Rivers of London (Midnight Riot), Audio Edition

Midnight Riot, Audio Edition (2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London)

I’ve finished listened to the Jane Yellowrock and Faith Hunter series, with the exception of the two most recent books I haven’t read, so realizing I had a new Rivers of London book to listen to, I decided to restart the Peter Grant books.

I adore Peter.

“And what am I?”

“Too easily distracted.”

“I am not.”

“New Year’s Eve, Trafalgar Square, big crowd, bunch of total wankers pissing in the fountain— remember that?” asked Leslie. “Wheels come off, wankers get stroppy and what were you doing?”

“I was only gone for a couple of seconds,” I said.

“You were checking what was written on the lion’s bum,” said Leslie. “I was wrestling a couple of drunken chavs and you were doing historical research.”

“Do you want to know what was on the lion’s bum?” I asked.

“No,” said Leslie. “I don’t want to know what was written on the lion’s bum, or how siphoning works or why one side of Floral Street is a hundred years older than the other side.”

“You don’t think any of that’s interesting?”

That is a perfect summation of Peter.

And then there’s the world building.

“If you overdo it, there are consequences,” said Nightingale.

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What kind of consequences?”

“Strokes, brain hemorrhages, aneurysms …”

“How do you know when you’ve overdone it?”

“When you have a stroke, brain hemorrhage, aneurysm …” said Nightingale.

But best of all is how Peter looks at the world.

A mob will tear an individual to pieces and a man with a gun and a noble cause is happy to kill ever so many women and children, but risking a fair fight— not so easy. That’s why you see those pissed young men doing the dance of “don’t hold me back” while desperately hoping someone likes them enough to hold them back.

All of which is marvelous, but on top of that, is Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration. He is hands-down my favorite narrator ever.

Seriously.

It’s marvelous.

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Rating: 9.5/10

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