Midnight Riot

Ben Aaronovitch

Feb 2011 · Del Rey

About this ebook

“Midnight Riot is what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz. It is a hilarious, keenly imagined caper.”—Diana Gabaldon 

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

“Filled with detail and imagination . . . Aaronovitch is a name to watch.”—Peter F. Hamilton 

“Fresh, original, and a wonderful read . . . I loved it.”—Charlaine Harris

Ratings and reviews

This book... I don't know what to say, really. I'll start with the bad because it's simple and easier to talk about the good: some of the book bored me, and the style of writing lost me more times than I can count. To add to this, being an American means that certain descriptions were completely lost on me; I thought watching my fair share of BBC shows would fill in some gaps, but apparently, Doctor Who and Misfits isn't enough. I thought about DNRing the book about two chapters in... ... but Peter and this world he inhabits is FAR TOO INTERESTING. While a lot of the descriptions escaped me, what I did understand was this complex world with science and magic collide. About half-way through the book, things pick up and I refused to put it down. I wanted to solve the mystery and learn more about the magic and inhabitants of the world. I won't rush to read book two, but I will definitely pick it up at some point. My 3 is a solid three, leaning more positive than negative.

First in the series involving Peter Grant, a young, London Met constable who gets involved in a murder case...with a ghost for a witness. He meets DCI Thomas Nightingale, who works for a very special, very secret branch/unit of the Met...and now, so does Peter Grant. Well written with bits & pieces of history intertwined with snappy dialog & supernatural phenomena...Mother Thames, anyone? An excellent read I couldn't put down. On to the next in the series

I read this book and then I had to read the next. And the next one after that. All of them, actually. They are just that good.

About the author

Ben Aaronovitch was born in London in 1964 and had the kind of dull routine childhood that drives a man to drink or to science fiction. He is a screenwriter, with early notable success on BBC television’s legendary Doctor Who, for which he wrote some episodes now widely regarded as classics, and which even he is quite fond of. He has also penned several groundbreaking TV tie-in novels. After a decade of such work, he decided it was time to show the world what he could really do and embarked on his first serious original novel. The result is Midnight Riot, the debut adventure of Peter Grant.