Midnight Riot by Ben AaronovitchMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.
Read as an audio book.
I had a hard time putting this book down, so to speak. I do enjoy a good urban fantasy, I adore books set in Britain - especially London - and this fit into those criteria and more. The plot moves smartly along, the characters are interesting, and that combination makes it an engaging read.
Peter and Leslie have finished their mandatory two year stint as probationary street cops and they are now are assigned to their permanent positions. Leslie gets assigned to homicide, as Peter suspects he's going to end up in Case Progression Unit writing reports, but by shear happenstance, he's assigned to Thomas Nightingale, Inspector of the supernatural and more. Peter finds himself talking to rivers, gods and ghosts as Nightingale, Peter and Leslie try to solve a bizzare case where peoples faces are falling off and riots are breaking out at opera houses.
Peter is one of the most refreshing main characters I've read about in quite a while. He's just an average guy trying to get a leg up in the world. He has a crush on Leslie, he sees ghosts, and he doesn't sit around moaning "why me...".
Thomas Nightingale is a fascinating character and I would love to know more.
The supporting cast is as varied as they come in real life, and for myself, the characters never really felt two dimensional.
My one complaint with the book was the ending. As the events are starting to swirl and culminate in a resolution, the resolution got a bit overly long and dragging the pacing of the book down. A bit to much screaming and shouting and running about in circles for my tastes.
But not enough of a detraction that I won't go find book #2. Recommended! Especially on audio - I really enjoyed the narrators performance.
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