Scan barcode
A review by zefrog
The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
3.0
As any book from the Rivers of London (RoL) series, of which this is a spin off, The October Man is enjoyable to read and amusing. However it has several serious flaws.
The story is set not in London, or even in England, like the rest of the books, but in Trier, a small town in Germany on the banks of the Mosel and one of its tributaries: the Kyll.
While the whodunnit-style plot benefits from the tightness necessary in the novella form, the story feels very much like a simple transposition of a RoL story, rather than something really different.
The main character too, Tobias Winter, Peter Grant's German alter ego, remains pretty much a blank slate throughout the book. He could very much have benefitted from being given more background and a stronger characterisation. This would have enhanced my enjoyment greatly.
The story is set not in London, or even in England, like the rest of the books, but in Trier, a small town in Germany on the banks of the Mosel and one of its tributaries: the Kyll.
While the whodunnit-style plot benefits from the tightness necessary in the novella form, the story feels very much like a simple transposition of a RoL story, rather than something really different.
The main character too, Tobias Winter, Peter Grant's German alter ego, remains pretty much a blank slate throughout the book. He could very much have benefitted from being given more background and a stronger characterisation. This would have enhanced my enjoyment greatly.