Grim Repast

Warhammer Crime

By: Marc Collins

Narrated by: Richard Reed

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A Warhammer Crime Story

Tormented by his past, Probator Quillon Drask’s reputation as the go-to detective for strange crimes has led him to the Polaris district of Varangantua. Warring families, corrupt officials, and a monstrous hunger stalk these streets, and Drask must overcome his own inner agonies to bring justice to the tormented city.

Listen to it because

See the world of the 41st millennium from street level, in a grisly crime drama that shines a light on what life is like in the Imperium's rancid underbelly.

The story

'This city eats men....'

Quillon Drask is a haunted man, wrestling with the daemons of his past. With a reputation that draws only the strangest cases, he is intimately familiar with the malevolent underbelly of Varangantua. Yet nothing that has gone before could have prepared the probator for the horrors which now blight the district of Polaris.

Faced with a savage crime with frightening implications, Drask is thrust into a game of corruption and conspiracy, warring families and blasphemous revelations. Only by mastering the bitter lessons of his career and his own tortured past can Drask hope to bring the perpetrators to justice, and curb the monstrous hunger which stalks the city.

Written by Marc Collins. Running time 9 hours 52 minutes. Narrated by Richard Reed.

©2022 Games Workshop Limited (P)2022 Games Workshop Limited

Loved It

Such a great group of characters! The scene with the priest was just wicked. Great writing and top tier narration.

Really well done.

Grim is right.

I liked the setting and the ever-deepening conspiracy in every chapter. Very dark Warhammer noir.

great narration decent story

The performance is great. The story isn't bad but fairly heavy on repetitive metaphors that can get a little tedious.

Grim indeed

Marc Collins is a rising star in Black Library. Starting off with Short Stories and finally moving onto novels, Marc does a good job at telling a compelling story set in Varangantua. We follow Probator (Detective) Quillon Drask and his investigation into what seems to be an organ harvesting ring with horrific butchery of the bodies. As things get deeper, Drask finds out that these murders may tie into the very history of the planet Alecto itself.
I found Drask to be a good protagonist and compelling character in his own right. I was glad of his character's resolution and where it ended.
The mystery itself was good and the twists and turns it took were indeed worthy of the book's title. I recommend this book as well for Richard Reed's narration.

grimdark at ground level

If you are wondering how a chaos cult could grow under the nose of Arbites/planetary government/the big I, this book is your answer

Decent 40k novel, but the formula is wearing thin

Grim Repast was a decent enough Warhammer Crime novel, but the formula is wearing a bit thin.

The novel features our protagonist Quillon Drask. There is nothing super interesting about Quillon, he is a morally gray enforcer in the unimaginably big city of Varangantua. He fights crime and wants to do the right thing while working under the most brutal regime imaginable. Our adventure is set in a polar district of Alecto. While we have a new district, we don't really learn anything new about the planet. The one defining feature of our setting seems to be that it's less populated than the previous parts of the city we've seen.

The story very much echos Bloodlines.... cop who was once great now past his prime and handed a case. He starts investigating, things start pointing towards important people. Quillon is of course told to stop investigating and of course he doesn't. The story and the twists are different from Bloodlines, but overall it still has very much a similar feeling. Nothing really sets this book apart.

We do get a mildly interesting twist at the end. But again, it's nothing we haven't seen in 40k before.

Ultimately I give this audio book 3.5 stars overall (rounded up to a 4 for the purposes of this review because I feel like a 3 is too harsh). I was entertained while listening to this book, there is just nothing there that sets it apart. If you are a fan of the previous Warhammer Crime novels, you'll like this just fine. If you've read the previous two Crime novels and are on the fence, this one won't push on over to being a fan.

Narration was good, but Richard Reed is always good, definitely 5 stars there.

Shut up and take MY MONEY

Top 5 40k novels I’ve ever read, been reading them since 6th grade. And I’m 34. MORE WARHAMMER CRIME NOVELS, SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.

A wonderful noir in the trappings of Warhammer 40k

There aren't too many stories that feature such rich soliloquy as this one. If you like introspective protagonists and equal parts metaphor to fact, then this will do nicely.

Flowery dramatic writing

i enjoy all the warhammer crime but this story was definitely on the more dramatic side, with monologues closer to what would be in a play rather than a police procedural. Nearly no moments of levity, and very methodical in unfolding the plot. it did have excellent voice work by Richard Reed an I look forward to hearing him in more Black library works.

While I look forward to more of other Warhammer Crime story lines more, I wouldn't mind returning to more Drask in the future.

Love 40k Crime, not the best

Okay so I would have really liked to give a 3.5 for story but its not an option. Story was not bad and there was tons of cool stuff that happened, however to me the mystery part was quite predictable, especially given the tone/plot of the last two books. That for me killed it a bit. The writing was good, and I liked Quillon and all the side characters. Narration was excellent and I loved the finale scene. I just couldn't quite give it 4 stars because I saw the 'twist' a mile away. Although that may have been a mistake on my part mistaking it as more a mystery.

That is really my only complaint! Liked it will be reading the next one and would read more about Quillon.