Listen free for 30 days
-
The October Man
- A Rivers of London Novella
- Narrated by: Sam Peter Jackson
- Series: Rivers of London Series, Book 6.2
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £14.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Lies Sleeping
- Rivers of London, Book 7
- By: Ben Aaronovitch
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice. But even as the unwieldly might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long-term plan.
-
-
Love these characters and these books.
- By Shoppa on 23-11-18
-
Tales from the Folly
- By: Ben Aaronovitch
- Narrated by: Alex Kingston, Ben Aaronovitch, Ben Elliot, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short-story collection from number one Sunday Times best-selling author Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.
-
-
Good Stories, Variable Narration
- By Jonathan Musgrove on 31-08-20
-
What Abigail Did That Summer
- By: Ben Aaronovitch
- Narrated by: Shvorne Marks
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the summer of 2013, and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake. While her cousin, apprentice wizard and police Constable Peter Grant, is off in the sticks chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing, but before the police can get fully engaged, the teens return home - unharmed but vague about where they've been.
-
-
Ruined
- By Mrs. I P. Sowden on 18-03-21
-
Rotherweird
- Rotherweird, Book 1
- By: Andrew Caldecott
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rotherweird is a twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees and Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. The town of Rotherweird stands alone - there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant-garde science and offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history.
-
-
Good story bit hard to follow
- By kate on 05-11-17
-
Mordew
- By: Alex Pheby
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
God lies defeated, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew. On the surface, the streets of this the sea-battered city are slick with the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns - creatures that die and are swept down from the Merchant Quarter by the brooms of the workers and relentless rains, where they rot in the slums. There, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud - until one day his mother, desperate and starving, sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.
-
-
Great reading, an amazing range of voices
- By EEL on 21-03-21
-
Written in Dead Wax
- The Vinyl Detective, Book 1
- By: Andrew Cartmel
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is a record collector and a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the Vinyl Detective, and some people take this more literally than others. For example, the beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording on behalf of an extremely wealthy yet shadowy client. And so begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all....
-
-
BRILLIANT
- By Viv on 07-11-16
-
Lies Sleeping
- Rivers of London, Book 7
- By: Ben Aaronovitch
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice. But even as the unwieldly might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long-term plan.
-
-
Love these characters and these books.
- By Shoppa on 23-11-18
-
Tales from the Folly
- By: Ben Aaronovitch
- Narrated by: Alex Kingston, Ben Aaronovitch, Ben Elliot, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short-story collection from number one Sunday Times best-selling author Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.
-
-
Good Stories, Variable Narration
- By Jonathan Musgrove on 31-08-20
-
What Abigail Did That Summer
- By: Ben Aaronovitch
- Narrated by: Shvorne Marks
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the summer of 2013, and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake. While her cousin, apprentice wizard and police Constable Peter Grant, is off in the sticks chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing, but before the police can get fully engaged, the teens return home - unharmed but vague about where they've been.
-
-
Ruined
- By Mrs. I P. Sowden on 18-03-21
-
Rotherweird
- Rotherweird, Book 1
- By: Andrew Caldecott
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rotherweird is a twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees and Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. The town of Rotherweird stands alone - there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant-garde science and offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history.
-
-
Good story bit hard to follow
- By kate on 05-11-17
-
Mordew
- By: Alex Pheby
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
God lies defeated, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew. On the surface, the streets of this the sea-battered city are slick with the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns - creatures that die and are swept down from the Merchant Quarter by the brooms of the workers and relentless rains, where they rot in the slums. There, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud - until one day his mother, desperate and starving, sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.
-
-
Great reading, an amazing range of voices
- By EEL on 21-03-21
-
Written in Dead Wax
- The Vinyl Detective, Book 1
- By: Andrew Cartmel
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is a record collector and a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the Vinyl Detective, and some people take this more literally than others. For example, the beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording on behalf of an extremely wealthy yet shadowy client. And so begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all....
-
-
BRILLIANT
- By Viv on 07-11-16
-
The Divinities
- Drake & Crane, Book 1
- By: Parker Bilal
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When two bodies are found brutally murdered at a building site in Battersea, DS Calil Drake is first to the scene. Assigned to work with the enigmatic forensic psychologist Dr Rayhana Crane, and on the hunt for an elusive killer, Drake’s investigations lead down the dark corridors of the past to the Iraq war and the destruction he and Crane witnessed there. With a community poised on the brink of violence, Crane and Drake must put their lives on the line to stop the killer before vengeance is unleashed.
-
-
A slog
- By Amazon Customer on 24-06-21
-
The Stranger Times
- Stranger Times, Book 1
- By: C. K. McDonnell
- Narrated by: Brendan McDonald
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), The Stranger Times is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor...well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own.
-
-
Weirdy McWeird wrtes another cracker so he does
- By simon white on 20-03-21
-
The Last Smile in Sunder City
- Fetch Phillips, Book 1
- By: Luke Arnold
- Narrated by: Luke Arnold
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fetch Phillips fought on the wrong side of a war between humans and magical creatures, and his actions helped to drain the world of enchantment. Now he works on the streets of Sunder City, taking what odd jobs he can while trying to help those whose lives he ruined. His first case is to find a missing teacher. Professor Rye is a 400-year-old vampire with a heart of gold in a husk of a body. In a world without magic, most vamps have already crumbled into dust, but Fetch is happy to go looking for some dirt with pointed teeth if it gets him his drinking money.
-
-
A fantastic cross between Sam Spade and the X Men
- By Heather on 09-03-21
-
The 13th Witch
- The King's Watch, Book 1
- By: Mark Hayden
- Narrated by: Ciaran Saward
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster, gets a text – and a visit – from The Allfather. Odin has a challenge for Conrad: Sign up to protect England from wild magick and get a commission in the King’s Watch. All he has to do is find a missing witch. Simple. Conrad never could resist a challenge. Before you can say “Ragnarok”, he’s plunged into a world of gods, mages, witches, dwarves, and one very aggressive giant mole.
-
-
Awful robotic narration.
- By Mel on 22-11-20
-
Just One Damned Thing After Another
- The Chronicles of St Mary's, Book 1
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers the historians there don't just study the past - they revisit it. But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And she soon discovers it's not just History she's fighting....
-
-
Oh Dear
- By Charlotte Hobbs on 30-03-19
-
The Wolves of London
- Obsidian Heart, Book 1
- By: Mark Morris
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Locke is a reformed ex-con forced into London's criminal underworld for one more job. He agrees to steal a priceless artefact - a human heart carved from the blackest obsidian - but when the burglary goes horribly wrong, Alex is plunged into the nightmarish world of the Wolves of London, unearthly assassins who will stop at nothing to reclaim the heart. As he races to unlock the secrets of the mysterious object, Alex must learn to wield its dark power - or be destroyed by it.
-
-
Can't wait for the next one!
- By Magenta on 24-01-15
-
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
-
-
Sells its self as always
- By Amazon Customer on 23-01-19
-
Storm Front
- The Dresden Files, Book 1
- By: Jim Butcher
- Narrated by: James Marsters
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires....
-
-
A great story & brilliantly narrated
- By Tom on 14-08-09
-
The Eyre Affair
- By: Jasper Fforde
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Kruger
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is another 1985, somewhere in the could-have-been, where the Crimean war still rages, dodos are regenerated in home-cloning kits and everyone is deeply disappointed by the ending of 'Jane Eyre'. In this world there are no jet-liners or computers, but there are policemen who can travel across time, a Welsh republic, a great interest in all things literary - and a woman called Thursday Next. In this utterly original and wonderfully funny first novel, Fforde has created a fiesty, loveable heroine and a plot of such richness and ingenuity that it will take your breath away.
-
-
Audio problems mar an otherwise entertaining read
- By Charlie on 06-06-13
-
Saving Time
- A Time Police Novel
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life is good for Team Weird, now heroes and fully fledged Time Police officers. Luke can't wait to bear arms. Jane has a date. And Matthew still hasn't had his hair cut. But Time waits for no one, and neither do criminal masterminds. A major threat to the Timeline is looming, one far deadlier than mere idiots who want to change history. And when a familiar face becomes a Very Important Lead, will conflicting family loyalties spell trouble for Team Weird?
-
-
a roller coaster read.
- By rutoap on 17-10-21
-
Cursed
- An Alex Verus Novel
- By: Benedict Jacka
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Things are going well for Alex Verus. He's on moderately good terms with the Council, his apprentice is settling in, and his shop in Camden is gaining quite a reputation. But when a mysterious woman bursts into the Arcana Emporium one night with an assassin on her tail, Alex is thrown into a plot to revive a long-forbidden ritual.
-
-
They got the series :)
- By Kindle Customer on 25-05-15
-
London Falling
- The Shadow Police, Book One
- By: Paul Cornell
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career. Then his prize suspect, Rob Toshack, is murdered in custody. Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about Toshack’s murder is normal. Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one step ahead of the law - until his luck ran out. Now, the team must find a 'suspect' who can bend space and time and alter memory itself. And they will kill again.
-
-
Starts slow and a bit confusing but stick with it!
- By Beccameriel on 07-07-15
Summary
A brand-new stand-alone novella in the Rivers of London series!
Tobias Winter has been assigned to the Abteilung KDA - the Department for Complex and Unspecific Matters.
Despite the intriguing department name, as Winter explains, dealing with the strange and the supernatural is 'actually 90 percent paperwork'. But this is a story about the other 10 percent of the job: the life-threatening danger part.
This is a tale about the Queen of the Harvest, the October Man, and the little-known time the vineyard around Trier started to eat people....
Winter may be P. C. Peter Grant's German counterpart, but surviving this investigation is entirely down to him....
More from the same
What listeners say about The October Man
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- karohemd
- 15-06-19
Deutschlands Flüsse
First of all, kudos to the producers for finding a bilingual narrator for the new German protagonist. Someone who doesn't speak German well would have mangled all the names and expressions (I'm looking at you, Nicholas Guy Smith, in the Johannes Cabal stories).
Secondly, Ben Aaronovitch clearly put a lot of research into how the German police work, the localities and special terminology (I thought that Besondere Umstände for the special response unit was inspired). I wish more authors would do this when setting a book in a country that isn't their own.
We learn that The Folly isn't the only police force dealing with magic but there are equivalents in other parts of Europe, too, and a little about the history of Newtonian magic there.
I also really liked the story which unravels the mystery nicely as it is cranked up to the final confrontation.
More of Tobias, please, maybe he and Peter can solve a mystery together at some point?
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lauren D'Silva
- 19-07-19
Not a satisfying listen
I really love the Rivers of London series and have listened to all of the others several times over. This story never felt like it got going properly to me. The narrator was acceptable, but not as talented as Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. The story felt thin and none of the characters were particularly interesting or appealing. Suddenly I found myself at the end of the book wondering why so many other fans had rated this one so highly.
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P Barker
- 22-07-19
Oh Dear
having loved the series from the first bookRivers of london was pleased to see a new slant to the stories. How disappointed i have been . The story is convoluted and takes ages to get going . Slipping bits about Nightingale in is teasing but bit seems irrelevant to the story.. The narrator is pretty good and does his best but unlike the other books I will not be reccomending this to friends .
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dentheprint
- 03-07-19
Not Worthy
Really shouldn’t be considered a Rivers of London Novella. The magic is so underplayed as to be inconsequential. I thought the story was weak along with the characters. Pointless purchase.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 16-07-19
Disappointing
I have listened to all of the Rivers of London main books and was really looking forward to this one but am feeling a bit disappointed. The magic was there but the twists weren't. I also spent most of the book trying to decipher which German named person was who as these names didn't stick at all. I also missed the places in London which I know from visiting throughout my life. For an audible monthly purchase there wasn't much book for my money. I hope his next book is really something to get my teeth into as this one really fell short.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul
- 30-06-19
Disappointing compared with previous of the series
I'm a big fan of the previous books of the Rivers of London series and have read each of them them several times. However, the main character in this novella is one dimensional, and, for me, the plot fails to grip. I gave up after the third chapter.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gabriel
- 09-07-19
Must have ran out of ideas
As a fan of the river series I was looking forward to this. Weak story, very little background of the characters and silly German accent by the reader. Really disappointing.
Rehash of other other characters and nothing new. Not recommended.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah
- 30-06-19
Definitely not up to normal standard
I usually love books from Ben Aaronvitch, but it’s just wasn’t the same without narration from kobna holdbrook-smith. I never got into it, it was missing something the previous books had.
Plus for the price it was a very short story. I would of expected something of more length/ quality. I’m hoping a new books will go back to old format otherwise not for me anymore.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ginger guy!
- 14-06-19
Great expansion!
Great addition to the Riververs, well worth a listen can't wait to hear more from Peter Grant in the future.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- GH
- 13-06-19
LOVING THE 128K AUDIO
I was dubious to begin but it quickly becomes a highly entertaining instalment to the series.
Top debut by Sam Peter Jackson. Superbly narrated.
Sounds GREAT in the updated enhanced format.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Seona Ashton
- 29-06-22
Another Ben Aaronovitch winner
This is a dramatic expansion of the series and allows for much more to come from Ben Aaronovitch. I really enjoyed the change of scenery.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- TinkerTaylor
- 17-08-20
rivers of London spin-off
Nice, a German version of the rivers of London. Although Peter Grant and Nightingale are mentioned a couple of times, they are no actors in this story. It stands completely on its own legs.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jolyon Neytzell - de Wilde
- 06-08-19
Not as exciting
Not as exciting as the Peter Grant series, so far.......? Hope it will get better with time as characters settle.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Caroline
- 15-06-19
what a good surprise!
Out of the description I knew the plot would take place in Germany and I thought Peter Grant would have a trip there. I was a bit sad as I read that it wasn't Kobna Holdbrook-Smith reading the novella, I love his voice and couldn't imagine someone else reading a "Rivers of London" book. I was all wrong. First of all Peter is not coming to Germany, we meet a new apprentice, Tobias Winter. And the Rivers are…. well you'll have to listen by yourself. Sam Peter Jackson is the PERFECT reader for this book being English and German. Living in Germany myself it is so nice to hear the german words accentless spoken. He gave life to Tobias in such a convincing way that I missed Peter and Co only a very little bit. That was a wonderful trip to Trier and the Mosel. Dear Mr Ben Aaronovitch you need to be cloned, one of you must resume writing Peter Grant's stories, I want to see his child growing up. And the other one has to show us Tobias and Vanessa dealing with Vater Rhein and meeting the Elbe River ;-).
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anna
- 15-06-19
The German Peter Grant
It’s not Peter but Tobias has a similar voice.
The German folly has moved with the times and has a lot of paperwork, more likely to shoot centre mass than fireballs, genius loci distrusts them even more (with good reason!), it’s a good start to a new series.
Over all it was Enjoyable and I’m hoping there will eventually be cooperation between the Germans and Brit branches of the magical police.