Good story - poor narration

Love Ben’s books but sadly this narrator isn’t the best person to bring them to life. Hopefully will improve and get pronunciation and character differentiation more on point in the future since I know she’s a talented voice actor.

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7 people found this helpful

Narrator could have been better

The story itself was fascinating. Totally in line with the previous Rivers of London series. It’s too bad that the narration was not as high quality. I understand the use of a female voice for Agent Reynolds but wish they could have brought in Kobna Holdbrook-Smith to do the voice of Peter Grant at least and perhaps some of the other male voices. In my opinion Penelope Rawlins just doesn’t have the same level of talent in doing multiple voices especially male voices. I look forward to reading this book in print as I feel that I will enjoy the story much more without the distraction of the disappointing narration.

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3 people found this helpful

He Tried….. but this Book was not up to his normal standards

This is the ONLY story in this entire series that I have rated less than a 5. I could see that B.A. tried to branch out, but this story just does not have the “magic” (no pun intended) of the rest of the series.
Lastly, I did not enjoy listening to Ms. Rawlins, At. All. It’s funny because KHS’s American accent is atrocious 🤣, but he’s still the GOAT when it comes to the Rivers of London Series.

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1 person found this helpful

I love the world Ben Aaronovitch has created.

I have really enjoyed the stories that have branched into other countries. Still Peter and Beverly and the Nightingale remain my favorite.

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Good Story notwithstanding the narration

Audiobook narration is hard. Few are as gifted as dreamy voiced KH-S. Because he is SO uniquely talented, I knew P Rawlins started out behind the 8-ball and I really wanted to be fair.
On paper, I can see why they cast her: British but raised in both the US and UK. I’m not sure they auditioned her.

I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve got the book on reserve at our local library because I can’t figure out if Aaronovich wrote some of this book in dialect or if all of the (many) mispronunciations are solely Rawlins’ inventions.

I’m trying not to let it get in the Way of enjoying the story, but it’s tough.

I really REALLY hope no one STARTS their RoL journey here. Kobna is such a revelation, it would be a shame if this story stopped someone from hearing him.

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Good story ok reader

I thought the reader was ok. She was not the best at making male voices sound different to each other, the little girl voice sounded like a parody and her American accent left something to be desired. I particularly found jarring every time she pronounced Parka as Parker . I think maybe they could have hired an actual american actress instead? No complaints on the story which was interesting and as good as any other from Aaronovitch.

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A good start to explore other countries mentioned

A good start for stories of this series in other countries. Involving native Americans in North American cultures is an added interest. The only negative was Agent Reynolds Christian ideology and mother. In itself ok but it got old. Hammering that Kimberly is quirky.

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1 person found this helpful

Good story.

I'm a fan of the River of London series. This story was good but not a favorite. I had to force myself to finish listening because of the narrator. Her pronunciation of "parka" and "library" were painful. Both words were over used. And the voices she used for the male characters were horrible.

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable foray into peripheral character

I really enjoy the RoL series and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has set an amazing example of audiobook narration. So - the story here is great and fun and the narration absolutely does not do it justice.

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1 person found this helpful

Sadly, returned Audible book

I love the Rivers of London series, have all of them in both print and audio versions. Sadly, I won't have the full collection as I am returning this audio version of the book, and I'll go get the print version instead. For reference, I live in the Midwest among the founders of the Christian Reformed Church in America, so I do have a decent frame of reference for this character.

Possible Spoilers in review:

Why I am returning this book:
I can't get past the narrator. The voice as a Midwestern woman was mostly fine, but as pointed out by others "parker" for "parka," and not just that but "parrrkerrr." Brits have a problem with the "ah" at the end of American English, and this is supposed to be an American character. It was very distracting. Overenunciating words, and really bad versions of what's supposed to be male voices, including Native American males with unbelievable accents. Her voice for the child was extremely annoying. Unfortunately, the narrator was not up to this particular challenge as a voice actor. Perhaps starting with a woman with a naturally deeper voice would've helped.

I couldn't get into the story because of the narration, but there are a couple of things that Aaronovitch either needs to research more about or stay away from. No FBI agent - or knowledgeable gun owner - in the US is going to put a loaded pistol in a car cup holder. Ever. Please learn about actual gun ownership and handling. Gun owners will normally either have the correct equipment for the car, or they'll carry it. Did appreciate that he got the good brands in like Mossberg shotguns. Women in the Midwest don't wash bras every day. Maybe in Texas in the summer, but not the Midwest in winter. Ludicrous to think that a women would take off absolutely everything including her underwear around men she doesn't know in order to have a guy wash them. It makes the author seem like he knows zero about women. Midwestern Christians would never say "goddamn" no matter what, and she flings these bombs around like it's normal. Lay pastors are never going to suggest taking a woman to show your bigoted mother as a partner, even as a joke. Funny, yes, but the joke ruined the character as somewhat believable. Yes, I do expect somewhat believable main characters in a book where the unbelievable happens. That's what makes them fun.

I couldn't finish the audiobook. Will get the print versions, where I am much more likely to overlook the things that bothered me about the audio version.

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9 people found this helpful