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Broken Homes

Rivers of London, Book 4

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About this listen

Ben Aaronovitch has stormed the best-seller list with his superb London crime series - a unique blend of police procedural; loving detail about the greatest character of all, London; and a dash of the supernatural.

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 caseload.

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?

Full of warmth, sly humour and a rich cornucopia of things you never knew about London, Aaronovitch's series has swiftly added Grant's magical London to Rebus' Edinburgh and Morse's Oxford as a destination of choice for those who love their crime with something a little extra.

Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

©2013 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2013 Orion Publishing Group Crime Fiction Fantasy Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Crime England Classics Exciting Funny Paranormal
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The main thing about this book is that it definitely feels like a bridge between Whispers Undergound and Book 5. There's really no point reading this unless you have read all the others - and I urge you to do that straight away because they are great!

As a story it mainly feels like its getting you from one place to another along the story arc but with enough interesting stuff along the way to keep you interested. There is a HUGE plot development which shocked me but that makes total sense in retrospect. As usual there is lots of information about London geography and history thrown in which, for me, is one of the joys of the books.

One of my favourite things was finally seeing (hearing) Nightingale show what he can do in a full-on magical battle.

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is excellent as ever, really inhabiting the character of Peter. Sometimes I think Ben Aaronovitch gives characters a particular accent just to see how Kobna handles them!

So, what happens next?

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I have enjoyed this series so much that after getting half way through the first book, I quickly purchased the other 3 that are available so far. The stories run into each-other so it works well to listen to them all together. The Author has his own voice but the often dark humor and fantasy aspects of this novel, make me think that it will probably appeal to fans of Tom Holt. You can also see why Ben Aaronovitch wrote for Dr Who, although this is (hopefully) not something you will be reading to your children. The plots are interesting, imaginative and while often gruesome, always entertaining. The merger of `police-procedural', fantasy and humor, give it a broad range of appeal.

There are so many reasons I like this series. The way the author slowly leads the reader into an ever expanding fantasy world, as seen through the eyes of the main character, really held my interest. The portrayal of London, making it a living, breathing organism through imagery, history and it's characters, is wonderful to listen to. This is only improved by the hero's rich family history and how this affects his take on life. Although it is written from the perspective of a young male police officer, Peter Grant, unusually for a fantasy series, there are also a diverse range of strong female characters. Several of these have reoccurring roles in the books and have goals and personalities, beyond being love interest/prop for the hero.

This was my favorite of the stories since the first novel, as the universe just keeps getting bigger but characters from other stories continue to interact with the hero, rather than vanishing as with most books. You do need to read the stories in order and I can't say too much about the story without spoilers. However, while it leaves you impatient for the next book, I personally loved the ending here.

The narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, is brilliant. He has a beautiful voice to listen to, while evoking the sense of history and personality that the author gives to London but equally manages to convey sarcasm or fear. Each character has their own narrated voice, regardless if they are male, female rich, poor, human or not. I honestly don't think they could have found a better person for these books.

Picked this series up and haven't put it down yet.

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I very much enjoyed part 1 of this series and is it goes on its only getting better.

A series that's getting stronger book by book

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Yep big fan of the book serie and of its narrator, gulping them all. This one is a favourite as it lingers on one of the estate - similar to the one I grew up in not glamorising it but not making it worse than too many authors have made them to be.

Another great adventure of PC Peter Grant

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great story, marvellously brought to life. Give them both awards. 3rd time I have listened to it, cant wait for b
next book in series.

by far the best narration of a book I have heard

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