Whispers Under Ground

Peter Grant, Book 3

By: Ben Aaronovitch

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher - and the victim's wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom - if it exists at all - is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects...except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer's apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as "the Faceless Man", it's up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and - as of now - deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won't be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She's young, ambitious, beautiful...and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah - that's going to go well.

©2012 Ben Aaronvitch (P)2012 Tantor

Another fun mix of mystery and magic with a slightly noir feel.

The narrator does a fantastic job of bringing voice to Peter’s adventures. I like the growth of the characters and the story was entertaining as well as engaging.

Gets better each book

The story and characters are progressing at a pace that's easy to follow. I appreciate that he slowly learns things. Unlike a movie or book where they suddenly become an expert. Only thing, narrators American accent needs a LOT of work. It was almost comical! I've heard British people complain about bad accents done by Americans, but this is the first time I've ever seen it go the other way! I enjoyed his other character enough that I can overlook it though. I really like the narrator. I've overlooked some truly horrible English and Irish accents in other books that I love.

Amazing all around.

Excellent book (start the series from book 1 if you haven’t already!). The narration is outstanding - it added to my enjoyment of the entire series!

Love every book in the series.

Loved every book in the Rivers series. Terrifically talented narrator! Well worth the credit! Buy or listen to the short stories, too.

Highly recommended

Extremely well written series, funny, clever, and suspenseful. Set in London, England, and the history and cultural references are definitely part of the fun. Reader has a flexible, warm voice, hits the dry humour note-perfect and does the various accents from cockney geezer to Sierra Leone expat quite wonderfully, as far as I can tell. Sub themes of jazz and architecture. Great writing and great reading, and each book digs constable Peter Grant in deeper into a beautifully realized world of magic and policing.

Loved this series

I loved this entire series. I love how fun and over the top the writing is. I loved all the characters. Finally a fantasy that portrays men and women as real 3 dimensional people, even when they are completely crazy. The narrator is simply one the best I have heard on Audible. I put him in the same category as Stephen Fry. The different voices he has for the different characters is fabulous. The author's affection for London is apparent and really makes London another character in the book, which I loved. Just can't recommend highly enough. So much fun. I just can't wait until book 4.

Do we really sound like that?

Would you listen to Whispers Under Ground again? Why?

Yes I would and probably will. I really like this series and the characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character in particular draws me in because even though he is steeped in a magical world he uses his background in science to understand what is happening and not using it as a reason to close his eyes to what is going on around him.

Any additional comments?

I tend to have trouble with accents and this one has been pretty troublesome for me. I'm serious considering buying the rest of this series in print simply because I find it hard to understand. Being American there were quite a few times that I wondered if that was really how we sounded to the English or was it just bad training on his accent work. It makes me worry that the English accents I've heard before were done in the same twisted way the American accents were done here. Do the English hear our American narrators and cringe when they do an English accent? At the same time I probably would still be mispronouncing basic English words and titles if I only had the print version.

mystery and magic

I am loving this series. There are a couple of interesting new characters in this one plus you get to go in the London underground

Just Keeps Getting Better

This third book in the Peter Grant series is the best so far. Peter now has a friend and co-worker in the Folly, Constable Lesley May (former victim of magic and now learning to be a practitioner). While their boss Nightingale is searching for the illegally trained and unlicensed wizards in Britain in order to catch the "Faceless Man," Peter and Lesley encounter ghosts, semi-feys, fairies, elves, goblins, River spirits, a rogue FBI agent from the US, and all the regular (ordinary?) characters.

As usual, the story is told with great panache, wit, and humor, providing many laugh-out-loud moments. Author Ben Aaronovitch displays in these books an almost unbelievable breadth of imagination, and delights me when he comes up with a really fresh twist on the existence and coexistence of magical and non-magical elements in current-day London. His inventiveness and humor sometimes call to mind the very different, but also wildly inventive, humor of Jasper Fforde in the Thursday Next novels.

I am already impatient for the next installment of Peter Grant's adventures. Long may he live to have many, many more.

Book 3. Now we are getting somewhere!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this is a great read and the narrarator does a bang up job!

What other book might you compare Whispers Under Ground to and why?

Kind of Neal Gaiman meets Jim Butcher with a little Harry Potter thrown in for flavor.

Have you listened to any of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator performed the other two books in this series and continues to do a great job. I would listen to this guy on any other books gladly.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The impact of the damages on Leslie May was touching. It also shows that sometimes you have to pay a price for the good guys to win.

Any additional comments?

The series has steadily improved so far. I look forward to the next book which is availabble in the UK but not here (BOO!).