The October Man cover art

The October Man

A Rivers of London Novella

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The October Man

By: Ben Aaronovitch
Narrated by: Sam Peter Jackson
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About this listen

A Rivers of London novella, from Sunday Times Number One bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch.

Trier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany's oldest city. So when a man is found dead with, his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth.

Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Investigator Tobias Winter, whose aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. With the help of frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he's quick to link the first victim to a group of ordinary middle-aged men - and to realise they may have accidentally reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. But the rot is still spreading, literally and with the suspect list extending to people born before Frederick the Great solving the case may mean unearthing the city's secret magical history.

. . . so long as that history doesn't kill them first.

Discover why this incredible series has sold over two million copies around the world. If you're a fan of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams - don't panic - you will love Ben Aaronovitch's imaginative, irreverent and all-round irresistible novels.

©2019 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group
Crime Fiction Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Science Fiction England Crime

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All stars
Most relevant
First of all, kudos to the producers for finding a bilingual narrator for the new German protagonist. Someone who doesn't speak German well would have mangled all the names and expressions (I'm looking at you, Nicholas Guy Smith, in the Johannes Cabal stories).
Secondly, Ben Aaronovitch clearly put a lot of research into how the German police work, the localities and special terminology (I thought that Besondere Umstände for the special response unit was inspired). I wish more authors would do this when setting a book in a country that isn't their own.
We learn that The Folly isn't the only police force dealing with magic but there are equivalents in other parts of Europe, too, and a little about the history of Newtonian magic there.
I also really liked the story which unravels the mystery nicely as it is cranked up to the final confrontation.
More of Tobias, please, maybe he and Peter can solve a mystery together at some point?

Deutschlands Flüsse

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I was dubious to begin but it quickly becomes a highly entertaining instalment to the series.

Top debut by Sam Peter Jackson. Superbly narrated.

Sounds GREAT in the updated enhanced format.

LOVING THE 128K AUDIO

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Nice story, well narrated. Quite short but worth a go.

Some nay sayers are reviewing low because it's not Kobna Holbrook Smith narrating, but this is nonsense!

Nice extention of the RoL world

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I initially thought that the German accent would grate on my ears, but it really didn’t at all. Instead, it added to the story. Excellent choice of narrator! Also, I absolutely love the language in these books; “egregious cliche embodiment” has quickly become a favourite expression of mine!

Excellent narrator!

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I love the Rivers of London series. This novella inhabits the same universe, but is set in a small German town and the narrator has a nice German accent.
It would be a excellent introduction to the Rivers, as it stands alone and doesn't assume any prior knowledge of the London stories. It retains the same charm and humour.

Brilliant

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