Books: Lies Sleeping By Ben Aaronovitch (2018)

“Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice. But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan. A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague–Lesley May–who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch.”

The seventh novel in the River of London series, I found myself a bit bored with Aaronovitch’s detailed research. While I appreciate his efforts to create a real, believable, smell inducing world, one where readers of the procedural novels like more and less than the “magical” aspects, I also felt his obsession with talking about buildings, their history and such, took the place of characters and situations. I trust he knows what he’s doing, but the history lesson became a bit pedantic as the book went along.

I was also a bit disappointed with the Faceless Man 2.0, Martin Chorley. At the back of my mind, I wondered when Aaronvitch would introduce the legend of King Arthur into the series, along with the power behind the King, Merlin and Excalibur. It comes here, but Chorley, in the end, turns out to be a low-level Bond villain when its revealed his plan is just to reset world to a more simpler time.

I’m also learning that the recent novellas are having little impact on the main series, but the graphic novels (currently nine) that have come out between books are becoming more prominent and referenced in those novels. And this could become a problem in the long run, as the series continues to grow in volumes. It forces Aaronovtich to create more characters, more subplots (some that are short, others that take longer to payoff), and spread his story through too many media prints. I’m not a reader of the graphic novels and from my perspective, they should not impact the main series, especially since some fans are claiming graphic novels is seemly looking to be a higher priority with the author than the print books.

There is some humor in it, but not as much as earlier books, which implies that Peter is growing up; it’s both nice and sad at the same time. False Value is next in the series, but maybe I’ll wait to read it. Besides, in March sees the paperback release of book nine and then I’ll be caught up. So maybe I’ll read something else before the end of 2022.