Review | Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (@Ben_Aaronovitch)

Rating:

Pages: 392 Summary:
My name is Peter Grant. Until January I was just another probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Serve, and to everyone else as the Filth. My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - We do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from a man who is dead, but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. And that, as they say, is where the story begins.
Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated. I'm dealing with nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden - and that's just routine. There's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious, vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying. Which, I don't mind telling you, would involve a hell of a lot of paperwork.

First, sorry for the lack of reviews lately, I've been in a bit of a reading funk but I'm back on track now!

A few weeks back, I reached out on Twitter for some book recs to help me get out of my reading slump, one of the ladies I've chatted on there for a while recommended this book to me and I'm so glad she did, it's definitely got me out my funk! If you like your supernatural books, you'll love this. Peter Grant is waiting to hear where he will be sent to work in the Met Police. His ultimate fear is being a paper pusher for them and not being out looking into cases. He along with his colleague, Leslie May are both waiting and carrying on with their work while they wait.

When they're out one night around Covent Garden, that is certainly not going to happen when they stumbles across a case rooted in the supernatural and up opens a world they never thought existed. Together, Leslie, Peter and Nightingale (Peter's senior officer) look into this and find a world involving magic and ghosts! I absolutely loved the description in this book, it's beautifully written and you can tell the author knows London and as someone who knows London well I could just see the places he was describing.

This tale is so well told and woven and kept me guessing until the very end. It did take me a while to get into though, and I really did struggle at the start but it just clicked and I had to keep going! Those of you who know the story of Punch and Judy will love part of the storyline, I was a huge fan of them as a kid and loved reading their story being acted out.

I also loved the storyline revolving around the Thames and the idea of a Mother and Father of the Thames. It was a great read!

I don't want to say too much about the plot because I think it'll ruin the book but go in with an open mind and you will be blown away. Especially if you're a fan of the supernatural.