It's very short/fast and almost feels abridged - certain events happen in what feels like a day, but the relationship of the characters advance as if it was much longer than that.

The story is like a comic book - events, characters, locations and situations that are not part of our reality. If you can suspend disbelief to accept these events, you should enjoy the story.

I might read more in this series but only if they were on sale - it is not quite good enough to pay full price for, but not bad enough to eliminate the option to read future books. ( )

After Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, I've been looking around for another urban fantasy that combines noir, humour and magic in similar proportions. Judging from this, the first in the Nightside series by Simon R. Green, I may have found what I've been looking for. The writing is not as good, perhaps, and some of the more soulful conversations sound particularly clunky, but there is no doubting the power of Mr Green's imagination, and the wonderfully macabre locales that make this an entertaining read.

This is a short, fun read, and being the first in a long-running series, there are elements of a travelogue to the way the plot progressess, introducing one locale or character after another in an episodic fashion. But I did enjoy it more than I did Butcher's first installment in the Dresden Files, and there are plenty of hints of an overarching plot that leave one wanting to read more in this series. ( )

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.

The writing in this book is simple, but the ideas are glorious. Full of myths and legends that we have forgotten. Green brings us back to those times when we believed in all the nasty things that go bump in the night, but that age and culture have us no longer believing. Yet we do want to believe and Green does that.

The main character is straight out of noir. Yet the location, the nightside is nothing but ordinary. green takes us to a place that we all wish we could go see, but that we might be too afraid to go to if it actually real.

As I said before the writing is simple, and for some this would turn people off, but for me the imagination, and places that Green takes me makes up for it. I was reminded of many a dream, of many days spent reading tales of myths and he makes them all real again. ( )

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 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. ( )