Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Ace (2003), Mass Market Paperback, 240 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML:Taylor is the name, John Taylor. My card says I�m a detective, but what I really am is an expert on finding lost things. It�s part of the gift I was born with as a child of the Nightside. I left there a long time ago, with my skin and sanity barely intact. Now I make my living in the sunlit streets of London. But business has been slow lately, so when Joanna Barrett showed up at my door, reeking of wealth, asking me to find her runaway teenage daughter, I didn�t say no. Then I found out exactly where the girl had gone. The Nightside. That square mile of Hell in the middle of the city, where it�s always three A.M. Where you can walk beside myths and drink with monsters. Where nothing is what it seems and everything is possible. I swore I�d never return. But there�s a kid in danger and a woman depending on me. So I have no choice�I�m going home.… (more)
Media reviews
It has 2 powerful sides – the light, cheesy fun of Shotgun Suzy and the grim darkness of Razor Eddie. The two aspects of the book really work well together without conflicting – which is a really skilful balancing act. It leaves me wanting to reads the next book to see where this series is
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going – the cheesy, fun and slightly whacky hijinks or the grim, gritty and slightly horrific darkness.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member Awfki
I've got mixed feelings about this one. It's kind of a supernatural-in-the-modern-world book, except that they leave the modern world to go to the "Nightside". A spooky place that's a wrong turn off the real world. The main character has a gift (read, magic power) allowing him to find things in the
The book is fast-paced and well written enough to keep me reading. But the plot seems to be full of holes. There's the super-scary Nightside which also happens to be home to a really cool 60's cafe where "you'll be safe here". I thought it was super-scaryville where you'd never be safe? The author needs to pick one. Is it just weird or is it super dangerous? There's also this cold rich bitch who, mid-story, turns out to just be "successful business woman" and then becomes a therapist for the main character. Characters are allowed to be multi-dimensional but there should be some sort of transition and the characters here seem to just change masks as needed.
It just feels like there are a lot of odd direction changes in the book. Changes that could have been smoothed out with a few more pages in between. Much like this review could be improved if I spent more time on it, the book could have used more time too. Or maybe the editor was a little over zealous. I kept reading so it can't have been all bad.
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Nightside. He also comes with a lot of mysterious background centered around his mom who was apparently a demon or something.The book is fast-paced and well written enough to keep me reading. But the plot seems to be full of holes. There's the super-scary Nightside which also happens to be home to a really cool 60's cafe where "you'll be safe here". I thought it was super-scaryville where you'd never be safe? The author needs to pick one. Is it just weird or is it super dangerous? There's also this cold rich bitch who, mid-story, turns out to just be "successful business woman" and then becomes a therapist for the main character. Characters are allowed to be multi-dimensional but there should be some sort of transition and the characters here seem to just change masks as needed.
It just feels like there are a lot of odd direction changes in the book. Changes that could have been smoothed out with a few more pages in between. Much like this review could be improved if I spent more time on it, the book could have used more time too. Or maybe the editor was a little over zealous. I kept reading so it can't have been all bad.
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LibraryThing member Reacherfan
I picked this book up on a whim, and I was glad I did. This is to be considered "Harry Dresden Lite". Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming the book, I really liked it. I think it's fair to compare to to a poor man's Harry Dresden.
Meet John Taylor, he's a private eye who can find anything or
Green has a strong writing style that will hold the reader to the end. This has a lot of interesting plot twists that kept me reading. I loved one of the twists, but I don't want to spoil it for you. You'll have to read it to find out.
This has some fantastic characters. Taylor is a wise cracking PI who isn't afraid to come up with a smart answer, it did add a lot of humor to the book. I loved the cast of characters. How can you not love characters with names like, Shotgun Suzie, Razor Eddie, The Collector and Walker. I really liked the character of Walker. I had to laugh out loud at some of the characters. I hope we see more of the horses in his other books. If you read it, then you'll know what I mean.
Green has a pretty simplistic writing style, but it's not a bad one. I like how a "film noir" feeling to the book. It reminded me of the old detective movies. That part really worked well.
This is a fast read, I read it in a few hours.
Something From the Nightside is a pretty darn good read. It's good enough that I want to read the other books in the series. I took a chance on the book, and was pleased. The Nightside is a great place to visit and I can't wait to go back again!
Meet John Taylor, he's a private eye who can find anything or
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anyone. One day a client, Joanna come in and wants to hire him to find her teenage daughter who has runaway. Taylor isn't really wild about it, but heck, she's a paying customer, so he takes the case. To Taylor's surprise, he finds out that she ran off to the "Nightside". The Nightside is in London, but in a different realm, and is on a supernatural level. If you think of all the evil and horrible things you can come up with, it won't scratch the surface of what is waiting for you in the Nightside. However, this is a place that Taylor knows well, and he has to go there and get Joanna's daughter out. There's one problem right off the bat, Joanna wants to go to. Taylor tell Joanna that nothing is what it seems in the Nightside. That's all I really want to say about it, I don't want to give to much of it away. Green has a strong writing style that will hold the reader to the end. This has a lot of interesting plot twists that kept me reading. I loved one of the twists, but I don't want to spoil it for you. You'll have to read it to find out.
This has some fantastic characters. Taylor is a wise cracking PI who isn't afraid to come up with a smart answer, it did add a lot of humor to the book. I loved the cast of characters. How can you not love characters with names like, Shotgun Suzie, Razor Eddie, The Collector and Walker. I really liked the character of Walker. I had to laugh out loud at some of the characters. I hope we see more of the horses in his other books. If you read it, then you'll know what I mean.
Green has a pretty simplistic writing style, but it's not a bad one. I like how a "film noir" feeling to the book. It reminded me of the old detective movies. That part really worked well.
This is a fast read, I read it in a few hours.
Something From the Nightside is a pretty darn good read. It's good enough that I want to read the other books in the series. I took a chance on the book, and was pleased. The Nightside is a great place to visit and I can't wait to go back again!
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LibraryThing member ahappybooker
Waste of my time, I don't know why I even finished it. The plot to the story was fine, the problem was the writing. The characters said the most ridiculous things and said them repeatedly. I don't remember where I saw this compared w/ Gaiman, but its not even close. I gave it a two because it may
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have been a really good story if someone else had written it. Show Less
LibraryThing member TadAD
I’m always on the lookout for a good series, especially one that has a lot of books in it that I haven’t read. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it here. While real-world fiction can sometimes jump off the this-makes-sense tracks, fantasy books need to have some kind of logic to the world to
The best I can describe this book is that Mr. Green had about a bazillion different ideas he thought would be cool and just decided to throw them together without rhyme or reason, give it a good shake, and spill it out on the table: a hidden world beneath London; strange and terrifying magic spells; soul-eaters; alien abductions; immortal super-warriors; time-traveling treasure hunters; demons; faceless unstoppable assassins; alternate future worlds; extraordinary powers granted our hero by his mysterious heritage (which is hinted at being royal, by the way); the Chandler-esque dame he falls for; all-seeing Big Brother government; extra-dimensional monsters...you get the picture. Oh yeah, and Mike Resnick-style names are cool, so let’s give everyone a name like 'Punk King of the Straight Razor' or 'Shotgun Suzie.' All this in less than 230 paperback pages of text.
It’s like the machina that exes all the deuses got stuck and just kept spitting out improbable event after improbable coincidence after improbable cliché.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the talent to carry off this approach—I’m not sure even someone like Pratchett, master of the wacky, has the talent to pull this off. The reader just sits there reeling as every page brings some new larger-than-life thing that, in the hands of a better author, would probably be enough for a book on its own.
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anchor the reader. This didn’t. Not even close.The best I can describe this book is that Mr. Green had about a bazillion different ideas he thought would be cool and just decided to throw them together without rhyme or reason, give it a good shake, and spill it out on the table: a hidden world beneath London; strange and terrifying magic spells; soul-eaters; alien abductions; immortal super-warriors; time-traveling treasure hunters; demons; faceless unstoppable assassins; alternate future worlds; extraordinary powers granted our hero by his mysterious heritage (which is hinted at being royal, by the way); the Chandler-esque dame he falls for; all-seeing Big Brother government; extra-dimensional monsters...you get the picture. Oh yeah, and Mike Resnick-style names are cool, so let’s give everyone a name like 'Punk King of the Straight Razor' or 'Shotgun Suzie.' All this in less than 230 paperback pages of text.
It’s like the machina that exes all the deuses got stuck and just kept spitting out improbable event after improbable coincidence after improbable cliché.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the talent to carry off this approach—I’m not sure even someone like Pratchett, master of the wacky, has the talent to pull this off. The reader just sits there reeling as every page brings some new larger-than-life thing that, in the hands of a better author, would probably be enough for a book on its own.
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LibraryThing member miyurose
I wasn't particular impressed with this. The first 4/5 of the book was a pattern of something/someone attacking them followed by long-winded explanations from Taylor or question/answer sessions with the client. It picked up just enough at the end that I'll give the second book a shot, hoping that
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it will be better now that all of the "this is what the Nightside is" information is out of the way. I wanted to like this, Jim Butcher gives a nice blurb on the front, but it just didn't have enough depth for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member leahsimone
This read like a short story that was too long. First half of the book is rather tedious. Character development wasn't done well. We are told that the main character, John, falls for his client by the end of the book but it seems contrived as we are never shown emotional evidence of it. Lot's of
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telling not much showing. John tells us everything in the Nightside is strange, dark and scary and not to be trusted yet he forgets to follow his own advice more than once. As some uber everyone-is-afraid-of-him powerful guy this seems rather stupid. By the end, I had predicted certain events and that was another disappointment. Despite all the negative, I did like the world building (the timeslips are cool) so I may try reading the next in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member reading_fox
Surprisingly dark and gory in places, it's an interesting twist on urban fantasy PI.
It opens fairly predictably, in a nice homage to noir detective genre that eventually spawned UF: John Taylor is a overworked underpaid PI with a conscience. Down on his luck and owing a lot of money to various
It's obviously a heavily edited first book. Short and to the point, with enough description to be fun, but lacking in complex characterization. It seems that the author does have a greater design and won't just feature more stories of John fighting monsters. There were only little glances into John's backstory but they were all intriguing. I'm likely to read more of this series.
It opens fairly predictably, in a nice homage to noir detective genre that eventually spawned UF: John Taylor is a overworked underpaid PI with a conscience. Down on his luck and owing a lot of money to various
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nefarious influences he realizes his luck might have turned when an obviously extremely rich women enters his office. She wants him to find her daughter and finding things is John's specialty - there's only two snags, one is that she wants to accompany him (and John's not adverse to having a rich woman on his arm), and the other is that her daughter has gone to Nightside, somewhere she shouldn't know about, let alone be able to visit. And somewhere that John fled from five years ago with no intention of ever going back. Nightside isn't where dreams go to die, it's where they grow mix mingle and mutate into things stranger than nightmares. And as it quickly turns out , John is something special there, powerful with a reputation to match, even after 5 years. John eases his client (and the reader) into the strangeness of Nightside where creatures from all over time and any place mingle and merge, but somehow through the absolute fiat of the unspecified Authorities, a veneer of civilization remains. However his target is not in the nicer parts of Nightside, and between him and there are the people he fled from to start with.It's obviously a heavily edited first book. Short and to the point, with enough description to be fun, but lacking in complex characterization. It seems that the author does have a greater design and won't just feature more stories of John fighting monsters. There were only little glances into John's backstory but they were all intriguing. I'm likely to read more of this series.
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LibraryThing member mishmelle
Think hard-boiled detective meets alternate paranormal world. I might have liked this book a little better if he didn't constantly say, "...from the Nightside" or "...in the Nightside" etc. on almost every flipping page! It got quite distracting.
LibraryThing member les121
I was interested to read this book because I often hear it mentioned in comparison to the Dresden Files, one of my favorite series. Overall, it's not as deep or well written as Jim Butcher's work, but it was a quick, fun read. Many readers might be turned off by Green's use (perhaps overuse) of
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pulp detective/noir cliches like a beautiful, wealthy client, mysterious hero, melodramatic dialogue, dark tone, etc. But to me these features are balanced out by the bleakness and drama of Green's world, a truly strange, fascinating, and sometimes horrifying place. Green creates a highly imaginative setting and unique characters who are thin and unrealistic at times yet lovable. Don't expect great literature, but exploring the Nightside makes for an interesting, fun read. Show Less
LibraryThing member ReginaR
A friend of mine that reviewed this book said it well -- this might have been a great book if it had been written differently. Initially I should say upfront that I prefer character driven stories and if a story is plot driven, then it takes a very strong plot and complex world building for me to
So here are the strengths:
Interesting world descriptions
Interesting take on the supernatural and the creepy
Plot driven (if you like this sort of think)
Would make a decent movie
The writing is descriptive in such a way that the reader can imagine the scenery. The writing is almost akin to describing a painting.
The book is short, I listened to the narration and it lasted just under 6 hours at regular speed. But I was bored, the narration was okay however, the story did not hold my attention. I ended up listening to it on 2X speed. There are some twists and turns throughout the storyline. There are a few number of funny one liners and observations. Ultimatley, though, I felt like the story was strung together by witty observations and comments, detailed descriptions and some fight/flight scenes. I likely will not be reading the next book in the series.
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be a fan of the book Something from the Nightside is not a character driven book and it is not a book with a strong storyline or strong world building. I think I may have not been the right audience for this book and that there are others out there who would like it. So here are the strengths:
Interesting world descriptions
Interesting take on the supernatural and the creepy
Plot driven (if you like this sort of think)
Would make a decent movie
The writing is descriptive in such a way that the reader can imagine the scenery. The writing is almost akin to describing a painting.
The book is short, I listened to the narration and it lasted just under 6 hours at regular speed. But I was bored, the narration was okay however, the story did not hold my attention. I ended up listening to it on 2X speed. There are some twists and turns throughout the storyline. There are a few number of funny one liners and observations. Ultimatley, though, I felt like the story was strung together by witty observations and comments, detailed descriptions and some fight/flight scenes. I likely will not be reading the next book in the series.
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LibraryThing member Murphy-Jacobs
I listened to the audio version,, which was well voiced by Marc Vietor.
Another in the standing subgenre of paranormal private eyes, this time set in an "alternate" London. Good first in the series, but nothing especially stands out about the book for me. Plenty of mysteries about the protagonist
My one complaint with the book is the excessive dialog, which moves away from "obvious method for knowledgeable protagonist to explain things to ignorant secondary" to "infodump because readers are dumb and won't get it." It also comes up during action sequences, when it seems that the characters move with great speed and urgency, pause, exchange smart assy remarks, and then start moving again. At times it was actually irritating, but eventually it just became funny.
Another in the standing subgenre of paranormal private eyes, this time set in an "alternate" London. Good first in the series, but nothing especially stands out about the book for me. Plenty of mysteries about the protagonist
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and the world to sustain the series, which I plan to read.My one complaint with the book is the excessive dialog, which moves away from "obvious method for knowledgeable protagonist to explain things to ignorant secondary" to "infodump because readers are dumb and won't get it." It also comes up during action sequences, when it seems that the characters move with great speed and urgency, pause, exchange smart assy remarks, and then start moving again. At times it was actually irritating, but eventually it just became funny.
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LibraryThing member raschneid
This novel was not entirely devoid of merit. The worldbuilding was almost good, the main character was, in theory, almost interesting, and the writing was, at times, almost competent. And the twist at the end would have actually been clever if anything that had come before it had been in any way
However, the whole thing failed because it was not actually a novel. Novels have plots; they move forward. This was a tour of the author's urban fantasy universe, clumsily overlayed with a plot that was more like a Chutes and Ladders game than a logical narrative. Tours of universes can work if the universes are deep and vivid enough to warrant them; this universe was not. It was in many ways, flat and repetitive. Nor was the main character's constant monologues to the woman he's with about everything they see a good way to make me like him.
The novel is also supposed to be funny, I think. If this was so, then almost everything would be forgiven, because it definitely has a film noir pastiche thing going on. However, it is not really that funny.
I think I can also safely say that this novel has the worst love scene I have ever read. Alas, even this was not funny.
There really was some interesting raw material in here; it was just so badly executed, and insubstantial on its own, that it didn't redeem the whole.
According to the cover of the book, this guy was on the New York Times bestseller's list. LAME.
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compelling.However, the whole thing failed because it was not actually a novel. Novels have plots; they move forward. This was a tour of the author's urban fantasy universe, clumsily overlayed with a plot that was more like a Chutes and Ladders game than a logical narrative. Tours of universes can work if the universes are deep and vivid enough to warrant them; this universe was not. It was in many ways, flat and repetitive. Nor was the main character's constant monologues to the woman he's with about everything they see a good way to make me like him.
The novel is also supposed to be funny, I think. If this was so, then almost everything would be forgiven, because it definitely has a film noir pastiche thing going on. However, it is not really that funny.
I think I can also safely say that this novel has the worst love scene I have ever read. Alas, even this was not funny.
There really was some interesting raw material in here; it was just so badly executed, and insubstantial on its own, that it didn't redeem the whole.
According to the cover of the book, this guy was on the New York Times bestseller's list. LAME.
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LibraryThing member dystopiism
Before I begin I just want to say, I could not finish this book. I had to quit after 77 pages because I just couldn't go on. So I have no opinion on the entire book.This book's premise is wonderful. I love the "not quite what it seems" and otherworldly themes in books, also at first I was really
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loving John Taylor's smartass attitude toward life. He was a hard-boiled detective who'd seen too much in his lifetime to take your silly threats seriously. So you just sit there and calm down, ma'am, or you can leave.Then everything went south. The characters didn't seem to know what direction they were developing in, therefore I had no idea and we were all very confused. He was like some cheat character stuck in cheat mode, able to overcome any and all obstacles before him without so much as a sweat. I wasn't given enough reason to believe in his decision to bring his client along with him to a place he constantly reminds us is dangerous, even for him.Also, I guess this is a little nit-picky, but it's supposed to be set in London but it could have been set anywhere. You could change the name London to Michigan and it would have read just the same, and that isn't the way settings are supposed to work (not for me anyway). Show Less
LibraryThing member aethercowboy
Simon R. Green started something amazing when he wrote "Private eyes come in all shapes and sizes, and none of them look like television stars." Meet one such private eye, John Taylor, man with an interesting story.
There is London, but then there is the Nightside, a sort of alternate London in
Taylor, a private eye working out of London, yet familiar with the Nightside, gets a case from a woman looking to find her lost daughter. All the clues point to Nightside, to which Taylor is hesitant to return for several reasons.
Though, paying the rent trumps his personal feeling, and his well-paying client convinces him to return. Once in Nightside, Taylor is able to use his power: the ability to find things. However, every time he uses his powers, he attracts unwanted attention to creatures a bit more frightening than anything he'd ever face back in London.
This, the first book of the Nightside series, introduces us to many of the characters Taylor knows, as well as introducing an overarching plot for the series.
Written like Sam Space meets Lewis Carroll adapted by Terry Gilliam, Nightside is definitely a book to read if you want to get hooked on a wonderful urban fantasy series. Easy to breeze through, but highly addictive.
Recommended to fans of Green's other work, the work of China Meiville, or any other New Weird or Urban Fantasy author.
There is London, but then there is the Nightside, a sort of alternate London in
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which every single vice has its outlet. The sky is a perpetual 3 AM, and the people will just as soon stab you in the back as they would save your life.Taylor, a private eye working out of London, yet familiar with the Nightside, gets a case from a woman looking to find her lost daughter. All the clues point to Nightside, to which Taylor is hesitant to return for several reasons.
Though, paying the rent trumps his personal feeling, and his well-paying client convinces him to return. Once in Nightside, Taylor is able to use his power: the ability to find things. However, every time he uses his powers, he attracts unwanted attention to creatures a bit more frightening than anything he'd ever face back in London.
This, the first book of the Nightside series, introduces us to many of the characters Taylor knows, as well as introducing an overarching plot for the series.
Written like Sam Space meets Lewis Carroll adapted by Terry Gilliam, Nightside is definitely a book to read if you want to get hooked on a wonderful urban fantasy series. Easy to breeze through, but highly addictive.
Recommended to fans of Green's other work, the work of China Meiville, or any other New Weird or Urban Fantasy author.
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LibraryThing member Michaenite
The work is a great deal of fun and not only has good dialogue, but also many imaginative settings and concepts. A little known world underneath
London represents all of the little understood passions, desires and mysteries of human exisitence.
London represents all of the little understood passions, desires and mysteries of human exisitence.
LibraryThing member sdtaylor555
Start of a really neat series. Very well written.
LibraryThing member hafowler
Ugh. This book was entirely tedious. Not a sympathetic character in sight. The secondary characters were ridiculous, the protagonist was flavorless, and every word out of his mouth was a speech that took up half the page. Between the constant OMG THE NIGHTSIDE IS SO BAD! DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD IT IS?
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IT'S SO BAD! hyperbole and the tell rather than show style, I can't say I'm much interested in checking out any of the other books in this series.Flavorless and boring. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
This is one of the few New breed Urban fantasy books that is actually very scary. There is a lot of detailed gore and other things that made me squirm, so more sensitive readers might want to skip this one.
Overall, the writing is good, pace is good, there isn't any slow spots. Characters are more
Overall, the writing is good, pace is good, there isn't any slow spots. Characters are more
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than just simple cardboard caricatures. This is a universe with a lot of potential. Will be on the look out for more books in this series, but I don't think I will reread any of them because the series is a bit too bleak for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member greytfriend
A traditional detective novel set in a fantasy/horror situation. Great characterization. The lead, John Taylor, is very appealing and layered. The supporting roles are also very well crafted. The book was fast-paced and easy to read. I'm looking forward to the other books in this series, as the
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author did a great job of peaking my interest. Show Less
LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
The action takes place beginning in London. John Taylor is a private investigator with the usual bills piling up, creditors calling him demanding money, yada yada yada. The story is told by him, and begins one day when a woman comes in to hire him to find her missing daughter. He knows that by the
I would recommend this to people who like a mix of fantasy, steampunk and horror fiction and who are looking for a fun way to pass a couple of hours. A very quick read, you'll be hooked through to the end.
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time clients come to him, they have exhausted all the usual routes for finding missing persons, so he's interested. But what really gets his attention is when the woman says that she'd heard her daughter went to Nightside. Taylor freezes...he had left the Nightside some time ago and hadn't planned on going back. He knows that if the woman's daughter is in the Nightside, there's a good chance she won't be coming out. What is the Nightside? It is a place that is hidden to regular Londoners; it is where every manner of bizarre fantasy can be fulfilled; as the cover blurb states, it is "that square mile of Hell in the middle of the city where it's always three a.m. Where you can walk beside myths and drink with monsters. Where nothing is what it seems and everything is possible." The characters imagined by Green are fantastic, the writing is very very good, and the story is fun.I would recommend this to people who like a mix of fantasy, steampunk and horror fiction and who are looking for a fun way to pass a couple of hours. A very quick read, you'll be hooked through to the end.
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LibraryThing member cannellfan
Rather pedestrian...a series of small grotesque images strung loosely together. The characters all seem like either sketches or simplistic stereotypes, and by the end of the book I didn't really feel like I knew any of them very well. On the other hand, the pacing was slick, the action was fast and
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heavy, and the world (even though it doesn't really have a well-defined sense of its own internal "laws of believability") shows some promise. I picked up the first 5 or 6 volumes at a going-out-of-business sale, so I guess I'll try at least one more of 'em. Show Less
LibraryThing member hjjugovic
What a great new find! This first book in the series introduces us to the fantastically awful world of the Nightside, a hidden world within London where it is always 3am. Our hero, John Taylor, left the Nightside years ago to save his life, but a compelling case will take him back to a home where
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he is known, feared, and hunted. John falls for the wrong girl and acquires a new assistant as he uses his talent for finding things to track down a missing girl. Stunningly creative, the Nightside grabs the imagination and keeps you coming back for more in a noir detective series that really is all about the night. This novel hints at the greater mystery in the series - who is John Taylor's mother? Show Less
LibraryThing member lewispike
Chronologically in the series the first of the Nightside books. John gets drawn back to the Nightside after 5 years to help a mum look for her runaway daughter. All is not what it seems of course, and we see a lot of the things that will appear in the other books, and some of the people too.
Perhaps
Perhaps
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reading them in the order they're listed in other books is a mistake, but this was kind of flat: I knew a lot of the story because it's referred to elsewhere. Show Less
LibraryThing member quynies_mom
Well, this is interesting. An underground in London that is not your grandpa's London! A private eye with a "private eye" travels into this dark country to rescue a young girl. Looking forward to more adventures in this new land.
LibraryThing member mniday
I first became aware of Simon R. Green from his short story, The Difference a Day Makes, one of four short stories in the collection Mean Streets. I am fascinated by his idea of an alternate London, a place where people can seek out their wildest fantasies. The Nightside is both intoxicating and
The story is told from the point of view of John Taylor, a former regular in the Nightside. We join him at a time when he has been away from the Nightside for five years. He has been working as a private investigator and is barely making a living. Joanna Barrett hires him to find her missing daughter. To do so John has to take Joanna into the Nightside.
Once in the Nightside, John has to show Joanna the ropes and try to keep her from getting killed. We learn that John is somewhat famous there, but the details are vague. They follow the trail of her daughter and go on a crazy trip to find her. I won't spoil it, but the ending is one Jeffery Deaver would be proud of.
This was a pleasant, quick read for me. Mr. Green's style is easy to read and equally as easy to entice your imagination. After reading this first book in the Nightside series, I feel that I have only barely touched the Nightside. I look forward to following John Taylor on numerous more adventures there.
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deadly.The story is told from the point of view of John Taylor, a former regular in the Nightside. We join him at a time when he has been away from the Nightside for five years. He has been working as a private investigator and is barely making a living. Joanna Barrett hires him to find her missing daughter. To do so John has to take Joanna into the Nightside.
Once in the Nightside, John has to show Joanna the ropes and try to keep her from getting killed. We learn that John is somewhat famous there, but the details are vague. They follow the trail of her daughter and go on a crazy trip to find her. I won't spoil it, but the ending is one Jeffery Deaver would be proud of.
This was a pleasant, quick read for me. Mr. Green's style is easy to read and equally as easy to entice your imagination. After reading this first book in the Nightside series, I feel that I have only barely touched the Nightside. I look forward to following John Taylor on numerous more adventures there.
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Original publication date
2003
Physical description
230 p.; 6.76 inches
ISBN
0441010652 / 9780441010653