London Falling by Paul Cornell

London Falling by Paul Cornell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Jacket Blurb:  The dark is rising . . .

Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career. Then his prize suspect Rob Toshack is murdered in custody. Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about Toshack’s murder is normal. Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one step ahead of the law – until his luck ran out.

Now, the team must find a 'suspect' who can bend space and time and alter memory itself. And they will kill again. As the group starts to see London’s sinister magic for themselves, they have two choices: panic or use their new abilities. Then they must hunt a terrifying supernatural force the only way they know how: using police methods, equipment and tactics. But they must all learn the rules of this new game - and quickly. More than their lives will depend on it.

October's book group selection. 

I enjoyed this quite a bit.  Somewhat of a cross between a police procedural, mystery and urban fantasy, the story blended a bit of each into a rather well written book. 

Four unlikely characters are thrown together after a gang bust literally blows up in their faces - the crime lord's head explodes for no apparent reason.  The group finds they are blessed and damned with the gift of Sight - they can see the "other side" of London.  They can see the ghosts and shadows and the depths of Hell itself.  They can see the one old woman who has transcended time and is now a threat to London and the innocents that live there.

I had two complaints with the book.  One, the "chase" or "hunt" went on for one too many .   It started to become, "yeah, yeah, she's got supernatural powers and continues to kick your butt ((yawn))".  

And my second complaint was the shifting point of view.  I really didn't care for the paragraph blurbs for each character.  The rapidity of the shifts felt almost like a video rather than a story - I would have preferred a chapter devoted to each character, rather than a paragraph.  Perhaps this rapid fire delivery is a carryover from Mr. Cornell's comic/graphic comic background?   Whatever the reason, I found it annoying.  Though I will give a tip o' the hat to Mr. Cornell in that I never had to wonder which character the paragraph belonged to. 

Recommended.  And I see there is a book two coming out shortly.  I will have to pick that one up as well.



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