“‘The uncanny,’ said Nightingale. ‘It always leaves a trace.’’

This may not have been the best book to take on my first e-reader ride. I stayed connected enough, and will grab an ebook in a pinch, but I’ll probably stick to my first love: the trade paperback. But you came here for my opinion on “Midnight Riot” (“Rivers of London” UK) and not how much I hate being dragged into the truly very accessible parts of the 21st century (maybe I will check out a Kindle?) I’ll keep it sweet: Aaronovitch created a stellar magical system, complete with interwoven lore and canon, amongst an incredibly diverse cast of characters, all within a surprisingly dark, and unique crime noir. The setting, traveling pace, and dialogue all worked so well. Aaronivitch proves quite easily that the multi-class noir genre is a slam dunk: there’s nothing like a little fantasy in the mystery to ratchet up the intensity element. And, I can’t explain how much the culturally rich background of the narrative itself set this apart from many other contemporary fantasies I’ve read, really great structural work.

That being said…all the titty talk lost me. Now, let’s be clear, I do love titty talk, but needless and cloyingly pervy titty talk gets a little annoying when that’s, like, the only thing of value placed on the women in the novel. Titty this, breast that, jeez dude. At first I was like, this is kind of like a horny, adult Harry Potter (in a cool way?) and then I was like “Oh, gross, it’s a grown up, adult Harry Potter, in a bad way.” If the majority of the women in this novel had any other autonomy than being an object of misplaced desire or the foil of the protagonist, I’d be more on board.

3/5 A series starting novel has really got to hit for me to commit and I’m steady on the fence about “Midnight Riot.”