Hell to Pay (Nightside, Book 7)

John has gone back to being a detective after a stint of metaphysical adventures and saving the nightside. This book has a lot of humor: parody, satire, sarcasm and irony. The Salvation Army Sister hood is pretty good as is the scene on The Street of the Gods. John has been contacted by the Griffin ( a very wealthy immortal) too find his granddaughter Melissa who is missing an presumed kidnapped. The Griffin's fashion hound wife, their two children and the grand children all make up a nicely dysfunctional family, The characters are very well done and the plot if quite good with a nice twist. IN Sweet Silver Blues (Garrett Files) Garrett is a plain detective but later in the series goes off into saving the world, similarly Jim Butcher detours into saving the world in Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7), So far the only one who hasn't is Kim Harrison For a Few Demons More (Rachel Morgan, Book 5) but she is coming close. It appears to be an occupational hazard of the authors of these paranormal detective books. But this book is back to the detective part and is an excellent read; highly recommended.

Welcome to the Nightside, an alternate London where it's always 3 AM and the living isn't easy. You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant--if you're willing to pay the price. Think about that--in the Nightside, ambulances are fueled by pain and suffering and taxis run on virgin's blood. John Taylor is the premier private eye in the Nightside. Just recently, he saved the place from extinction when his mother, Lilith (yes, that Lilith) tried to take over. Now, the biggest baddest man in the Nightside has hired John to find his 17 year old grand-daughter, Melissa. Jeremiah Griffin is immortal and nobody really knows what bargain he made for that. One thing everyone knows is you don't cross the Griffin and live. And John's got less than 24 hours to find Melissa. This seventh book of the "Nightside" stories is one of the best so far. "Hell to Pay" is hard to put down, full of the dark Chandleresque humor that typifies Simon R. Green's work. While I'd recommend anyone start with the beginning of the "Nightside" series, "Hell to Pay" is a good introduction--and trust me, you will want the six books prior to this one.

The War in the Nightside is over and who's still around? Our hero John Taylor who must be indestructible. It's business as usual for John who has been hired by the Nightside's resident immortal, the Griffin. John's quest? Find the Griffin's grand-daughter. Oh, but there's a catch: John's gift isn't working correctly! It's never easy in the Nightside. If you've read my reviews of this series, you know I'm in love with the Nightside. Simon R. Green has such a rich imagination and is able to translate those ideas into books that are very easy to read. I read every single word in this book while sometimes I skim past useless descriptions in other books. Green's descriptions are so vivid it's hard not to visualize the Nightside. I have not been disappointed by the other Nightside books and I'm certainly not disappointed this time! BUY THIS BOOK. Even if you haven't read the rest of the Nightside books, this one can stand alone. YOU MUST READ THIS SERIES. Period.

John Taylor is quite possibly the most feared man in the Nightside, a city hidden within the city of London that is populated by some of the most fearsome men (and monsters) that exist...and even a few that don't. However, there is one invididual whose notoriety matches Taylor's: Griffin, the Immortal, the man who owns most of the Nightside. Since the Authorities were destroyed in the Lilith War (in which Taylor fought and defeated his own mother, the first wife of Adam who got kicked out of Eden because she was just a tad too evil), the Griffin has set his eyes on authority over the Nightside. But it all hinges upon his niece, who has was listed as his sole inheritor--just before she was kidnapped. Now, Taylor has been put on the case, to find the Griffin's niece within 24 hours and return her safely, no matter who has to get hurt. But while investigating the troubled and immortal Griffin family, Taylor begins to suspect that things aren't what they seem...which is usually the case, in the Nightside. This time, however, because his powers are blocked by some Being, Taylor will have to work the old-fashioned way--and that clock is ticking... I thought, with the climactic ending of "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth," the Nightside series had come to an end; thank God I was wrong. "Hell To Pay" picks up shortly after that novel's ending, and features the ecclectic cast of characters Green's fans have come to look forward to. John Taylor is one of the most interesting private detectives since the days of Holmes, and it is a genuine treat to let him narrate his adventures as he goes up against goblins, demons, terrorist nuns, and even man-eating cars. The Nightside series is truly unique, and is certain to go down as a mystery/sci-fi classic.

In this book, the seventh Nightside, Simon Green does an admirable job of continuing the series after the six book story arc concluded in the last book, Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth. Hell to Pay is a return to the case-solving earlier books in the series without seeming too much like a regression. It is a light, fun, book without the angst of the last couple and also without much mention of the creepy romance between the main character and a certain shooter (which was a bit disturbing, to me at least). All in all, Hell to Pay might be a little bit of a letdown after the fast-paced, frantic and large-scale resolution of the last book, but it was a throwback to the classic formula of the first few books without being, I think, too boring or tired, and at the end the stage is set for what could be the next large plot arc. If you're looking for something extremely different for the series, Hell to Pay is not it; however, it does seem to plant the seeds of another large-scale story...so I would say it's worth your time. If, however, you're looking for a quintessential John Taylor case and an entertaining romp in the Nightside, look no further. Hell to Pay is up to par with the standards of excellence and entertainment set by books 1-6, if a less ambitious plotline than the last few.