Jon Morgan is a retired police Superintendent and francophile who, it is said, has consequently seen almost everything awful that people can do to each other. He relishes quality writing in all genres but advises particularly on police procedure for authors including John Harvey and Jon McGregor. Haunts bookshops both new and secondhand and stands with Erasmus: “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I may buy food and clothes.”
False Value is the latest in the ‘Rivers of
London’ series of novels featuring D.C. Peter Grant - a very unusual London
Police Officer. The original strap line of these books was: ‘What happens when
Harry Potter grows up and joins the Met!’ Not strictly accurate as the world
Peter Grant polices is our world where magic, evil and practitioners of both
are all too real and feasible.
Grant works and lives in the Folly, the specialist
building housing the UK arm of the police unit which polices 'weird
shit' as his colleagues would have, it or
in police speak: 'Falcon incidents.'
His boss is DI Nightingale, a man of indeterminate age but who was present at
the battles at the end of WWII. Oh yes, and Peter is mixed race, in his own
police parlance: 'between IC3 and IC6!' This is not
irrelevant, his culture background and parentage are significant parts of his
backstory. His origins are not the only up-dating of myth and legend as Mama
Thames is of Nigerian descent in her original human manifestation. Throw in the
Gods and Goddesses (Genus loci) of the various London Rivers, Ty Burn, Effra
and Fleet and their 'sister'
Beverley Brook – a 'daughter'
of Mama Thames, with whom Peter is now shacked up and about to be a father -
the rest of the demi-monde, including the Fay folk, and some real humour and
you have a potent mix.
Peter is going undercover at a global tech company
– Serious Cybernetics – (there is more than one nod to Douglas Adams here) as
someone is trying to replicate some of Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage’s early
computer experiments – encoded in punch paper organ music - which touched on
the magical world. Trouble is, these are powered by the sprits of the dead and
this could cause mayhem and chaos in the real world if it gets out of control.
It takes all of Peter’s developing skills as a
Wizard, some new spells and awareness of lethal demon traps to track down the
real evil genius in this latest episode of Ben Aaronovitch’s imaginative,
intelligent and challenging series. The plot tracks across the Atlantic and
liaison with other jurisdiction’s Magical law enforcement units is necessary.
You don’t have to be a fan of alternate realities
to like this series but it may help. If you like Christopher Fowler’s Bryant
and May series, then this will definitely appeal. Suspend your disbelief, jump
in head first and give it a go. You may be pleasantly surprised. Read this as a
stand-alone or start at the beginning with Rivers of London. You have the
option of the graphic novels too.
This book has the additional feature of a glow in
the dark cover. How cool is that?
