The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny

Title: The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny

Author: Simon R. Green

Publisher: ACE

Copyright Date: 2010

Print Date: January 2010

ISBN: 9780441018161

Pages: 275

Series: 10th full-length novel of the Nightside

Book Description:

In the Nightside — that hidden area in the middle of London where time stands still at three A.M. and the sun won't rise to refute it — nightmares go walking in borrowed flesh, and not everything that looks back at you with human eyes is really human. [...] in the night that never ends?

I do. I'm John Taylor, a PI with a knack for finding things, a talent that had made me wealthy enough to choose my own cases helping those the Nightside has chewed up and wass about to spit out. All things considered, my life lately had been bright, even in this shadowy place.

So it was only a matter of time before everything hit the fan and I found myself accepting jobs I really should have refused. First I agreed to escort an elf — a creature unwelcome even in the Nightside — across town. Then the Dead Detective, Larry Oblivion, asked me to help find his brother who vanished during the Lilith War.

And then Walker — the powerful, ever-present, never-to-be-trusted agent who runs the Nightside on behalf of the Authorities — came around. He told me he was dying and that he, too, had a job for men. An important job.

His.

Comments:

I read this — and started typing up the basic details here — in March. In the weeks since some of the details I intended to include in the Comments have blurred, but I'll try to provide my full impressions.

Some small details...

Toward the beginning of the book, John takes a job escorting an Elf. I wanted to point out, for clarification, that an "elf" in the nightside is actually a Faerie.

John also decides to help Larry Oblivion in this book. I was a little confused about here. I think (if I remember correctly) Larry has become one of the new Authorities. But something about the way he (Larry) talks about the Authorities, or maybe it's his interaction with Walker, who works for the Authorities (this is one of those points that have blurred) confused me. It hasn't been that long since I read Just Another Judgement Day, but I started wondering if I misremembered. Otherwise... ??? And since it's already been returned to the library, I can't check.

As usual for this series, there is quite a bit of darkness, etc. John may find his own contentedness, but the Nightside will always be dark, morbid, etc.

If I understand/"heard" correctly, only two more Nightside books will be published, so it's nearing the end. That did not stop Mr. Green from tossing in some new plotlines. I enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading books 11 and 12. And while I've only read his Nighside novels so far, Simon R. Green has become one of my favorite authors.