Lies sleeping read and review
Lies sleeping
“schools that were a little less “colorful” pg. 15 I take it “colorful” is a polite way to say diversity and he’s moving to a more WASPy school
“I know my governor occasionally fantasies about digging up his corpse and setting it on fire.” pg. 17 Ha
“Guleed fussed with her hijab, an unusually plain one for her, police issue and designed to tear away if somebody were to grab it.” pg. 21 That’s nice they have police issues hijabs
“Where the fuck is Nightingale?” pg. 25 My eternal question
“She tried to bite his throat right out,” pg. 25 Oh dear
“Can you teach me?”
She laughed.
“Michael specifically said I wasn’t allowed to. No matter what you said.”
“Why not?”
“Because Nightingale called him up and told him to refuse if you asked.”
“Did he say why?”
“Because you should master at least one tradition before you move on to the next.” pg. 28 Ha
“In the hallway he’d found the nanny chewing on Richard William’s neck.” pg. 33 Oh dear
“Pale Nanny” pg. 38 So like the Pale Lady
“Bev defrosted the mince by dragging it out of the freezer and glaring at it until it melted. She’s done it before and it takes under a minute. My current working hypothesis is that she’s scaring the water molecules into a state of excitation.” pg. 41 Ha
“I think the Soho Lady and the Pale Nanny were High Fae.” pg. 43 Oh
“Abigail” pg. 45 Anigail!
“That’s because I’m in love” pg. 48 Aww
“Unfortunately we don’t have a PACE compliant custody suite otherwise we’d be able to bang suspects up and subject them to Molly’s cooking until they confessed or exploded - whichever came first.” pg. 51 Ha
“They’re all so ridiculously young,” said Nightingale” pg. 53 Yep and your incredibly old
“Seawoll glared at me - not at Guleed, you notice, who was the apple of his professional eye - but at me.” pg. 56 Ha and Guleed is great
“It means ‘Prepare yourself for the roaring voice of the god of joy.” pg. 69 Isn’t that from The Bacchae? Isn’t it about Dionysus? I think I read some of it in college
“I believe you may have inadvertently helped construct an explosive device.” pg. 70 Oh no
“It’s not a trap,” he said.
“What is it, then?”
“I have no idea whatsoever” pg. 73 Ohh Nightingale doesn’t know
“Your governor’s a bit scary, isn’t he?” said Lucy as she checked them.
She’d obviously been given the Nightingale lecture - that explained the increase in caution.
“He’s a big softly, really,” said Guleed with a straight face.” pg. 74 Ha
“Richard seemed happy to talk, eager even, as if none of it was important any more. Looking back perhaps that should have raised more alarm bells than it did.” pg. 75 Oh
“Yes,” he said. “But I didn’t take the magic seriously.”
Nobody does, I thought, until it smacks them in the face.” pg. 77 Ha and yep
“It’s from Euripides. He’s a Greek playwright and he wrote a play called The Bacchae and it’s a quote it. That’s why we nicknamed it ‘the drinking bell’ He gave us reassuring nods. “It’s about Dionysus, the god of winemaking.” pg. 78 I KNEW It! College payed off
“And Dionysus was the god of winemaking, fertility, and the theatre. I didn’t miss that little wrinkle, although looking back I possibly should have followed up a bit harder.” pg. 78 Ohh do I get to use more of what I learned in college? Dionysus also had some mystery cult I wonder if that’ll play a part
“Then before I could react there were three gunshots astonishingly loud, a pause, and before we could react to it that two more.” pg. 79 Oh no where’d you get a gun we’re in England?! This isn’t the U.S.A.
“Peter,” she said. “Richard Williams is dead.” pg. 81 Oh no
“Guleed went home because she has, she says, a deep and mystical understanding of the work-life balance.” pg. 84 Ha
“But very similar to Molly’s. As in the detention.” pg. 91 Ohhh
“Leaving aside dumb luck criminals are mainly caught by systems, not individuals.” pg. 95 Yep the amount of time criminals have been caught be traffic stops is so much
“Special Agent Kimberly Reynolds” pg. 95 Kim!
“When I checked the map I keep on my phone I saw that it lay squarely on the theoretical course of the Walbrook. The river that originally bisected the Roman city north to south.” pg. 103 We’re going to met another River!
“I don’t think Walbrook comes from my mum at all,” said Bev. “I think she’s way older than that.”
“Older than Father Thames?”
“Nobody’s that old.” pg. 110 Ohh
“Nightingale who was practically camping in their foundry room and no doubt swapping manly stories about hitting pieces of metal together.” pg. 114 Ha
“But to keep Nightingale happy, I read a big chunk of Geoffrey Historia Regum Britanniae - the bits about Uther Pendragon and his son Arthur.” pg. 119 Oh should I break out my book of Aurthurian legends?
“Which is why Guleed has a selfie with Michele Obama and I don’t.” pg. 121 Cool
“And then Lesley was standing in the gateway.” pg. 122 OHHH Lesley!!
“You don’t even fucking know what the job is!” shouted Lesley and the bell rang in sympathy.” pg. 125 Ohh
“Do you remember the baby, Peter? Do you even remember his fucking name?”
His name had been Harry Coopertown and not saying it out loud hurt more I expected - but I was so close” pg. 125 Ouch :( I remember that poor baby :(
“The bell sang with the first hammer blow and screamed with the second. And within the scream I heard a familiar laugh and the jingle of merry bells.
What do you want, you hooked nosed bastard? I asked in my head but the third blow cracked the bell and Mister Punch fell silent. I turned away to find Nightingale watching me.
“What did you hear?” he asked.
“Mr. Punch,” I said and asked Nightingale if he heard anything. He shook his head.” pg. 130 Good paragraph, Peter has some trauma and Nightingale is a liar.
“I used to be a straight arrow” she said. “This is your bad influence.” pg. 131 Ha
“Sexual harassing his female students.” pg. 131 Eww
“Lady of the lake” pg. 139 Lots of King Arthur mythology in this book
“Excalibur” pg. 139 More King Arthur lore it’s definitely going to play a part in the story
“Occasionally late at night I wonder whether this is true of Mama Thames and whether perhaps her blessing can make an old man kick his heroin habit and take up his trumpet.” pg. 142 Oh
“Oxley” pg. 145 Oxley!
“King Arthur,” I said “Camelot, Merlin, Excalibur - is any of it real?”
“Define real,” said Oxley
“Real as all this is real. As you and me are real as the Old Man is real, as Nightingale is real.” pg. 151 Oh
“The Old Man took Keep Britain Tidy campaign very seriously.” pg. 158 Good pollution is bad
“Genevieve Nguyen” pg. 161 Oh new person
“I couldn’t be sure but it looked like they’d sprayed the poor thing’s blood around like champagne from a winner’s podium.” pg. 164 Poor goat
“Ritually sacrificed goats, Roman temples, bells infused with the power of ancient stones, and dead wannabe scriptwriters.” pg. 166 It connects somehow? I don’t know how but I know it connects
“Neither Thomas nor Abdul have ever shown any interest beyond the practical in ritual magic,” he said. “Practically if they predate the Newtonian synthesis.” pg. 169 Be more curious Nightingale
“Fuck truth and beauty. We’ve got money and loads of it.” pg. 174 Ha
“Guleed arrived with coffee and word that Stephanopoulos had turned up at the Folly and was getting people in early. She was wearing a brand new black silk bomber jacket with a white tiger and Chinese writing embroidered on the back and sleeves in white and gold and black jeans. Not her normal work wear” pg. 195 Oh is that Michael Cheung jacket?
“No other nation has officially acknowledged the existence of magic, Peter” said Nightingale. “It might be prudent to ask yourself why.” pg. 190 Oh
“Despite taking no official part in the War to End All Wars many wizards volunteered nonetheless and nearly all lost brothers, fathers, and uncles.” pg. 202 Yep
“Well, that’s it,” said Seawoll when we convened for the evening briefing. “We go after Lesley.” pg. 203 Ohhh let’s go!
“Carey strode forward and, before I could stop him, punched Zach in the face - hard enough to stagger him backward.” pg. 216 OH
“Carey had become worrying cheerful. There was definitely something up with David Carey, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it.” pg. 219 Something is going on
“We’d done good cop, bad cop, patiently-trying-to-understand cop, and now we were going to try “I’m on your side really” cop. By rights the last one should never work in a million years, but you’d be surprised. Certainly some people currently doing time have been.” pg. 223 Ha and yep I’ve seen enough police interviews to know it’s true
“They want to summon Mr Punch,” he said.
“Jesus Christ” pg. 227 Same Peter same why do they want to?
“I know for a fact that Nightingale thinks my training has been a bit rough and ready.” pg. 232 Ha and it definitely is
“David Mellemby, Nightingale’s friend and go-to guy for what passed for empiricism at the Folly hadn’t thought much of these “experiments” pg. 234 Glad that Nightingale has friends
“Iya wa, orisa wa
Iya wa, ti o ni ola
Iya wa, ti o ni ewa
Iya wa, titi lailai
Which basically translated as Our mother deity of bounty and beauty. Because if you’re going to propitiate your actual original orisha it’s go hard or go home.” pg. 238 Fun
“Bruv! cried William Tyburn as he dragged me to my feet and hugged me.” pg. 243 Hugs!
“You’ve meet Oberon and the Old Soldiers like him.” pg. 251 Oberon!
“They slit her pretty little neck,” he said. “And threw her in the Walbrook.” pg. 254 Oh no :(
“Mr Punch was a god” pg. 255 Oh no
“And Martin Chorley wanted to sacrifice him.” pg. 256 Why???
“a phone call from Lesley” pg. 300 Ahhh!!! Lesley!
“I read somewhere that two thirds of Americans believe Arthur was a real historical figure,” she said.
“Extraordinary depressing on one level but terribly good for business.” pg. 269 Is King Arthur not based on a real person?
“They made him a god” pg. 253 Oh dear
“Yes, there was a musical tone,” she said. “Like the sword was singing” pg. 273 Oh?
“Suddenly the airbag is as big as an elephant but I’m swinging sideways against my seatbelt as the car flips over.” pg. 308 Oh no :(
“Martian Chorley crouched in the back and behind him a young woman slumped against the van wall, arms extended forward as if chained at the wrist, a look of agony on her face. It was Walbrook.” pg. 311 Oh no
“I found Walbrook furiously pulling the last of her chains off.” pg. 323 Go Walbrook!
“How’s David?” asked Guleed, and I realized I had no idea where Carey was. “Don’t know,” I said. “I’ll check in a minute.” pg. 327 Oh no what happened to David?
“Molly’s eyes narrowed.
“She can’t live here,” I said. “Even if it was allowed, it wouldn’t be right.”
Molly gave me a reproachful look as if that was my fault then turned and went gliding out the door.” pg. 276 Glad Molly likes Abigail
“I pointed out that according to Bev half the enological disasters in the world occurred when people removed “pests” or predators without thinking through the consequences.” pg. 258 Yep
“The story is that they killed his wife and kids in front of him to force him to reveal where he’d buried his treasure. Slowly and painfully and one by one because they didn’t believe him when he said nothing was buried. Because he believed in truth, justice, and the Roman way-so why would he need to bury anything.” pg. 251 Ouch
“Bev came back on line to tell me that no one had thought to check on Walbrook.” pg. 303 Oh no
“So up he sprang. A thing full of hatred and mad laughter, capering through the ashes of the city. Because order did not save his children. Law did not save his wife. And for all his faith in the gods they did nothing.” pg. 252 Ouch
“Then he heard footsteps coming up the road and Nightingale barked:
“On your feet, Grant.”
And I was up before the command had consciousness registered. Nightingale had put himself between me and the broken window.” pg. 320 Go Nightingale!
“You probably shouldn’t have written that policy, then,” she said. “Should you?”
“What about Nightingale and Carey?” I asked because misery loves company.” pg. 329 Ha
“Go see your parents,” Nightingale told me as soon as the briefing broke up. They’re worried about you.” pg. 332 Aww
“Nine beats, three kilometers, a loud crash somewhere to the north.” pg. 334 Could things stop crashing please
“I’m afraid I have bad news,” he said once we were seated. “David Carey is taking indefinite medical leave.” pg. 339 Poor David :(
Oh no Peter got kidnapped
“It’s amazing how little damage the fire did,” pg. 291 Ha
“Not even Nightingale knows what he’s doing half the time.” pg. 339 Unfortunately true
“We’re dating, if you must know,” she said.” pg. 340 Yay Guleed and Mich
“The bus was stop-starting just past Chancery Lane when my phone rang.
“What’s up?” said Lesley.” pg. 346 Lesley?! :0
“Not the king of Camelot
But it’s architect” pg. 362 Merlin?
“Working with,” I said. “I remember. So since when do you care for supernatural folk?”
“I’ve always cared, they’re all people. Except for the ones that are not. And anyway you’ve got to have some standards, haven’t you?” pg. 350 No they’re all people no exceptions
“No moisturizing cream, I noticed - not even some cocoa butter.” pg. 369 The horror
“Come over here, Foxglove,” he said. “I want to introduce you properly.” pg. 364 Oh Foxglove is like Molly
“What if he’s Welsh?”
“What if he is?”
“Then he’s hardly likely to give you back the England you want, is he?” pg. 363 Yep
“He’s going to help us make Britain a better place.”
“Better how?”
“Just better,” she said, the corners of her mouth drawing downward. “Nicer, cleaner, better.” pg. 363 How very vague
“If it was real then snatching me would have blown his cover - good. I hope they threw the bastard to the wild Seawoll. That’d learn him.” pg. 372 Ha
“I wondered what Bev was doing, and hoped it didn’t involve major property damage.” pg. 373 Ha
“I’m an only child so I’ve never been that comfortable sharing a room.” pg. 379 Could not be me I’ve always shared my room with my sister
“And that became the pattern for the days that followed.” pg. 380 Days!?
“Because he went over backward, off the side of the cornice.
And me with him.” pg. 474 Oh dear
“I tried hard not to smile because I know about artists. Well musicians really. But same thing.” pg. 386 Ha
“Caffeine at last, I thought, and saved half the bottle for breakfast.” pg. 387 Why?
“You’re a prisoner?” I asked
The mouth turned mournful.
“Not prisoner,” I asked. “Slave?”
Foxglove’s head dropped and her hands, still invisibly bound, dropped into her lap.” pg. 390 Poor Foxglove :(
“Albert Woodville-Gentle was crippled in a magical duel in 1979 and finally died just after Christmas 2012 - a lucky escape for him, since I’m almost certain Nightingale had plans.” pg. 398
“I stayed where I was and watched as, bent over in pain, Foxglove stumbled back to her bed and lay down curled around her sketchpad face toward the wall. Not knowing what else to do, I retreated to my bed and sat down to watch over her.” pg. 406
“And the next morning there was kippers and jam and coffee and toast and everything was all right in the world.
For about six hours at least.” pg. 433
“Wotcha Abi.” Its voice was breathy but surprisingly deep and cockney.
“All right” said Abigail.
“Is that a cheese puff?” said the fox” pg. 426 TALKING FOX!! Finally talking foxes after three books of asking, they’re here!!
“I always worry when Nightingale goes all Band of Brothers on us which is one of the reasons I took up feeding the multitudes as a distraction.” pg. 431 Poor Nightingale :(
“Then he fell twitching to the floor - I knew that twitch. I’ve suffered it myself. There were wires trailing from his back to the yellow X26 taser in Stephanopoulos hand” pg. 446 Go Stephanopoulos!
“But before I could get to my feet she had a compact semi-automatic pistol in her hand which she pointed at Stephanopoulos.” pg. 446 Where’d you get a gun, Lesley??
“I was right,” she said. “There’s another bell.” pg. 463 Why must you be right all the time Guleed? I know your great but couldn’t you be wrong this time
“Not only was it not terrible as kisses go, it was also strangely familiar.
“Bev,” I said when we broke for air.
“What the fuck is going on?” pg. 477
“He must have clocked my ID on his phone because he said “Oh fuck,” without preamble and then, “This can’t be fucking good.”
“It’s been the Actors Church,” I said “It’s been the Actors Church all along.” pg. 468 Ohh
“It’s a plan,” I said.
“It’s a bloody cock up, is what it is” pg. 468 Ha
“I’m all for courageous action in moderation Peter. But you have an alarming tendency toward heroics” pg. 468 Ha
“Before I could move Foxglove ducked around and rushed to met Molly. They both stopped suddenly, facing each other, centimeters apart. Molly’s hand rose as if to touch Foxglove seized it with her own and pressed it to her cheek. Molly’s face crumpled into an agonized shoe and I thought I saw tears before she buried it in Foxglove’s shoulder.” pg. 419 Awww :)
“Nightingale finishing off a couple of wannabe hard men by knocking them down, stripping off their weapons with impello and throwing them up and out of reach in the right direction of Smithfield Market.
As the guns went up, somebody unseen above threw down a couple of pairs of sped cuffs. Nightingale grabbed one and threw me the other - together we cuffed the pair and left them for the follow-up team.” pg. 449 Nightingale is so cool!
“Useless fucks of the Ninth!” shouted Tyburn” pg. 482 Charming :|
“The legion fell silent-which was scarier than when they were making a noise.” pg. 482 Scary
“He’s behind you,” I said and when he turned to look I punched him in the face.” pg. 487 Ha
“Then we both hauled him to his feet and looked at each other and sniggered.” pg. 492 Glad to know Peter and Lesley can find common ground
“At which point Lesley came out of the main doors and without hesitating ran up to Chorley and kicked him in the stomach.
“He’s not dead!” she screamed. “You fucking fucker! You didn’t kill him!” pg. 491 Lesley’s mad
“Lesley pulled out her pistol and shot Martin Chorley in the head.” pg. 493 AAHH!! :0
“In the end Bev bought a bright orange Ford Focus as an early birthday present.
“And you have to keep this one intact,” she said. “Because it’s a present.” pg. 497 Ha
“Because then I’ll owe you a favor.”
“Because that worked out well last time,” pg. 499 Ha
“Peter,” said Lady Ty, “every morning I wake up and give thanks that there’s nobody else like you.” pg. 499 Ha
“Did he have a sword?”
“Yes,” said Nightingale. “Although he didn’t have a card identifying himself as a legendary swordsman. That seems a more modern form of whimsy. I sensed that the sword was important, though, in a mythic or symbolic sense.”
“In what way?”
“I was rather hoping that one day
“So I got someone to talk to. A very nice old lady psychiatrist that Post Martian knew, called Valerie Green.” pg. 504 Ohh
“She took my hand and firmly placed it on her belly - it was smooth and warm.
And then, as they say, the penny dropped.” pg. 506 Bev’s pregnant! :)
Final thoughts
I loved this book. It had everything I wanted. Talking foxes, Bev is pregnant, Guleed and Michael are dating! Nightingale being Nightingale. I liked all the Arthurian mythology and theater in the book. I hope to see more of Molly and Foxglove. Not sure where the books are going to go now that Martian is dead.
Onto False value
