Rivers of London: Body Work, #3

Rivers of London: Body Work #3

by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan (Artist)

An all-new Rivers of London original comic series, written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel!

The members – all two of them – of London’s most secret police force are on the trail of a self-driving killer car. But it takes something weird to catch something weird and soon they are behind the wheel of… The Most Haunted Car in England!

Written by Doctor Who writer Ben Aaronovitch (Remembrance of the Daleks) and set in the world of his own bestselling novels, with Doctor Who showrunner Andrew Cartmel.

Rivers of London – Body Work is written in continuity with the novels – not an adaptation – this is an all-new story set between books four and five.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Magic

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 16, 2015

About the author

Ben Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series.

Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.

Reviews

[Orient · Rating 5 out of 5]

A killer car is what I needed today :D

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story is still interesting and a nice little history of the Folly thrown in

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a couple of the Rivers of London novels, but this was my first of the graphic novels. The story is interesting, and moves along quicker than in the novels. The art work is lovely, and it's great to put some faces to the names. Somehow I started at #3 despite my best intentions. I will have to get the others as well.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good entry in the series. Love the cast and how everyone works together.

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The following is a review for the entirety of Body Works, one through five, as I read the combined edition rather than the individual chapters…


I’m a big fan of the Peter Grant series, and yet I’ve avoided the graphic novels for one reason: I’m not a fan of graphic novels. I’ve tried to get into them a few times, yet I find it extremely difficult. I can understand the appeal, I can see why there are so many graphic novel fans out there, but I doubt I will ever be one. Nevertheless, my curiosity about the Peter Grant graphic novels remained. Thus, I decided it was time to borrow Body Work from the library.

With this one, it’s very much a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”. As I’ve stated, I’m not a graphic novel fan. Although this was a nice addition to the Peter Grant storyline, it didn’t do much for me. There was no point where my feelings reached the high they do when I am reading one of the novels. It was okay, but it was not enough to blow my mind – making it a rounded down two-point-five-star rating.

If you do enjoy graphic novels and you’re a fan of the Peter Grant stories, then you should certainly give the graphic novels a read – it is a nice extra for fans, but it is not something I will be reading more of.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, fun, fun! Engaging, even though I'm accidentally starting partway through the series. Easy to follow and worth the read.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first try of a graphic novel. A VERY quick read, and enjoyable. But if I had not been reading the novels I would have been totally lost. It didn’t help that the library shows this as the first in the series, it is actually the 3rd.

I found the appearance of some of the characters do not conform to the vision in my head based on the novels, especially Peter. Rather confusing!

[Peter Longden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is episode three of five and is building up the story with suitable cliffhanger moments that would have built anticipation when waiting for the next periodic release. Reading it without the delays is not to detract from its enjoyment.
Superb mystery and magic storytelling.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Police officers investigate paranormal crimes.

This book had reasonable artwork and storyline - but nothing special.

Overall rating 2.5

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Grade = 88% - B+

[Lynne Cosmano · Rating 3 out of 5]

graphic novels are too short...prefer the regular Rivers of London paperbacks

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can you not like a book about possessed cars!
Great fun!

[Amy Muzaffar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not really sure how I got this graphic novel, but I thought I’d give it a try. It was pretty fun, but I’m just not a big graphic novel fan.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story and graphics . One of my all time favorite series

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK
Intriguing and original.

#3
Strangely, people aren’t always best pleased to see the police. Especially if they have something to hide. You get to know the look.

[Tiina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kummitavad autod? I'm in.

[Jenn "JR" · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review for Body Work #1

[Andrea (mrsaubergine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh, now we have some suspicious activity and some action. More snark and great illustrations. On to the next one!

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally getting around to finishing reading these - I was frustrated with how short the first one was before I realized they really are comic books, not graphic novels. Having listened to the Rivers of London books over and over on audio, I was actually not super happy at first to have pictures to look at. But I got used to it and was able to skim over the faces that looked wrong to me and I actually loved the details of rooms and buildings that I haven't been able to fully picture. Over all a great story.
I have to say that as a non-comic reader - I read them occasionally but since I didn't read them as a child they still feel a little like a foreign language to me - the guided reading feature of the Comixology app made it a much better experience for me. Going panel by panel made it much more enjoyable to read for me.

[Michael Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read most of the graphic ROL, and really, really enjoyed them. This one, though, was *nowhere* near as interesting as the others. The plot---basically warmed-over Stephen King's 'Christine'--was, IMO, paint-by-numbers compared to his other graphic episodes, the characters perfunctory, the dialogue tired and flat--*not* what I have come to expect from BA et al. I found the back-end vignettes more amusing and entertaining, especially the one when Molly is hacking up a piece of meat (where's her carnivore's teeth?) and in the final frame, Grant delivers a deliciously dead-pan pay-off line so saharan dry that if I had a tail, it would be wagging it like Toby's at industrial strength. Overall, I'd rate this one B-; has done better.

[Writerlibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is set between Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer. A set of 5 graphic novels where Peter is called on the scene of a death by diving with a car into the river and finds himself following the trail of a possessed automobile. The past is not far behind as Nightingale finds out. Homocidal cars, haunted houses, Peter can't catch a break. Fun and a very good fit in the series.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I wasn't blown away with the paperback series (concerning a London detective squad tackling supernatural events) and this graphic-novel spinoff doesn't do any better—the possessed-car villain isn't impressive and the narrative was very disjointed (I don't think this is the right edition by the way but it's the best I could do).

[Tria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

[Trelawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying this side story and the bonus of a graphic novel is putting fads to names.

[Mothwing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sentient cars and magic windscreens. What's not to enjoy.

[Jenette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the interactions here with the wider police force, like none of them really want anything to do with Falcon but if it solves the case...

[Hayleigh]

Sahra is my favourite character in this :)

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

4GR*

[Steve Gillway]

Great idea. The pictures are striking and the story is in keeping to the Peter Grant books. Great