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The name's John Taylor. I work the garish streets of the Nightside-the hidden heart of London where it's always three A.M., where inhuman creatures and otherworldly gods walk side by side in the endless darkness of the soul. I have a talent for finding things. People... property... no problem. But now I'm after something different. A local diva called the Nightingale has cut herself off from her family and friends, and I've been hired to find out the reason. I'm also wondering why her show more suicide-prone fans think she has a voice to die for. Literally. To get the truth, I'll have to lend an ear to the most enticingly beautiful and deadly voice in all of the Nightside-and survive. show lessTags
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This is the third book in the Nightside series, featuring John Taylor, who isn't just a "private eye," he has a "private eye", a mystical eye through which he can find just about anything "in the Nightside." The Nightside is a hidden magical area within London where it's always three in the morning and inhabited by every feature creature you can imagine including poltergeist sedan chairs and headless bikers. That's its strength--the phantasmagorical setting created by Green filled with offbeat characters.
I received an omnibus edition of the first three books as a gift from a friend. Had I gotten just the first volume, I might have stopped there. I thought that despite the intriguing setting the plot was too predictably noir and I was show more irritated by the clunky infodump. Things did pick up in the second book. With his character and setting established, it was more immersive, concentrating on story from the start. However, with this series, it was the third story that's the charm.
Maybe it's just that Taylor and the Nightside has grown on me, but I don't think so. This one just had so many memorable scenes. One in particular was a fun romp--a visit to the Night Times, the local newspaper. It sports a poltergeist copyboy, two ravens for fact-checkers, a typewriter haunted by their ghostwriter, a goblin drag queen doing the horoscope and Argus, a shifter, as their gossip columnist. The publisher and editor, Julien Advent, is worthy of a book of his own. Add characters such as Dead Boy and Rossignol, a nightclub singer with a voice to die for. What's not to love?
So, given Nightingale's Lament was quite good, I may take other walks on the Nightside someday and keep the omnibus volume on my shelf. show less
I received an omnibus edition of the first three books as a gift from a friend. Had I gotten just the first volume, I might have stopped there. I thought that despite the intriguing setting the plot was too predictably noir and I was show more irritated by the clunky infodump. Things did pick up in the second book. With his character and setting established, it was more immersive, concentrating on story from the start. However, with this series, it was the third story that's the charm.
Maybe it's just that Taylor and the Nightside has grown on me, but I don't think so. This one just had so many memorable scenes. One in particular was a fun romp--a visit to the Night Times, the local newspaper. It sports a poltergeist copyboy, two ravens for fact-checkers, a typewriter haunted by their ghostwriter, a goblin drag queen doing the horoscope and Argus, a shifter, as their gossip columnist. The publisher and editor, Julien Advent, is worthy of a book of his own. Add characters such as Dead Boy and Rossignol, a nightclub singer with a voice to die for. What's not to love?
So, given Nightingale's Lament was quite good, I may take other walks on the Nightside someday and keep the omnibus volume on my shelf. show less
This is the third book in the Nightside series by Simon Green. It was an excellent and very creative story.
John Taylor is contacted by Charles Chabron to find out the whereabouts of his daughter Rossingol. Rossingol came to the Nightside to hit it big as a singer. She has signed up with some new managers, the Cavendishes, and is selling out all of her shows. Her success is coming with a strange side effect; after hearing her sing many of her fans commit suicide. As Taylor struggles to figure out what has been done to Rossingol, he finds out her managers are more dangerous than he ever imagined.
This series just seems to be getting better and better. The cast of characters is creative, amusing, and very colorful. I loved Julien Advent and show more Dead Boy. Dead Boy in particular added a lot of wry humor and fun to the book. The Nightside continues to be a surprising and darkly amusing environment. I don't know how Green thinks up all of this stuff but the surprises and creative environment flies at you from all sides. The writing is action packed, descriptive, and moves along at a fast clip. The story is, once again, fairly self-contained.
The overlying doom of what John Taylor is and who his mother is still hovers over the overall story arc. So far I have just absolutely loved this series. I want to go out right away and buy all of the books! show less
John Taylor is contacted by Charles Chabron to find out the whereabouts of his daughter Rossingol. Rossingol came to the Nightside to hit it big as a singer. She has signed up with some new managers, the Cavendishes, and is selling out all of her shows. Her success is coming with a strange side effect; after hearing her sing many of her fans commit suicide. As Taylor struggles to figure out what has been done to Rossingol, he finds out her managers are more dangerous than he ever imagined.
This series just seems to be getting better and better. The cast of characters is creative, amusing, and very colorful. I loved Julien Advent and show more Dead Boy. Dead Boy in particular added a lot of wry humor and fun to the book. The Nightside continues to be a surprising and darkly amusing environment. I don't know how Green thinks up all of this stuff but the surprises and creative environment flies at you from all sides. The writing is action packed, descriptive, and moves along at a fast clip. The story is, once again, fairly self-contained.
The overlying doom of what John Taylor is and who his mother is still hovers over the overall story arc. So far I have just absolutely loved this series. I want to go out right away and buy all of the books! show less
John Taylor has a new case – to rescue the Nightingale. A singer whose voice is so incredible she may be the next big thing in the Nightside where the incredible is the norm. A singer whose sad songs can literally cause people to kill themselves in grief – a fact that only adds to her popularity, not detract from it.
And a singer who may be being held against her will. At least, that’s what her father thinks.
Which sets John Taylor on track to speak to and free the Nightingale – but the Cavendishes, her handlers, managers or owners, guard their prize jealously and have the vast power and influence to ensure that even John Taylor can’t just walk in the front door and make demands. A chain of investigation follows, tracking down show more what the Cavendishes have done in the past, and discovering exactly what they have done to the Nightingale.
To complicate things, John has upset the powers that be. A necessary act of revenge against the murderer of an old and valued friend has caused a large section of the Nightside to lose all power. The Authorities are not amused and wish to speak to John about it – and they’re quite insistant.
I am rapidly becoming unstuck trying to review these books. It’s difficult because I don’t have a lot of praiseworthy things to say about them. But I love them.
Which is a ridiculous contradiction, but it’s true.
The story is good – very well paced, well written, extremely exciting and with very well done action scenes. There are no twists though, no surprises that can’t be guessed well ahead of time. It’s somewhat predictable, we know how it’s going to end, we know who the bad guys are, we even know their super super secret that was very obvious from the very beginning.
Yet, it was good. It was predictable, I knew exactly how it was going to end – and it was still immense fun. Sometimes the journey doesn’t have to be surprising to be a fun one. It can still be exciting, still be fun of excellent fight scenes, still have some wonderful and enthralling settings and developments to keep you turning the pages. Even without twists and surprises, the story was compelling and enthralling. Even with the dramatic villain monologues – repeated dramatic villain monologues! In fact, it says a lot about the writing that it can make so many of these tropes that you shouldn’t ever do in writing work. Hard boiled film-noir-ish internal monologues allowing the protagonist to info dump? Yes we have lots of that – and it’s excellent and it works and I love it. Over the top villainous exposition “since I’m going to kill you anyway let me explain all my nefarious schemes!?” yes it’s there, lots of it – and it’s excellent and it works and I love it.
The protagonist, John Taylor, is pretty hollow. He’s a power fantasy – super charged, stare-‘em-down, show everyone who’s boss, power fantasy. And he’s a really good one. It’s hard not to have a little fun with him staring down major powers, with everyone flinching at his name, with him avenging his friends no matter the cost and with him kicking an ogre in the balls. It’s fun, mindless, power fantasy fun. But fun nevertheless. Sometimes some simple mindless fun is exactly what the doctor ordered. I honestly can’t point to any real defining characteristic of John than this – he’s got a nebulous history, he has this whole hard-boiled-film-noir-stereotype thing and vast amounts of power and hardassery over the classic heart of gold. He’s a walking stereotype, he’s a cliché writ large – but I really like him.
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And a singer who may be being held against her will. At least, that’s what her father thinks.
Which sets John Taylor on track to speak to and free the Nightingale – but the Cavendishes, her handlers, managers or owners, guard their prize jealously and have the vast power and influence to ensure that even John Taylor can’t just walk in the front door and make demands. A chain of investigation follows, tracking down show more what the Cavendishes have done in the past, and discovering exactly what they have done to the Nightingale.
To complicate things, John has upset the powers that be. A necessary act of revenge against the murderer of an old and valued friend has caused a large section of the Nightside to lose all power. The Authorities are not amused and wish to speak to John about it – and they’re quite insistant.
I am rapidly becoming unstuck trying to review these books. It’s difficult because I don’t have a lot of praiseworthy things to say about them. But I love them.
Which is a ridiculous contradiction, but it’s true.
The story is good – very well paced, well written, extremely exciting and with very well done action scenes. There are no twists though, no surprises that can’t be guessed well ahead of time. It’s somewhat predictable, we know how it’s going to end, we know who the bad guys are, we even know their super super secret that was very obvious from the very beginning.
Yet, it was good. It was predictable, I knew exactly how it was going to end – and it was still immense fun. Sometimes the journey doesn’t have to be surprising to be a fun one. It can still be exciting, still be fun of excellent fight scenes, still have some wonderful and enthralling settings and developments to keep you turning the pages. Even without twists and surprises, the story was compelling and enthralling. Even with the dramatic villain monologues – repeated dramatic villain monologues! In fact, it says a lot about the writing that it can make so many of these tropes that you shouldn’t ever do in writing work. Hard boiled film-noir-ish internal monologues allowing the protagonist to info dump? Yes we have lots of that – and it’s excellent and it works and I love it. Over the top villainous exposition “since I’m going to kill you anyway let me explain all my nefarious schemes!?” yes it’s there, lots of it – and it’s excellent and it works and I love it.
The protagonist, John Taylor, is pretty hollow. He’s a power fantasy – super charged, stare-‘em-down, show everyone who’s boss, power fantasy. And he’s a really good one. It’s hard not to have a little fun with him staring down major powers, with everyone flinching at his name, with him avenging his friends no matter the cost and with him kicking an ogre in the balls. It’s fun, mindless, power fantasy fun. But fun nevertheless. Sometimes some simple mindless fun is exactly what the doctor ordered. I honestly can’t point to any real defining characteristic of John than this – he’s got a nebulous history, he has this whole hard-boiled-film-noir-stereotype thing and vast amounts of power and hardassery over the classic heart of gold. He’s a walking stereotype, he’s a cliché writ large – but I really like him.
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These books are always strange, a bit scary, a bit horrific, and on top of that a well written detective story. Simo R. Green has a way with words - I always find John Taylor to be an interesting character. The Rossignal is a great character, she is a damsel in distress, but once saved, is kick ass, beautiful, smart and awesome.
I liked that we see more of the Darkside business, the newspaper is intriguing. One thing - read too many of these in a row, and the gruesome turns into everyday life - Which is sad since these books are so dark and creepy.
I liked that we see more of the Darkside business, the newspaper is intriguing. One thing - read too many of these in a row, and the gruesome turns into everyday life - Which is sad since these books are so dark and creepy.
Once again Simon Green has taken me a vacation from the real world and given me a trip through the Nightside. Nightingale's Lament, Book Three in the NIghtside series, gives us a bit of John Taylor's history and we see he has had good friends and he maintains those ties of friendship even though some have passed to the afterlife. He is also shown as a man of deep empathy, willing to go the extra yard to help those to whom bad is done. I like John Taylor!
In this adventure he is hired by a broken hearted father to find out what has happened to his daughter. The girl is a singer, looking for a big break... and she disappeared into the Nightside after signing a contract with the reclusive and secret Cavendishes! This is a married couple show more who head major corporations throughout Nightside - and they are quite probably a part of some very nefarious situations in that place of dark magic. In this mystery, John teams with Dead Boy... quite literally a dead boy. His spirit is alive and working to right wrongs so as to redeem his bad karma -- his boy is merely a vessel in which his spirit works.
Together they explore the entertainment industry of their world; discovering the high points and the low points (which are much much lower than those of our world). Yet, through it all they of course find the girl, solve the mystery... as well as a couple others on the way... and save the day! I love stories that turn out happy in the end! show less
In this adventure he is hired by a broken hearted father to find out what has happened to his daughter. The girl is a singer, looking for a big break... and she disappeared into the Nightside after signing a contract with the reclusive and secret Cavendishes! This is a married couple show more who head major corporations throughout Nightside - and they are quite probably a part of some very nefarious situations in that place of dark magic. In this mystery, John teams with Dead Boy... quite literally a dead boy. His spirit is alive and working to right wrongs so as to redeem his bad karma -- his boy is merely a vessel in which his spirit works.
Together they explore the entertainment industry of their world; discovering the high points and the low points (which are much much lower than those of our world). Yet, through it all they of course find the girl, solve the mystery... as well as a couple others on the way... and save the day! I love stories that turn out happy in the end! show less
I continue liking this series. The writing isn't great, with lots of unnecessarily wordy descriptions of the setting and strange characters just for the heck of it. But the lead, John Taylor, is an amiable hero, complex enough to keep things interesting. The pace was fast and easy and the story peaked my curiosity and kept me engaged. The foreshadowing made me look forward to the next book in the series.
Compared to the first two books in the series this book was a pale and sickly thing. There seemed to be more information dumping than actual investigating. Green is able to pull this off flawlessly, and be forgiven for it. This is all due to the personalities he's given his characters. They're quick witted, resilient, and all have a never say DIE attitude. My personal favorite factor in this series is Alex, and the Strange Fellows bar. That honestly has to be one of the things that keeps me putting my brain through the punishment this series keeps meting out. (I wholeheartedly blame this to over exposure to Disney movies and Nickjr.)
Cheers Pretties!
Cheers Pretties!
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Science fiction and fantasy author Simon R. Green was born in 1955 in Bradford-on-Avon, England. He received an M.A. in Modern English and American Literature from Leicester University. He is the author of the Deathstalker series, a member of the British Fantasy Society, and occasionally does some Shakespearean acting. (Bowker Author Biography)
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- Canonical title
- Nightingale's Lament
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- John Taylor (private investigator); Dead Boy; Walker (voice of the Authorities); Rossignol; Julien Advent (the Victorian Adventurer | 'The Night Times' editor); Shotgun Suzie (Suzie Shooter | bounty hunter) (show all 17); Mr. Cavendish; Mrs. Cavendish; Pew; Vincent Kraemer ('The Mechanic' | Prometheus, Inc. owner and manager); Sylvia Sin; Ian Auger; Melinda Dusk; Quinn; Argus; Alex Morrisey (Strangefellows owner and bartender); Cathy Barrett (Taylor's secretary)
- Important places
- London, England, UK; The Nightside, London, England, UK (fictional); Calibans Cavern; Prometheus, Incorporated, the Nightside. (electric company); Strangefellows, The Nightside, London, England, UK (the oldest bar in the world)
- Epigraph
- My name is John Taylor. I've made that a name to be respected and feared, but it's also made me a target my whole life.
I operate as a private eye, in a world where gods and monsters are real. The Nightside: the sick,... (show all) the secret magical heart of London. A place where dreams come true, whether you want them to or not. It's not easy to find a way in, and even harder to find a way out.
I can find anything, solve any mystery. Except the answers to the dark and deadly secrets to my own past.
My name is John Taylor. And if you've come looking for me, either you're in trouble, or you're about to be. - First words
- There are all kinds of Powers running loose in the Nightside, but its power sources have to be rather more reliable, as well as completely divorced from outside interference.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And though I would not have thought it was possible to go to sleep holding hands with a vampire, that's exactly what I did.
- Blurbers
- Butcher, Jim
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