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  • London Falling

  • The Shadow Police, Book One
  • By: Paul Cornell
  • Narrated by: Damian Lynch
  • Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (1,577 ratings)
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London Falling cover art

London Falling

By: Paul Cornell
Narrated by: Damian Lynch
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Summary

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.

Paul Cornell has written some of Doctor Who's best-loved episodes for the BBC. He has also written on a number of comic book series for Marvel and DC, including X-Men and Batman and Robin. He has been Hugo Award nominated for his work in TV, comics, and prose, and won the BSFA award for his short fiction. London Falling is his first urban fantasy novel.

©2013 Paul Cornell (P)2014 Audible Studios

Critic reviews

"He's gone and written a novel too! I suspect it will be just as good as everything else he's written, and that's not fair at all." (George R R Martin)

What listeners say about London Falling

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Starts slow and a bit confusing but stick with it!

I wasn't sure at first. The first chapter dumps you straight in the middle of an undercover police operation which is about to get chaotic and there is no exposition to help you understand what is going on. But then the magical stuff starts to happen and it turns out the protagonists have no idea what is going on either. I read a review that said if Rivers of London is The Bill, then London Falling is The Sweeney; darker and more violent. Like Ben Aaronovitch's London, it's authentically multi-cultural and all kinds of magic grows from the city's lengthy history and complex mythology. I LIVE for this stuff :)

There's one amazing reveal that is brilliantly handled. Really did not see it coming and it's perfect - I genuinely gasped out loud when I realized.

It's the start of a series and whilst the main storyline is resolved there is lots of setup for the next book(s). From initially thinking it wasn't for me (NB Wolves of London which I really couldn't get on with) I ended up binge listening and getting the sequel straight away to binge listen to that too.

Damian Lynch does a great job; well pace, all the characters clearly differentiated and believable.

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Too much of everything..

I can only agree to some of other reviews - the story line sounds too familiar and it is quite hard to get in to the story at first. If you are a fan of Ben Aaronovitch and expect something like Rivers of London there might be a disappointment. For my taste there is too much of everything - witch sanctifying children according the football scores, talking cats and time travel, even a hint of free masonry... If with Aaronovitch`s books one actually starts to believe the story and it positively drags you in, then with this story you just do not believe. I had to force to listen until the end, just out of curiosity how it shall end.
The performance though is very impressive.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A cracking book

If you liked Rivers of London, London Revenant or the Jack Nightingale books you will like this one, its a new slant on the urban supernatural thriller with elements of a police Procedural and who done it, with realistic flawed characters.
Damian Lynch gives a really good performance.

I will certainly be looking forward to the next book in this series "the Severed Streets"

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Reasonablish plot, awful writing style

The plot's ok, if a bit daft in places. That kept me going until the end of the book. The main problem is the one dimensional characters and the terrible clunky writing style. This is made worse by the narrator who leaves long pause between sentances. I won't be reading any more of the series.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good listen.

Was a good listen and I liked the story,. I have listened to Rivers of London and a couple that came after and this seemed very similar - perhaps its a Genre thing. It is a good and well written story and is enjoyable, but it was so close to Rivers of London themes for me I couldn't quite get into it as much as I would have liked.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story but seemed very familiar....

Not sure if it's the style of Dr Who writers but this very much in the same vein as Ben Aaronovitch albeit in the third person as opposed to first; rozzers with particular skills. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but my overall opinion is "good story but seemed very familiar". If it wasn't for this it would be a five star story. The performance is let down, not by Damian Lynch, who did very well, but the editing which produced lots of repeats.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I can't wait for book 2

Any additional comments?

I found this quite difficult to get into at first but I'm glad I stuck with it. The tension is on from the first chapter and I listened to the whole thing over a weekend. The book is both a satisfying crime thiller and a thouroughly enjoyable fantasy adventure.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and Unsettling!

I've always been interested in London history. This book sent shivers through me. So clever, and so well written and narrated. I loved it.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

LOVED IT💜

Wasn't sure at first, but then suddenly it just clicks. Love the way it sets up for the series to follow, am looking forward to it

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

What the devil?

If you could sum up London Falling in three words, what would they be?

Magical horror squad

What did you like best about this story?

Highly unconventional and was kept in suspense by a very unusual tale.

What does Damian Lynch bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Good pace, but let down by too many similarities between accents of key players so I kept forgetting who was gay and straight. Horror scenes not really scary as they should be.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really, needed to have a break between some of the horror scenes.

Any additional comments?

Fans of West Ham should probably avoid ;-)

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8 people found this helpful