Quirky, Unusual and Rivettiing

An immensely clever story set against the background of the familiar streets of London.
One can only be grateful that it is fiction, and good blood curdling fun for all of that.
Still, you can’t help wondering if Michael did his homework as he relies heavily on a Roman Catholic world view which the lead character seems to reject without reason in the same paragraph. Puzzling indeed!

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Rating first three Felix Castor books together

I am still conflicted about this book (and series). After reading "The devil you know" I proceeded to read the next two books in series. I didn´t have a problem with the narrator (as many people do) - but I am not a native speaker, so I am not really sensitive to accents and all that stuff.
After the first book, I liked the author´s style. The detective plotline was intriguing, I liked the setting and it kinda reminded me of my beloved Dresden Files.
But the more books I read, the more disappointed I became.
1) The characters fail to get any real depth, I found it really hard to connect with them or even like them. They do not evolve, they do not change, they do not have any real...well character.
2) Felix Castor NEVER goes to the hospital when he is hurt or reports anything to the police. Why the hell? He is not even a private detective. And he is just a human (who is nearly dying sometimes)! This simply doesn´t make sense.
3) The books feel like action pumped scenes put together - there is no time to slow down, observe the emotions or thoughts of the characters. It is just bam-bam-bam. Action, action, small talk, action. It almost feels as if the author wrote the scenes apart and then arranged them somehow in order - not managing to reflect in them the mindset or physical health of characters, as it changes during the course of events.
4) Felix is almost never wrong, always gets all the slightest nudges, knows when someone is lying, etc even though we as readers have no idea how he came to this revelation. I found that frustrating.

I loved many of the authors' ideas. I am still curious how the world will evolve in the next books.
But I´ve simply had enough.
I´m not saying the books are bad. They just didn't work for me.

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Intriguing and a grower

I wasn't convinced when first starting this but after some perseverance it developed into a really good listen. So much so I will continue the series. Good listening.

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A refreshing slice of London Noir

I’m surprised I’ve not come across these books before but glad that I’ve finally found them.

The main character (Felix Castor) has a slight touch of the John Constantine’s but generally more polished and less sleazy. If you are a fan of the Hellblazer comics or Peter McLean’s Burned Man books you will love this.

As a Londoner I did find the narrators accent a little eccentric but it did not detract from they story or the overall performance.

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Must-read for Neil Gaimen fans

Mike Carey usually writes comics and TV shows which is a shame because he's one of the best fantasy novel authors out there.

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1 person found this helpful

Narrated by Toast of London?

Brilliant world building and genius storytelling is ruined by the wrong narrator. Oh, to have this re-recorded by someone who can pronounce English words like a Londoner.

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Good story and very good narrator

Very engaging story, with a good story teller. I more or less listened non-stop except for sleep time.

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Great fun and world building

If you like Rivers of London this is a very nice substitute between books. It sets up a series well without leaving lots of loose ends and I am looking forward to staying with the characters for a few books. The narrator is an odd choice, his accent work is weird and I feel like someone needs to him how to pronounce "arse", but he is not unlistenable.

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Enjoyable story, but narrator not my cuppa

I enjoyed the story, although a little linear for me. The book is based in London, but there are lots of Americanisms in the phrasing & the narrator, while having a pleasant voice, is just too American to play an English character.

if you can forgive the messy geography in vocal vs setting, then it's a good easy listening book.

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2 people found this helpful

great story, wrong voiceover artist?

the pulpy occultism is well-realised and the many characters are nicely played, however the choice of an American voice constantly having to adopt regional UK accents and colloquialisms regularly trips up; Castor comes across as sardonic and sleazy but the long 'a' in British English is repeatedly and annoyingly misused in words like passenger, which took me out of the plot immersion

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2 people found this helpful