Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities

What would you do if you came home and found your "Uncles" - a group of men who have supported you and your mother all your life - have murdered your mother and are now looking for you? When it happens to Jazz, she runs, and eventually finds safety of a sort hidden in the London Underground. But the Uncles are still looking for Jazz, and eventually she's going to have to come our of hiding.

In Mind the Gap, Golden and Lebbon have imagined a London where magic still exists and the memories of days gone by are found as ghosts in the tunnels and abandoned railways of the Underground. It's a dark little fantasy that pulls the reader into the hidden things behind our commonplace world. The book drags in the middle just a hair, but other than show more that, it's quite entertaining. The (loosely coupled) sequel is set in post-Katrina New Orleans, so I'm looking forward to see how that one is! show less

This was a much better book that the previous Christopher Golden book I'd read (Myth Hunters), probably because it was co-written with Tim Lebbon. Mind the Gap follows the story of Jazz, a young woman who ends up uncovering the 'real' United Kingdom under the metro. The story is fast paced, Jazz is literally on the run through the whole novel. She was raised to trust no one (her mum instilled a strong sense of paranoia in her and it serves her well) and she finds that this is almost always the case. Golden and Lebbon create an alternate universe, filled with ghosts, magic and answers to questions Jazz didn't even know she wanted answered. As her mum tells her, there are no such things as coincidences -- something that rings true show more throughout the book as well. It's a good book, a fun read, though I was expecting something a little different. The 'hidden cities' subtitle is a bit misleading, but makes sense in an abstract way. Hidden cities doesn't mean a city within in a city, more that the city has secrets. I am curious as to what the next books in this collection will be about. show less

While I have enjoyed novels by both Golden and Lebbon, I'm not too sure that I would say that I enjoyed this one. Maybe that's too harsh. I didn't not enjoy it but then I didn't love it either. It was more along the lines of a solid "there," existing and potentially fun but not really.

The story follows a teenage Jasmine "Jazz" Towne who comes home from school one day to find her mom killed by her "Uncles." Her Uncles, also called BMW men, came by at irregular intervals while Jazz was growing up; they would talk with her mom for a while and then leave. My first thought was that her mom was turning tricks but there was actually a conspiracy that happening instead. A conspiracy that made her mom raise Jazz to be very paranoid about show more everything. This is what gets Jazz to run before she can be caught. She ends up in the Underground and hiding out at old, unused stations. Down there she meets up with another outcast group led by someone who has ties to her past.

As you can see from my summary attempt, there is a lot happening and some thought put into the characters. My problem ended up being that the novel had too many parts that weren't pursued. There was a mystical and supernatural element that was part of the whole story but it wasn't really used. It was more like a ghost that screams out and then goes away. There were some psychic elements that in hind sight seemed to be introduced to make things easier. And there was a conspiracy that left just as many questions at the end of the book as in the middle. Maybe those questions are addressed in the other Hidden Cities novels but considering those are based in other cities (New Orleans, Venice, Boston) I'm not sure if they do. One other thing that I wasn't aware of when starting the book was that it seems to be a Young Adult novel. Nothing wrong with that but I wasn't quite expecting it. If I had known, then I would have set my expectations differently from the start. Overall I'm glad that read it because you never find new things to like if you stick with the same old thing all the time. However, I won't be buying or reading any of the follow up novels. show less

Damned good read, and perfect if you have 'a thing' for London and its secret architectural anomalies. Abandoned tunnels, magic, majik, and intrigue galore. Ghosts, crime, and revenge. Golden and Lebbon have a damned good time shoving their scary ways into your head.

This is the second book in The Hidden Cities series which I've read, even though it was the 1st book in the series itself. The good news is each book stands totally on it's own. I really enjoyed this collaboration between Golden and Lebbon. They complement each other well. I asked Christopher on a chat he did, how the duties are shared in a collaboration of this nature and he told me Tim would write a bit and then he would and it would continue back and forth and when it was completed it was hard to tell what he had written and what Tim had contributed. This is how in sync they were. The result here is a seamless tale of a young woman finding her way in the world, London specifically, after the murder of her single Mother. Jasmine show more (Jazz), takes to living beneath the city, with a band of theives, making their way in the world as best they can. But there's something special about Jazz, but you really ought to read this wonderful story to find out more. show less

Synopsis: Jazz has never trusted anyone; she learned that from her mother. After her mother is murdered, Jazz runs and finds herself in the forgotten tube stations far under London. There she meets a Fagin-type character and embarks on a life of petty crime. However, magic and terror follow her, leading to knowledge she must learn to control.
Review: It took me more than half of the book to begin to get interested in Jazz's plight. Once I passed that point, the book was interesting. However, the first part of the book was too much background and not enough story.

"Jazz hide forever." When Jazz's mother is murdered, she leaves Jazz this message written in her own blood. Jazz flees to the tunnels under the city of London. Here she finds her future and her past.
"Trees grow, age, and die, and then they fall. So it is with history. History's all about rise and fall…"-Harry, professional thief and underground resident.