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Rivers of London (#1)

Author(s): Ben Aaronovitch

Novel

Peter Grant was just a probationary constable in the Metropolitan Police Service when one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, he tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, thus bringing him to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.


Now Peter is a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years and his world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, digging up graves in Covent Garden and there's something festering at the heart of London, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.


The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city and it falls to Peter to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.

 


Policing in London has never been so quirky. DC Peter Grant isn’t doing too well climbing the ranks. His major problem is that he is easily distracted: he notices things others don’t and finds himself wandering off on tangents when he should be focusing on the job in hand. Rivers of London is the first in a successful series by Ben Aaronovitch, which brings together the decidedly real with the completely fantastical in an alarming, funny, quite believable caper. In Rivers of London several people are acting uncharacteristically aggressively, and some of their actions are leading to gruesome murders. PC Grant, after attending one such horror, meets the unusual Chief Inspector Nightingale and finds himself promoted into his team of one (if you don’t count the strange housekeeper, Molly, who seems to float and has rather pointy teeth) and initiated into the world of wizards, the first apprentice in 50 years. Reading this I felt I had fallen into a hybrid of Jasper Fforde madcap, Harry Potter for grown-ups, all mixed with gruesome crime and absurdist plotting. Not only does our DC have to deal with learning magic, the often mysterious behaviour of Nightingale and the obvious contempt of some fellow policing chiefs, he’s trying but failing to keep his mind off fellow police officer Lesley May (who just seems to keep dragging into his troublesome world) and resist the niece of a mighty river goddess. And hence the plot thickens, the river gods Sister and Brother Thames, underworld spirits living in flats near the banks of the Thames with their equally adoring and loyal entourages, are having a bit of a turf war. What are they up to, and who or what is making Londoners turn on each other? Can Nightingale and Grant with the assistance of fellow police officer May and the police computer, HOLMES, and possibly Sister Thames (if she has  a mind to) get to the bottom of this mystery? 

{STELLA}

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CSI London, Urban Fantasy-style!

Shortlisted for Galaxy National Book Awards: Galaxy New Writer of the Year 2011.

Heckin' fun! Urban fantasy with grit and a wicked sense of humour. You'll hoon through them and be begging for more. - Becky, GOOD BOOKS 

Ben Aaronovitch was born and raised in London and all his work has reflected his abiding fascination and love for what he modestly likes to refer to as the 'Capital of the World'. He works as a bookseller when he is not writing novels and TV scripts.

General Fields

  • : 9780575097582
  • : Orion Publishing Group, Limited
  • : Gollancz
  • : 0.305
  • : 01 June 2011
  • : 198mm X 129mm X 26mm
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Ben Aaronovitch
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : English
  • : 823.914
  • : 432
  • : FM