The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch

 As a huge fan of the Rivers Of London novels I was really looking forward to this novella.  So much so I actually purchased it in hardcover instead of on my eReader.  I have to REALLY like a series or author to buy a physical book as my bookshelves are groaning so I tend to prefer the digital format.  This one made the cut though and I am really happy with that decision.

The main thing that you notice is that it seems in this Urban Fantasy World you have to be snarky and sarcastic to be a practitioner.  Tobias Winter has that facet to his character and I fully understand why some reviewers felt like they could hear Peter Grant talking through him.  For me, the character is different enough that I did not feel this way but some of the characteristics are very reminiscent of Grant (I suspect they are this way because this is Mr Aaronovitch's personality coming through his writing).  I also really enjoyed all the little nods back to The Folly and the thought of Tobias Winter getting his longed for visit there makes me squee and jump up and down in my comfy reading chair.

The main plotline is decribed very well in the story blurb so I am not going to touch on that as I am worried about inadvertantly throwing in a spoiler or 5.  Suffice to say it is was an extremely welcome expansion of the Universe and a great way to bring in new characters and situations.

This review has been a long time coming.  I actually read this book between the 31st March and 3rd April so my memory is a bit foggy about all the plot lines.  Fortunately, I have a notebook where I jot some initial thoughts on the book and an overall ranking so between the book blurb and that I did have a reasonable handle on what I thought at the time of reading.