Sunday, February 8, 2015

Foxglove Summer: By Ben Aaronovitch

FOXGLOVE SUMMER

SUMMARY

When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.

It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get. But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.

Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear....
REVIEW

Ben Aaronovitch is sadistic in the way that he crafts his cliffhangers for the end of his books. The most shocking of which occurred in the previous book in the series, Broken Homes. In this cliffhanger, the faceless man was forcibly released from Peter's capture by none other than Peter's partner, Leslie.


So it comes with no surprise that I, like other fans of the series, have been eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Foxglove Summer. Foxglove Summer takes place after the dust has settled on the affair. Peter has been questioned thoroughly, Leslie is still missing, and moral is at an all time low. The books self contained mystery focuses on the kidnapping of two little girls out in the country. Peter is sent out to investigate and supernatural mayhem ensues.


While Foxglove Summer does little in the way of answering readers questions of why Leslie betrayed the Folly (even though Peter does make some guesses), nor tying up any of that storyline, or even facing off against the faceless man again, it does act as a sort of cathartic release for Peter. Aaronovitch does a fantastic job delving into the suffering, frustration, and betrayal that Peter feels without over doing it. The raw emotions are fantastic, feel very realistic, and once again show the talent that Aaronovitch has at his disposal.


In summary, I thought Foxglove Summer was one of the better books in the series. There was action, fun dialog, and the story moves at a clipping pace. All in all Aaronovitch appears to improve with every book he writes and it makes it so there is little else fans of the series can do but further recommend this superb series.

INFO

Published: January 6, 2015

Publisher: DAW

Price: $7.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Foxglove-Summer-Rivers-London-Novel-ebook/dp/B00INIYHQ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1423456875&sr=1-1&keywords=ben+aaronovitch

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