Urban Fantasy Audiobook Review: Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant #4)
Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
bought
Synopsis from Goodreads
My name is Peter Grant, and I am a keeper of the secret flame — whatever that is.
Truth be told, there's a lot I still don't know. My superior Nightingale, previously the last of England's wizardly governmental force, is trying to teach me proper schooling for a magician's apprentice. But even he doesn't have all the answers. Mostly I'm just a constable sworn to enforce the Queen’s Peace, with the occasional help from some unusual friends and a well-placed fire blast. With the new year, I have three main objectives, a) pass the detective exam so I can officially become a DC, b) work out what the hell my relationship with Lesley Mai, an old friend from the force and now fellow apprentice, is supposed to be, and most importantly, c) get through the year without destroying a major landmark.
Two out of three isn’t bad, right?
A mutilated body in Crawley means another murderer is on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil, who may either be a common serial killer or an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man — a man whose previous encounters I've barely survived. I've also got a case about a town planner going under a tube train and another about a stolen grimoire.
But then I get 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. If there's a connection to the Crawley case, I'll be entering some tricky waters of jurisdiction with the local river spirits. We have a prickly history, to say the least.
Just the typical day for a magician constable.
Amazon US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository | Fishpond | Audible US/UK
8.5/10
* * *
Wow, what an ending, ladies and gents! I'm still processing it...Since I've been too busy to read these past two months I've been trying more books on audio but only with the narrators that captured my attention straight away. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith was one of those lucky finds.
His voice as Peter Grant is cocky, sarcastic and self-assured, he has a wonderful rich accent and does great impressions of other characters in the book, and I really enjoyed listening to him.
In Broken Homes Peter works alongside Lesley tracking down the main villain of the series - The Faceless Man, and for that they both will have to go undercover, taking Toby along with them (as a valuable asset of course!) and posing as newest residents of Sky Tower - a housing estate in the centre of London.
There are various threads of different investigations going through the whole book, and Nightingale mostly leaves the limelight to Peter, who is slowly putting these threads together. So be ready for lots of chasing, grandiose magical fights with Russian witches, and an amazing showdown in the end of the book.
The ending is such a shocker! I'm dying to tell you what it is, but rather not spoil it for you. Rest assured you won't be disappointed in how this book ends and will be counting days until the next book's release which happens to be this November. Recommended!
* * *
Ох, какая концовка у этой книги совершенно неожиданная, дамы и господа! Я до сих пор отхожу...В последние два месяца у меня нет возможности читать так же много и быстро, как у меня выходит обычно, так что я перешла в качестве эксперимента на аудио-книги, но выбираю и слушаю только те, где голос рассказчика может сразу же привлечь моё внимание.
Кобна Холдбрук-Смит как раз таким голосом и оказался. Роскошный, саркастичный, с акцентом чернокожего полисмена из Лондона - он просто копия Питера Гранта. Он также прекрасно передаёт различные акценты второстепенных персонажей, и слушала я его с огромным удовольствием.
В этот раз, Найтингейл отходит на задний план, и весь сюжет вращается вокруг Питера и Лесли, расследующих несколько детективных нитей, казалось бы между собой не связанных, но ультимативно ведущих их к главному злодею серии - Безликому Человеку и его грандиозным планам.
Готовьтесь к этой парочке, идущим под прикрытие в качестве жильцов высотки в центре Лондона, где творится какая-то чертовщина, к погоням и магическим битвам с русской кодлуньей, а также к шокирующей концовке, о которой мне очень хочется вам рассказать, но я не хочу портить вам сюрприз. Я думаю, что она вас не разочарует и заставит немедленно захотеть прочесть следующую книгу серии, которая, кстати, выходит в ноябре этого года. Рекомендую!
