Review: FOXGLOVE SUMMER

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Book 5 of Peter Grant series
Genre: urban fantasy, police investigation
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Foxglove Summer:

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London - to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can't take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what's more all the shops are closed by 4pm...

Source: Info in the About Foxglove Summer was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20499240-foxglove-summer on 03/01/2015.

My Thoughts:

It took me a lot of time to get into this book. But it did pick up about halfway through the book.

I understand the summer bit in the title as the events in the book occured in the summer. But what does the foxglove got to do with the story? Just becuase it was mentioned twice in the book? With no connection to the plot whatsoever at that. WTF?! On top of that, the foxglove mystery was never explained. This was just one of many loose threads left hanging. Just like the ending that stopped abruptly. Although there was resolution to the main dilemma, the book ended so abruptly that it's like running headlong into a dead end wall when you are still expecting a mile of road ahead. My nose hurt in sympathy. However, because of the humour in the telling of the story this book can never be a less than 3. Foxglove Summer showed the same fun story telling quality that I like so much about this author!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 3
World building = 5
Cover art = 2
Pace = (10 hrs and 45 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narrator = 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Rivers Of London Series / Peter Grant Series:


Thank you to Audible and the publicity team for the audiobook review copy of Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch received.

FTC Disclosure:
The kindle ebook copy was purchased with private finds. The audiobook was received for free from the publicity team.
No money received for this review.

Review: BROKEN HOMES

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Book 4 of Peter Grant series
Genre: urban fantasy, police investigation
Format: audiobook

About Broken Homes:

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil; an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common or garden serial killer?

Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.

So far so London.

But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on a housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate.

Is there a connection?

And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?

Source: Info in the About Broken Homes was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16078584-broken-homes on 29/07/2013.

Review:

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's narration took a lot of getting used to. A lot! And it has been a while since the last book. A year, in fact. So I was trying to get used to Kobna Holdbrook-Smith all over again. And it took a good part of three quarters of the book before I finally did. And I had to borrow the hardcopy from the library while I was getting used to the narration. But I really do like Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's accent impersonations! They sound very authentic! But the thing I like best about this book is the humour between the pages! Awesome sauce!! My sides hurt!! Plus the plot building is solid and substantial with nice twists. However, having said that, this is probably the book which garnered the lowest rating yet in the whole series. This is mainly because of the ending. It bordered on being a cliffhanger. And I don't like cliffhangers! It left so many threads in the story hanging! And I also like seeing justice done. This is a police story, for goodness sake! A fictional one. So I was expecting the murders to get justice! I was indignant!! But I'm still kinda hoping that it'll get some answers in the next book. But having said that, my interest in this series is seriously waning... I might borrow this book from the library if ever I decide to continue reading this series rather than buying it.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 3
World building = 5
Cover art = 2
Pace = (10 hrs and 17 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narrator = 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Rivers Of London Series / Peter Grant Series:


Thank you to RCT Library for lending me a copy of this book.

FTC Disclosure:
The hardback copy was borrowed from the library. The audiobook was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Review: WHISPERS UNDERGROUND

Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch
Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Book 3 of the Peter Grant series or otherwise known as the Rivers Of London series
Genre: urban fantasy, police investigation
Format: hardback & audiobook

About Whispers Underground:

A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP

It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects . . . except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful . . . and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well.

Source: Info in the About Whispers Underground was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9970042-whispers-underground on 29/12/2012.

Review:

I think this series is growing on me. The more books I read on this series, the more interesting it becomes. I think I'm on my way to becoming a die-hard fan! The story telling quality is becoming funnier and more compelling to me too.... Does this book has some sort of spell or something?!

I wasn't quite sure if Ben Aaronovitch named the organization that DCI Thomas Nightingale and PC Peter Grant is a member of other than that it is called the ECD 9 of the Met Police. Anyhow, an explanation of it's symbols and meanings would be good to know. Just like the way Ben Aaronovitch slowly explained away the little holes in the world building. Hopefully he would do the same and explain ECD 9's insignia.

With Book 1 I complained that the narrator's voice has an "-ish" quality to it which took a lot of getting used to. By this book, I couldn't hear it anymore. Either I got used to it or he took more breaks thus the "-ish" in his voice has disappeared and his reading quality has improved because I now really like the narration. I also really like the way Kobna Holdbrook-Smith made the characters come alive with different accents and his particular brand of pizzazz! Man! He is good!!

At the end of it I enjoyed this book a lot and couldn't wait to read Broken Homes!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 3
Pace = (10 hrs and 17 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narrator = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Rivers Of London Series: