Scottish writer Ian Rankin may not be as well known to Americans as other great crime writers, such as Lawrence Block and Robert Parker, but he should be.

Rankin may be best known for his Detective John Rebus series but with <i>Bleeding Hearts</i> - which is not part of that series - he shows just how good he can be. It is scheduled for release on November 15th.

I can't praise this book enough. It does an excellent job of dealing with an anti-hero, an assassin who you would, in another context, deride but who gradually becomes the hero. And for that character to have hemophilia is a brillaint touch as it adds new complexities to criminal acts of violence.

Rankin was kind enough to agree to an interview with me via email.

Scott Butki: What was the impetus for this book?
Ian Rankin: The impetus behind Bleeding Hearts was really in the form of setting myself a structural challenge. Could I make an assassin into the 'good guy' by writing his sections in the first person, while the cop who is out to get him, whose story is told in the third person, becomes the bad guy? I decided that I wanted to write about a professional killer, but one with a fatal flaw. My 'hero' is a hemophiliac. Throughout the story, we know that any physical injury may prove fatal to him, yet he is the main character in a thriller, so his chances of remaining pristine are slim to say the least!

SB: To what do you account your popularity?
IR: What popularity I have is probably down to experience - over the past 20 years I have learned from mistakes and am now a much better writer as a result. I also try to write stories I would like to read, rather than sticking to any particular formula.

SB: Do you more closely relate to the “good guys” (the cops) or the “bad guys” (the criminals) or those in between?
IR: I prefer to write about the good guys, but only if they have interesting flaws to their characters. I have little interest in supermen. Villains appeal to me if they have a sense of personal morality at their core.