Broken Homes (Unabridged) (Audio Download): Amazon.co.uk: Ben Aaronovitch, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith: Books

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Audio Download
Listening Length: 10 hours and 1 minute
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Audible.co.uk Release Date: 25 July 2013
Language: English
ASIN: B00E1M73M6

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (360 customer reviews)

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Product Description

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. Kobna is a Film, Theatre, Television and Radio actor. His television credits include Little Britain, Saxondale, Pulling, Taking the Flak, Star Stories, and Sirens; his theatre credits include lead roles at the National, Tricycle, Young Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange, Bush, and Shakespeare's Globe theatres and he has also been in numerous BBC radio plays. He has voiced audiobooks by Alastair Reynolds and Ben Aaronovitch for Orion.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Peter Grant goes south of the River 13 Aug 2013

By D. Harris TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This book is the fourth book in a series. If you've landed here without reading Rivers of London and its two sequels, you'd best go and do that - they're all rattling good reads - before coming back to it. It's not that Broken Homes can't be read alone - there are relatively few plot points here that depend on the earlier books, though there are some - it's more that if you read this first you'll want to read the others, but inevitably you'll then know about stuff that is meant to come as a surprise.

That said, this is another magical adventure in which Aaronovitch's spell-using police trio - Peter, Lesley and Nightingale (which, we now learn, seems to be a title rather than a name) - assisted by Toby the dog and the enigmatic Molly, investigate a series of gruesome deaths. These seem to focus on a south London high rise estate which the local council want to demolish, but which has inexplicably been listed for preservation.

As in the previous books, much of the focus here is on "routine" policing (OK, still policing by Nightingale's special squad, and so, by definition, supernatural, but basic matters: following up leads, cross checking information, generally getting nowhere. That, and crowd-policing the river gods' annual open day...) and the interactions between Nightingale's team and the ordinary police. Some might find that material a bit slow moving, but I rather enjoy watching this, following the chat between the colleagues and guessing which points will be significant and which won't. Read more ›

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Love all of PC Grant novels 7 Aug 2013

By AMM

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Loved this book, as with the others. I did find the first third of the book a bit disjointed in a couple of places - lots of minor characters brought in really early on, and I lost track of who was who and had to keep flicking back to remember. However, love Grant and Nightingale and the Zach is growing on me too. Great storyline, and boy - didn't see that twist coming. Can't wait for the next instalment.

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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost... 26 July 2013

By Amazon Customer

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Why almost? Because Arranovitch seems to have dropped one ball of the many he is juggling in this book. The first half was disconnected and didn't seem to flow like the previous 3 novels. It wasn't until the second half when we get to briefly see Nightingale in full flow that the pace picks up, the links start to be connected and we get more information.
We meet a new individual who could be help or hindrance, and maybe, just maybe, of interest to one of our characters. And the ending wasn't one i saw coming, though thinking back on it i really should have. But as others have said this didn't fully tie up all the plot lines in this novel as others have done, but left a wide gaping maw of a follow on for the next story.
So why the 4 stars instead of 5? EDITING!!!! Seriously, get a couple of decent proof readers to deal with the continuity errors and all the flipping typos!!!!
Other than that this is still an amazing book as all the Rivers novels are. For me they are up there with the Discworld series and that of the Emporers Edge.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Just can't get enough 6 Aug 2013

By Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

There is always an interesting element within the supernatural community but who's going to Police it? Well it comes down to the "Isaac's", a special branch consisting of one wizard, two trainee's and of course the brave as well as hardy Toby the Dog. Its fun, it has some moments of levity and when added to some darker elements, cracking twists alongside high octane action all round makes this a wonderful read.

Yet whilst most would think that these elements alone enough to read the book, the author has also worked in to it a set of characters that not only work well together but created a community that the reader just cannot wait to return to in future outings. All round, for me, this is one of my top UK Urban Fantasy series and will continue to be so for quite some time. I really can't wait to see what awaits around the corner for PC Grant and friends.

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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another readable romp through the magical Met 25 July 2013

By emma who reads a lot TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

How to sum up Ben Aaronovitch's books? They're Harry Potter crossed with The Sweeney, with a big dose of Robert Elms' delightful radio show about London thrown in....

Actually it's pretty hard to capture how much fun the Peter Grant series is for a reader. Aaronovitch's books follow the career of magically-talented Constable Peter Grant, giving total reality to a London where magic really happens, but where you may also require the very real firepower of Tactical Support Units. In "Broken Homes", a magically-tainted car crash leads PC Peter Grant to wonder if he is back on the trail of the magical overlord called the 'Faceless Man' who caused such trouble in previous outings. London's ugliest housing estate, in concretey Elephant & Castle, becomes the focus of his investigation, as he begins to wonder why the highrise is attracting quite such a lot of magically-inclined interest....

The detailed imagining of all this is totally delightful: "Broken Homes" weaves in jazz players, goblins, concrete brutalist architects, dog-fighting rings and the spirits of trees and rivers, amongst other things - there's magical hocus pocus at the same time as detailed discussion of Scotland Yard strategic targets: it sounds a strange combination, yet it all somehow seems to gel together, producing a read you will be completely sorry to finish.

The overall tone is light and enjoyable, but there's lots of wonderful sinister set pieces. It's a really perfect bit of holiday reading.

((The only thing I can possibly complain about is something I've moaned about before with these books - the detailed proof-reading. For example, without any plot spoilers, the book begins with a car crash. Read more ›

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4.4 out of 5 stars

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