Ben Aaronovitch: Whispers Under Ground

Hi everyone

Whispers Under Ground is the third book in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch.
I read my dad’s copy and it has 418 pages.
You can find all my reviews of the books in the series here.

                                *   SPOILERS   *

Aaronovitch’s writing flows nicely, is easy to read and very atmospheric. I like the many pop-culture references; they made the book very realistic, almost as if Peter is a friend with similar tastes in movies and books.

Lesley’s back! And I am very happy with that. She’s smart, witty and so very funny.
The romantic tension between Lesley and Peter is much lighter than before and I’m glad about that too; I like their relationship the way it is.
Peter is a very relatable character. He’s a wise-ass but he’s also scarred when he should be, he does some stupid things and he’s quick on the uptake. I like him a lot. And I love it that he’s mixed race. The stories about his family make me laugh so hard but while raising awareness. There’s a gay officer, a PC wearing a hijab, … Love that.
The new characters are great and I hope they’ll be back in the next books.

There’s not as much magic involved in the plot this time. I missed the magic lessons and Peter analyzing everything magical; those were some of my favorite scenes in the other books. But the lessons are going very slow now, and it feels as if he’s barely making progress.
The book is not as much focused on the magic as on the investigation. The actual police investigation is quite boring.
I loved the setting, the London Tube is fascinating but that’s about it for history and sightseeing in this story. We still get some info about London, but not as much as before.

There’s a lot going on so the chapters’ organization by the days of the week helped to keep up with everything. The book is really fast-paced and action-packed. And it’s so funny!

The Peter Grant series is by far not as dark as The Dresden Files, but is has its grim moments too.

I hope Aaronovitch will work with a publisher to make his own tour guide of London. That would be great.

So far, I like the big story-arc but our Faceless Man is a bit cartoonlike. I’m excited to see where this will go.

4 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena