False Value: Book 8 in the #1 bestselling Rivers of London series (A Rivers of London novel)

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Aaronovitch changes things up by having Peter go undercover and the author may have been inspired by Neil Gaiman’s American Gods as we have a ghost in the machine, a complicated AI story made all the better by being in the Rivers of London universe. I’ve a couple of books to read for book group and don’t want to have anything to tempting to read on my kindle lest I distract myself, so I’ll treat myself once I finish the duty-reads. Also, I “read” it mostly in audio, as I do all the books, and the Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration adds SO MUCH. My mistake was reading it too quickly the first time, so I had to read it again slower the second time and was able to savor all the finer points that made this book such a great addition to the series as a whole.

Tyrel and Stacy Johnson are another nice normal addition to Peter’s list of acquaintances who could possibly become friends later on in the series. I love ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and jumped with excitement at the first 4-5 Hitchhiker references. Janine: I’m pretty sure Maksim is mentioned in at least one of the other novels as being Bev’s acolyte because I recognized him.the Serious Cybernetic Corporation (SCC), is suspected to be up to no good by the Metropolitan Police (esp.

I did appreciate the explanation Peter gives at one point about how ‘magic’ might force he and Bev’s relationship into different places, but I think that one’s out of the barn, so to speak. Its owner, an Australian tech billionaire, appears to be involved in a secret project that has some link to the theft of a historical, possibly magical, artefact.This audiobook contains all the signature humour and every-man bluntness we have come to love from Peter Grant, and much more information about the international magical community. Things are popping up that the reader has no idea where they came from, and not in the "First time the characters see it" sort of way, but in the "We encountered this previously" way. Because the setting for this book is so self-contained in many ways, we see less of the wider magical community than usual, with references to the demi-monde but fewer opportunities to delve into it. We still have mention of all the river gods and goddesses and an underground history of magic practitioners. Beverly is five months pregnant (with twins, which I had completely forgotten about), and I must admit that Peter, as an expectant father, is pretty cute.

If he hadn‘t done it this way, but had told the story in a linear fashion, we would have know from the start that Peter — spoiler! This helped remind me that it takes place a few years before the present day, which was especially useful given the time-jumps from one chapter to the next. I didn’t for a moment think that Peter would want to leave the police force, so there wasn’t much suspense, it was just annoying. Maybe Aaronovitch having Peter deal with "The Faceless Man" in the last book meant we would get filler, but geez this is boring.

It’s revealed later in the plot that the Mary Engine’s purpose is either to create or generate magic and it can open a portal to another, darker dimension. But when Peter identifies the would-be thief, Stephen Higgins, he realizes that and he and Stephen crossed paths months before. The bonus interview at the end is fab and I really appreciate the insight, not to mention it’s a fun listen.