Satisfaction

You know the feeling when you start something and you just know it's going to be exactly right?  Like when you're in the movie theater and the lights dim and the music comes up and you see the familiar Star Wars scroll across the screen, or when you walk into Mariah's house and you smell carnitas and you're just like, BAM! Yes, that's going to be exactly it.

That is exactly how I felt when I heard Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's voice when I first hit Play on Ben Aaronovitch's Moon Over Soho.  I really loved Midnight Riot, the first book in Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, about recently graduated cop Peter Grant, who finishes up his probationary period only to find himself selected for the supernatural beat. I looked back over my blog and I can't believe I didn't review it, because it was a fun, smart supernatural thriller with a great cast of characters and a narrator with a really wonderful voice.

And speaking of voice, I could listen to these audiobooks all day.  Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is the name of the actor who reads the audiobooks, and he's amazing.  He does a huge range of accents, from nasal soccer moms to a Glaswegian coroner, from the earthy mother spirit of the river to Peter's precise, upper-crust mentor.  It's a full acting job, and Peter's weary, pragmatic take on what it takes to be a police officer (85% of the time, patience with drunks) are perfectly rendered. 


I just started the new book today, but just hearing his voice pour out of the car speakers left me feeling like something wonderful was happening.  It's just the feeling you want when you start a new book; I am all in.