The Unnatural Inquirer (Nightside, Book 8)

I devour these books. Mr. Green's skill at writing in a funny, yet noire style makes this series a heck of a hoot to follow. Not many sci-fi/fantasy novels are both funny AND intelligent today. John Taylor and the Nightside crew are both. Five stars and three thumbs up!

This Darkside novel is good. I miss the old structure of Darkside and the threat of Lillith, but this one is pretty well up to the mark.

Another great addition to the Nightside series. Nothing like a dealing with a gossip magazine for the unnatural Nightside. Another fun and wild ride with John Taylor. Enjoyed it.

The Unnatural Inquirer (2008) is the eighth fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Hell to Pay. In the previous volume, John Taylor changed the contract in regard to Jeremiah Griffin's children and they were set free. Melissa broke out of the pentacle and helped herd the children from the cellar. But Jeremiah was left to fulfill the contract. In this novel, Taylor has just finished a case for the H. P. Lovecraft Memorial Library in which a book was reading the patrons. Outside the entrance, Walker and Suzie Shooter are waiting for him. Walker has hired Suzie to find Max Maxwell, but the man has disappeared beyond her kenning. Maxwell has found the Aquarius Key and used it to force the Voudon gods to possess his minions. The loa are very irritated and have turned the tables on Maxwell. Now he is hiding from a herd of possessed bounty hunters. Naturally, Taylor soon finds Maxwell and gives him to Walker for incarceration in the Shadow Deep. Then Cathy calls from the office and tells Taylor that the Unnatural Inquirer wants to hire him for a large amount of money. Naturally the gossip sheet wouldn't tell his secretary about the case, but did give Cathy a place where he will be met by a runner who will guide him to their office. The Unnatural Inquirer has a larger circulation than the Night Times, but also has more enemies. So many people have tried to attack their offices that they brag about the futility of such attempts. Their main offices are located within a pocket dimension. Taylor is met by Harry Fabulous and keyed into the Reception office. As soon as they arrive, every alarm in the place goes off. Taylor apparently has every indication of armed and dangerous. After Harry explains that Taylor is there by invitation, Security desensitizes the system to ignore him. After a long wait, Taylor is taken to the office of Scoop Malloy, the Sub-Editor. Scoop introduces him to Bettie Divine, the daughter of a Rolling Stone and a succubus groupie. They will be working together on the case. Of course, Taylor vehemently disagrees to the partnership, but the paper offers a lot more money. Scoop explains that Pen Donavon -- a low level curiosity dealer -- has offered the paper a DVD with a broadcast from a supernatural source. The paper eventually offered him a contract and he was on his way to the offices when he disappeared. None other than Donavon has seen the contents of the DVD, but the Inquirer is ready to buy it for the sheer publicity value. In this story, Taylor finds Bettie remarkably easy to get along with, even if she is cheerful to the point of bubbliness. Her clothes change over time to keep her attractive regardless of the ambiance. She thinks he is a celebrity and his conversation reinforces this idea. He mentions -- and meets -- people about whom Bettie has only written stories. Taylor first tries to find the DVD with his third -- private -- eye, but someone -- or something -- powerful clamps down on

In Nightside, Pen Donavon insists he owns a DVD that contains a recording of the afterlife. He obviously is convincing that he has such proof because THE UNNATURAL INQUIRER signs a deal with him; then again many of Nightside's shadowy residents would point out that the publication is a tabloid so proof is too strong an assertion. However, not long after Donavon pens his deal with the scandal rag, he vanishes. With civil war possible over who governs the Nightside, the competing powers search for Donavon and his DVD as the latter might give an edge to the group possessing it. Assassinations become the norm as each of the rivals murders their opponents. Private investigator John Taylor, accompanied by half-demon reporter Bettie Divine, search for Donavon a bit differently than anyone else as he figures the best way to find the missing individual is to focus on who abducted him, which means why and not necessarily to own the DVD, but perhaps destroy the DVD to eliminate incriminating evidence. The eighth Nightside paranormal private investigator mystery is a fabulous often amusing tale as once again Taylor is working a difficult case because of the homicidal amateurs fogging up the already murky atmosphere. However, with his usual aplomb and the beautiful Halfbreed humanized she-demon with him every step of the killing fields, Taylor navigates the eerie otherworld center of London in which one mistakes means HELL TO PAY for the hero. Simon R. Green continues to provide novel mysteries in a strange otherworld. Harriet Klausner