The book starts with our protagonist, John Taylor, who isn't quite human. He is a private investigator who is forced to return to the Nightside, a sort of hidden netherworld London, where it is always 3 am and always dark. Taylor had been living in London, away from the Nightside. He though he had finally left it for good. The book focuses on his quest to return a runaway child to her mother. Along the way we meet an interesting cast of characters, all various friends and enemies of our main character.
There is Suzie Shooter, the human bounty hunter who gets her name from her trademark weapon, and makes her money in very violent ways. There is also Razor Eddie, the Punk God of the Straight Razor, also violent. And something more than human, that cannot be killed. There is also Alex Morrisey, the owner of Taylor's favorite bar Stangefellows, whose family has been attached to the bar for centuries, but can never leave.
One of the driving themes of this story and all the books, is Taylor's special talent for finding things, and what it allows him to do. A theme that goes hand in hand with his abilities as a finder, is what he really is. He is a product of a relationship between a human father and an inhuman mother. What exactly his mother is is unknown to both Taylor and the reader. Most creatures of the Nightside speak of her with both reverence and fear, but no one will reveal to Taylor exactly what she is or where she can be found.
I found Tales From the Nightside very entertaining. Think of it as a cross between Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. It's dark, mysterious, British and a bit gross. But at all times entertaining. The characters are well drawn, and interesting, and there are enough different types that Taylor interacts with, that it is never dull. Beware in the Nightside. Nothing is ever what it seems. We have book 1 and 2 of the Nightside series available new in paperback for $7.99+ tax.
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