{"id":4544,"date":"2014-04-16T17:50:03","date_gmt":"2014-04-16T22:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=4544"},"modified":"2026-03-22T09:20:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:20:44","slug":"london-falling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4544","title":{"rendered":"London Falling"},"content":{"rendered":"

London Falling<\/a><\/em> (2012) Paul Cornell<\/a> (Shadow Police)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I started reading, and briefly thought I had entered in the middle of the story. I hadn’t. It was actually the beginning, but for the characters, they believe they are in the end game. Two cops working undercover to take down a crime lord, the DI running the two UCs, and the analysts who works so far in the background absolutely no one ever sees her except her direct supervising.<\/p>\n

And so the story begins like it’s the end of a British police procedural. But then something happens, and things get very weird, and very bad, very quickly.<\/p>\n

I fully admit this book–once I figured out what the hell was going on–hit a sweet spot for me. British + mystery + fantasy = WIN in my book. At least if it’s done well. <\/p>\n

If you want a quick primer going in, there are four main characters: Costain & Sefton who are the UCs, Quill who is running them, and Ross the analyst.<\/p>\n

Costain and Sefton are undercover because they can slip into the world of crime more easily than others, simply because they are men of color. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, this parallels the Rivers of London series, where you have main characters who are London cops and men of color, which makes things even harder, because the automatic assumption is that they made the force solely because they are minorities.<\/p>\n

It’s also fascinating that these characters are written by white men. Seeing as how I’m not British or black or male, I can’t speak as to the authenticity of these characters, but to me (a white American woman) I was surprised to discover the authors were, in fact, white men. Whether Brits of color would feel the same is something I would be interested in learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cMight as well look as if we\u2019re together,\u201d said Sefton, under his breath, as he pressed the tea bag against the side of his cup to try and force out a bit of flavor. \u201cSeeing we\u2019re the only black guys in here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Age,\u201d agreed Costain, \u201cdoes not recruit in line with best practice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What I particularly liked about the series was how the characters discovered the existence of the supernatural. There are no special hints to you as a reader that something beyond the every day is going to happen, so the reactions seem very natural, and I became very curious as to how the characters were going to deal with\/come to terms with the fact the world was not what they were expecting.<\/p>\n

I also liked the many fascinating bits and pieces scattered through the story.<\/p>\n

“It is time that defines whether something is real or not. Time is what makes what people experience a tragedy or a love story or a triumph. Hell is where time has stopped, where there\u2019s no more innovation. No horizon. No change.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There were also to fabulous sentences that struck me as absolutely perfect, but I’m going to ROT13, because they are HUGE spoilers.<\/p>\n

SPOILER <\/strong> (ROT13<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Naq gura gur zbo evccrq ure shpxvat urneg bhg.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gung fvatyr fragrapr vf fb oehgny, lrg fbzrguvat lbh qrfcrengryl JNAG gb unccra. Gur obbx pbhyq unir raqrq gurer, naq V jbhyq unir orra fngvfsvrq. Ohg vg qvqa’g raq gurer.<\/p>\n

Ohg abj gurer jnf fhqqrayl guvf terng yhzc bs cnva naq uvfgbel jvguva gurve obqvrf. Gurl abj xabpxrq bire sheavgher gb trg gb gubfr guerr puvyqera, orpnhfr fhqqrayl gurl arrqrq gb ubyq gurz fb zhpu.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ntnva, jvgubhg pbagrkg guvf fragrapr qbrfa’g zrna nalguvat, ernyyl, ohg jvguva gur pbagrkg bs jung unccrarq gb gubfr punenpgref, gung irel vqrn vf nyzbfg oerngugnxvat. Gb unir fbzrguvat ybfg gb lbh, erghearq gb lbh fhqqrayl naq harkcrpgrqyl.<\/p>\n

END SPOILERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

And this, far earlier in the book:<\/p>\n

“Don\u2019t ever be afraid of the responsibility of offering an opinion.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That probably needs pinned to a bulletin board somewhere.<\/p>\n

This book isn’t for anyone. If you don’t like Simon Green<\/a>‘s Nightside or Mike Carey<\/a>‘s Felix Castor or Ben Aaronovitch<\/a>‘s Rivers of London, then don’t bother. It’s dark, and very bad things happen.<\/p>\n

But I also found it utterly fascinating.<\/p>\n

Yes, it was initially confusing, but once you get past that, it’s well worth the initial work of figuring out who’s who.<\/p>\n

Published by Tor <\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London Falling (2012) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) I started reading, and briefly thought I had entered in the middle of the story. I hadn’t. It was actually the beginning, but for the characters, they believe they are in the end game. Two cops working undercover to take down a crime lord, the DI running the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,30,292,2,207,8,42,148,16,934],"tags":[641,645,111,212,112,655],"class_list":["post-4544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-fantasy","category-mental-health-rep","category-mystery","category-police","category-queer","category-supernatural","category-trigger-warnings","tag-bad-family","tag-child-harm","tag-paul-cornell","tag-ptsd","tag-shadow-police","tag-violence"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1bi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5168,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5168","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":0},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"March 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (The Shadow Police) I really liked the audible version of London Falling. Detective Inspector James Quill is heading the investigation (which includes undercover officers Costain and Sefton) to take down crime lord Rob Toshack. Intelligence analyst Lisa Ross has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23205,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23205","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":1},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"February 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (Shadow Police) TW: child abuse, child death, murder, torture, faked suicide, general horribleness. He\u2019d been out, sort of, at his last nick. A few of the lads had asked, so he\u2019d told them. And then his DI, Pete Grieves,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21336,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21336","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":2},"title":"London Falling, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (The Shadow Police) Pretty much all the trigger warnings for this book: child death, child harm, gore, violence, serial killer.. This series is so dark, and yet its darkness doesn't bother me, possibly because it's almost over the top.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9255,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9255","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":3},"title":"The Severed Streets, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Severed Streets (2015) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (Shadow Police) Even though I *knew* the big surprise of this story, it still came as a shock when it happened. This is an amazing entry into this series, and the narrator continues to do a fabulous job. Published by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Severed Streets","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Severed-Streets-e1511011469723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9282,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9282","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":4},"title":"Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"September 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? Audio Edition (2016) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch Quill's group is in trouble. After events in the last book, Ross is abrely acknowledging Costain's existence, Quill is obsessed with the sign outside Hell, and Lofthouse is finally looking into resolving her own problems. The three\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Who-Killed-Sherlock-Holmes-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18450,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18450","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":5},"title":"London Falling","author":"Michelle","date":"November 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"London Falling (2012) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) Me, to myself. \"I haven't read the Shadow Police series in awhile\". Also me, \"It's really dark.\" \"I know it's dark! I read it and listened to it!\" \"Are you sure you're up for that right now?\" (stomps off in a huff to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"London Falling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LondonFalling-e1511017057893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}