't say this is a must-read, but as far as brain candy goes, it's a fine way to spend a few easy reading hours.