Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Broken Homes  By  cover art

Broken Homes

By: Ben Aaronovitch
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.15

Buy for $18.15

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Ben Aaronovitch has stormed the bestseller list with his superb London crime series. A unique blend of police procedural, loving detail about the greatest character of all, London, and a dash of the supernatural.

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil; an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common or garden serial killer? Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load. So far so London. But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on an housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate. Is there a connection? And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?

Full of warmth, sly humour and a rich cornucopia of things you never knew about London, Aaronovitch's series has swiftly added Grant's magical London to Rebus' Edinburgh and Morse's Oxford as a destination of choice for those who love their crime with something a little extra.

Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Kobna is a Film, Theatre, Television and Radio actor. His television credits include Little Britain, Saxondale, Pulling, Taking the Flak, Star Stories and Sirens; his theatre credits include lead roles at the National, Tricycle, Young Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange, Bush and Shakespeare's Globe theatres and he has also been in numerous BBC radio plays. He has voiced audiobooks by Alastair Reynolds and Ben Aaronovitch for Orion.

©2013 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2013 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about Broken Homes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    189
  • 4 Stars
    66
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    214
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    160
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Next book in a wonderful series great narration

Always a pleasure to come across another in the "Folly" series by Ben Aaronovitch. This one combines all the hallmarks of the others starting with Kobna Holdbrook-Smiths superb vocal range bringing each of the many characters to life magic, a superbly street wise Peter Grant and an author that knows London inside out. The character of the Nightingale is an invention of pure brilliance and the description of the battle between him and the Russian practitioner is excellent. The twist right at the end catches one unawares. If there was a criticism it might be that the cast is getting very large and occasionally confusing, not everyone in the previous books needs to make an appearance in the current volume. I downloaded the book and in 2 days had finished listening as I found it so entertaining. Hope to see more of the Nightingale's back - story in the next work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

there is a sting at the end

What made the experience of listening to Broken Homes the most enjoyable?

the 4th book in the peter grant series ventures south of the river, with our heroes having to face (or faceless) not 1 but 2 enemies.

The story has some nasty suprises waiting and aaronovich manages to keep a lot hidden by leaving some very obvious things out in the open, only at the end you see how the obvious and the hidden combine

clever

as always the style and accents of holdbrook smith adds greatly to the story and even takes in the difference in lesley's voice as she had another operation

The bits of info on london reveal (once again) how much knowlegde and research aaronovich has.

Fun to read even if you will end up cursing at the end

so mr aaronovich go away and write another one

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

yes, there is a very obvious bit of the plot that makes you think "peter you blind one, connect the dots" only to find out that there is a lot more

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

the rest of the series, he has a good voice, giving life to a copper of african desent, a classic english gentleman, a seaside girl and many more

brilliant

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

this time its personal

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Creepy, addictive, exciting, delicious

Kobna Holbrook-Smith is my favourite audible reader! And he makes a sexy and intriguing Peter Grant. Great series, on to the next one immediately!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A superb book perfectly narrated

Sometime you get that magical combination of the perfect book with the perfect narrator. In the case of the Rivers of London series this is true of the whole series including this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best audio book series

This series is fantastic - a great combination of engaging, clever stories matched with the perfect narrator. Kobna is the best narrator I’ve come across yet and I’m currently working my way through the series for a second time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Saved by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith!

I really loved the first three books in the Rivers of London series. Compared to those books, this fourth one was a bit of a disappointment. There were so many names and seemingly unconnected (and unnecessary) storylines that it was very hard to keep track of what was happening and how everything tied in to the main plot (it was at moments even hard to figure out which of the storylines *was* the main plot).

At several moments I almost gave up, but I’m glad that I didn’t. The ending made me want to dive into the fifth book immediately.

While I didn’t really feel for the story, I once again absolutely *loved* Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s performance. He is so good at this, I would even listen to him narrate the operating manual of my car.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love/hate

I hate it, I guess it but it's to well written not to love and 7 hope he will bringe her to the light once again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another great one!

Enjoyed every second of the book. Every time I thought it couldn't get more interesting and engaging it just did exactly that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great fun

worth listening and relistening to. The narrator brings the story to life in an extraordinary manner.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Kobna ruins me for all other narrators

Any additional comments?

Love this series, even if this novel felt more like a breather episode than super-relevant to the overall plot. Kobna nails the voices as per usual.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!