Wednesday 10 March 2010

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Damned if you do in the Nightside - Simon R Green

BOOK BLURB:

Hell to Pay:
In the wake of the war that left the Nightside leaderless, Jeremiah Griffin-one of the last of the immortal human families-plans to fill the power vacuum. But his granddaughter has disappeared, and he wants John Taylor to use his special abilities to find her. Except someone-or something-is blocking Taylor's abilities.

The Unnatural Enquirer:
Welcome to the Nightside, that secret square mile located in the dark heart of London where the sun never rises and people can fraternize with every myth and monster imaginable.

John Taylor is a P.I. with the special ability to locate anyone or anything. The Unnatural Inquirer, the Nightside's most notorious gossip rag, has offered him a million pounds to find a DVD purportedto contain an actual recording of the afterlife. John doesn't know if it's true, but someone-or something-thinks so, and will stop at nothing to possess the disc.


REVIEW:

OK, it’s compendium time. Within this offering are the two books: Hell to Pay and The Unnatural Enquirer. As a fan of Simon’s Deathwalker and now his Secret Histories novels, I’ve gone back and started to enjoy his Nightside series that are now being published in the UK by Solaris. This is the fourth book by them in this format so its been an enjoyable ride but for established fans of the series it might come as a bit of a shock to see a title out there with no relation to any that have gone before.

As usual with Simon’s writing, its pretty fast paced, the twists and turns within are worthy of the film noir genre and its not without great homage to the gumshoes of the past that Simon tips his hat. I love this series and it’s a series that continues to grow from me from novel to novel. His writing is some of the best in the genre and it is a sheer delight to pick up the next book in each. Add to this the fact that it is a twofer and you’ve got a real bargain.

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