Rivers of London

10th Anniversary Edition of Midnight Riot by #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch, the first book in the international bestselling Rivers of London series!

Restored to its original British title Rivers of London, this Author's Preferred Edition includes revised text never before seen by US readers and a new introduction by the author.

My name is Peter Grant and until recently I was just another probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right thinking people as the Metropolitan Police and by everyone else as the filth. My only concerns in life were avoiding a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - We do paperwork so other coppers don't have to - and where to get a hot coffee while on late shift. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from a man who was dead, but disturbingly voluble and that brought me to the attention Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in Britain.

And that, as they say, is where the story really starts.

Now I'm in plain clothes and the first apprentice wizard in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated. Now I'm dealing with nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the River Thames and digging up graves in Covent Garden - and that's just the routine stuff.

Because 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 fallen 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.

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376 pages

Average rating: 6.98

42 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

katietopp
Jan 01, 2025
6/10 stars
It was fine. Nothing stood out to me, nothing made me angry. It was just fine.
AWrobel
May 16, 2024
7/10 stars
Loved the story. Very engaging. There is not a chapter without actions or exciting outcomes. Mix of magic, CSI and adventure.
margardenlady
Dec 27, 2023
8/10 stars
Delightfully performed audiobook. This foray into magical realism took a decidedly wacky bent. Logical since its creator was a scriptwriter for Dr Who. Set in London, we follow the early cases of two new police officers. But one of them can see and interact with ghosts. They are divided by their job placement, and things just get wackier. I definitely look forward to more of this series. It was a lot of fun.
ChrisCarne
Jan 02, 2023
6/10 stars
Entertaining enough and some clever ideas but all-in-all a bit undercooked. It needs to be funnier and stranger; the characterisation needs to be stronger, Peter Grant as acolyte is amiable enough company but Nightingale as adept and teacher needs to be much more developed as it is he’s something of a blank space and more needs to happen, at nearly 400 pages there’s considerably more book than story and it’s rather leisurely* in the telling with it. I was hoping for [a:Ian Rankin|33031|Ian Rankin|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270338491p2/33031.jpg] meets [a:Robert Rankin|27944|Robert Rankin|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1225276485p2/27944.jpg] but this isn’t really it.

*Much like our hero taking half an hour to walk the three quarters of a mile from Russell Square to Covent Garden at one point.

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