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Jekyll & Hyde Inc. #1
Jekyll & Hyde Inc.
A new masterpiece of macabre humor and action from the
New York Times
best-selling author of
Robin Prince of Thieves
, the nationally best-selling Nightside series, the Deathstalker Chronicles, the Ishmael Jones Paranormal Mysteries, and more!
Hyde in the shadows.
Daniel Carter was a London cop who just wanted to do the right thing. But during a raid on an organ-selling chop shop, he is almost torn to pieces by monsters. And no one believes him. Hurt and crippled, his career over, and his life in ruins, Daniel is suddenly presented with a chance at redemption. And revenge. It seems that more than two centuries ago, the monsters of the world disappeared - into the underworld of crime. Guild-like clans now have control over all the dark and illegal trades, from the awful surgeries of the Frankenstein Clan, to the shadowy and seductive Vampire Clan, to the dreaded purveyors of drugs and death, the Clan of Mummies. And there’s always the Werewolf Clan, to keep order.
Only one force stands opposed to the monster the super strong, extremely sexy, quick-witted Hydes! Now Daniel is just one sip of Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir away from joining their company. At Jekyll & Hyde Inc.
Hyde in the shadows.
Daniel Carter was a London cop who just wanted to do the right thing. But during a raid on an organ-selling chop shop, he is almost torn to pieces by monsters. And no one believes him. Hurt and crippled, his career over, and his life in ruins, Daniel is suddenly presented with a chance at redemption. And revenge. It seems that more than two centuries ago, the monsters of the world disappeared - into the underworld of crime. Guild-like clans now have control over all the dark and illegal trades, from the awful surgeries of the Frankenstein Clan, to the shadowy and seductive Vampire Clan, to the dreaded purveyors of drugs and death, the Clan of Mummies. And there’s always the Werewolf Clan, to keep order.
Only one force stands opposed to the monster the super strong, extremely sexy, quick-witted Hydes! Now Daniel is just one sip of Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir away from joining their company. At Jekyll & Hyde Inc.
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First published September 7, 2021
72 people are currently reading
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About the author
Simon R. Green
312 books3,213 followersSimon Richard Green is a British science fiction and fantasy-author. He holds a degree in Modern English and American Literature from the University of Leicester. His first publication was in 1979.
His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
November 2, 2021
Daniel Carter was a London police officer who found out the hard way that monsters are real. They've just moved underground, forming criminal cartels. He's now a broken man, given an elixir, the same elixir developed by Dr. Jekyll, and one last opportunity to smash the monster clans plaguing London.
This would have worked better spread across multiple books. There's some cool world-building here. It's a shame to see it all boiled down to boss fights. Most of the book is the same. Go take out this monster clan, rinse and repeat. There's wasted potential where this could have been fleshed out into a better story. The way it is now, you quickly see the entire book mapped out ahead of you as soon as Mr. Hyde appears.
This would have worked better spread across multiple books. There's some cool world-building here. It's a shame to see it all boiled down to boss fights. Most of the book is the same. Go take out this monster clan, rinse and repeat. There's wasted potential where this could have been fleshed out into a better story. The way it is now, you quickly see the entire book mapped out ahead of you as soon as Mr. Hyde appears.
September 30, 2023
Green's writing made this book highly readable, but the story was far too simple for me to say it was more than just okay--and that's two stars in Goodreads' rating code, so maybe a little better than neutral but not enough to round up to three.
The publisher's blurb, reprinted at the top of this Goodreads page, is nicely accurate for the main character Daniel and for the world-building premise. The monsters of fiction are real and have adapted to modern times by forming "guildlike Clans" that secretly run the world's organized crime. In particular, Stevenson's Jekyll & Hyde was a factual account, not fiction, and Mr. Hyde recruits Daniel to destroy the monster Clans, one after the other.
For this mission Daniel drinks Dr. Jekyll's elixir, becomes a Hyde, and is joined up with another Hyde recruit, Tina, who's actually stronger and more aggressive than Daniel is, and, note this, she's six inches taller than Daniel. What a wildly misleading cover picture! Did they figure nobody would buy the book if the gal on the cover towered over the guy? Even her more feminine pose is misleading--Daniel's the one in that duo who's forever hesitating and wondering before he acts.
But he does act, violently, right alongside his partner Tina, and, well, that's the story. The elixir gives people great superpowers, you see, so they can withstand repeated attacks from dozens of monsters at a time, to say nothing of the monsters' human servants. And each of the monster Clans is conveniently holding its secret annual gathering in London within an interval of a week or two. The result is just superpower fight scenes one after the other. No spoilers here, but the outcome was obvious.
Highly readable, if you're not expecting much.
The publisher's blurb, reprinted at the top of this Goodreads page, is nicely accurate for the main character Daniel and for the world-building premise. The monsters of fiction are real and have adapted to modern times by forming "guildlike Clans" that secretly run the world's organized crime. In particular, Stevenson's Jekyll & Hyde was a factual account, not fiction, and Mr. Hyde recruits Daniel to destroy the monster Clans, one after the other.
For this mission Daniel drinks Dr. Jekyll's elixir, becomes a Hyde, and is joined up with another Hyde recruit, Tina, who's actually stronger and more aggressive than Daniel is, and, note this, she's six inches taller than Daniel. What a wildly misleading cover picture! Did they figure nobody would buy the book if the gal on the cover towered over the guy? Even her more feminine pose is misleading--Daniel's the one in that duo who's forever hesitating and wondering before he acts.
But he does act, violently, right alongside his partner Tina, and, well, that's the story. The elixir gives people great superpowers, you see, so they can withstand repeated attacks from dozens of monsters at a time, to say nothing of the monsters' human servants. And each of the monster Clans is conveniently holding its secret annual gathering in London within an interval of a week or two. The result is just superpower fight scenes one after the other. No spoilers here, but the outcome was obvious.
Highly readable, if you're not expecting much.
July 19, 2023
I've read and enjoyed a lot of Green's books, but I was really disappointed by this one. It has a decent set-up, with a world in which vampires, mummies, werewolves, and Frankenstein monsters exist in tightly knit organizations, and they're opposed by a former policeman who's recruited to join the Hydes to oppose them. Unfortunately, the conflicts are all resolved with ridiculous ease and the final confrontation is not resolved at all; the book just stops. There's no clever banter or close relationship building like you find in the Ghost Finders books, no sharp satire or overt humor like the Nightside books, no clever plotting or subtly ironic humor as in the Hawk & Fisher books... after the unpleasant cover there's a predictable and silly series of violent events. There are some dreary and disgusting scenes (such as animals being slaughtered) that were disturbing, an unlikely sexual relationship, and altogether I didn't think the few engaging bits were enough to outweigh the negatives.
July 17, 2021
As a potential new series from Green, Jekyll & Hyde Inc. is an interesting world, unconnected with the Nightside or Drood universe (so far at least). Great action and fight scenes, the actual plot is a bit rushed. Characters are quintessential Green, man and woman joined together in the good fight, regardless of their lack of history and interaction together.
Not my favorite from Green, but I would buy and read a cereal box if he wrote the copy for it. If J&H continues as a series, then I will continue to read it. As a stand-alone, I hope the the final version (I read an ARC) has a bit more added to help transition the action scenes and world build.
Not my favorite from Green, but I would buy and read a cereal box if he wrote the copy for it. If J&H continues as a series, then I will continue to read it. As a stand-alone, I hope the the final version (I read an ARC) has a bit more added to help transition the action scenes and world build.
December 12, 2021
Read: Dec 2021
Simon R. Green is has been on my auto-buy authors list for at least twelve years now, and with the exception of the Drood series which I could never get into, I love his style of writing and his imagination. With Jekyll & Hyde Inc. Green sets up a new world, though it is unclear whether this is the start of a series or a stand-alone novel at this point.
The plot:
A scarred and damaged former police officer who still maintains his personal sense of justice is given the chance to take an elixir to become a 'Hyde' - a virtually invincible superhuman, based on the Hyde character from the classic Robert Louis Stephenson novella - and help to rid the city of London from various dark, supernatural forces.
What I liked:
- Daniel; he is similar to all of Green's heroes in that he is a dark, sardonic character with a strong moral compass who takes questionable risks and has a healthy respect for his female counterparts.
- Tina; the female Hyde. I liked the hints of her back-story, although the details were not fully developed. She is stronger and more savvy than Daniel, but also more impulsive and insensitive to others around her.
- The adaptation of the original novella to link it to this present day version.
- The undercurrent of menace coming from Edward in every interaction - sometimes not so much of an undercurrent. The incident of him was hard to read.
What I disliked:
- the details of this world are frustratingly scant. I wanted more of a set-up and an understanding of all the different clans and the way they interact with each other, and how much the general public are aware of the supernatural beings around them.
- unless I missed it, the only visual we get of Daniel is the illustration on the front cover. There's no description of what he looks like pre-Hyde or post-Hyde, or what his injuries were after chapter 1.
- the romance between Daniel and Tina seemed unnecessary
-
Overall, while Jekyll & Hyde Inc was a good, entertaining read, it felt like an ultimately lazily written story. There was so much more that could have been explored, detailed and examined, from fleshing out Daniel's appearance and character, Edward's history, Tina's backstory and the world building, which were all left unwritten.
Hopefully, there will be a book 2 to fill in some of those frustrating gaps.
Simon R. Green is has been on my auto-buy authors list for at least twelve years now, and with the exception of the Drood series which I could never get into, I love his style of writing and his imagination. With Jekyll & Hyde Inc. Green sets up a new world, though it is unclear whether this is the start of a series or a stand-alone novel at this point.
The plot:
A scarred and damaged former police officer who still maintains his personal sense of justice is given the chance to take an elixir to become a 'Hyde' - a virtually invincible superhuman, based on the Hyde character from the classic Robert Louis Stephenson novella - and help to rid the city of London from various dark, supernatural forces.
What I liked:
- Daniel; he is similar to all of Green's heroes in that he is a dark, sardonic character with a strong moral compass who takes questionable risks and has a healthy respect for his female counterparts.
- Tina; the female Hyde. I liked the hints of her back-story, although the details were not fully developed. She is stronger and more savvy than Daniel, but also more impulsive and insensitive to others around her.
- The adaptation of the original novella to link it to this present day version.
- The undercurrent of menace coming from Edward in every interaction - sometimes not so much of an undercurrent. The incident of him was hard to read.
What I disliked:
- the details of this world are frustratingly scant. I wanted more of a set-up and an understanding of all the different clans and the way they interact with each other, and how much the general public are aware of the supernatural beings around them.
- unless I missed it, the only visual we get of Daniel is the illustration on the front cover. There's no description of what he looks like pre-Hyde or post-Hyde, or what his injuries were after chapter 1.
- the romance between Daniel and Tina seemed unnecessary
-
Overall, while Jekyll & Hyde Inc was a good, entertaining read, it felt like an ultimately lazily written story. There was so much more that could have been explored, detailed and examined, from fleshing out Daniel's appearance and character, Edward's history, Tina's backstory and the world building, which were all left unwritten.
Hopefully, there will be a book 2 to fill in some of those frustrating gaps.
November 14, 2021
This was fine, but not the type of exceptional that I expect from Simon Green.
It's about a cop who is introduced very violently to the fact that monsters are real by barely surviving a police raid on some Frankensteins.
And then he meets Mr Hyde and is given a chance to fight all the monsters and take down the Monster Crime Families.
The concept is pretty strong, but there isn't anything else there really. It's have liked it if there were more twists, as it is, it's pretty predictable and the couple of "twists" made me go "Was that not known before now?"
I still really like Green, but this wasn't that great.
It's about a cop who is introduced very violently to the fact that monsters are real by barely surviving a police raid on some Frankensteins.
And then he meets Mr Hyde and is given a chance to fight all the monsters and take down the Monster Crime Families.
The concept is pretty strong, but there isn't anything else there really. It's have liked it if there were more twists, as it is, it's pretty predictable and the couple of "twists" made me go "Was that not known before now?"
I still really like Green, but this wasn't that great.
June 29, 2023
I have to admit that I do love some of the utterly over the top action and storylines Simon Green has come up - the idea of the Nightside and all its inhabitants is so much fun (I would love to explore that world some more) but this book I have to say feels like a project that didn't really deliver.
Now I always try and avoid spoilers so bare with me but I would say that the concept of this books - become a monster to fight monsters (and yes that is splashed all over the book cover) is not an old one always open to some great action and fun - however this book felt both rushed and limited on material to the point it felt like it had finished even before I read to the end of the book.
How I could be wrong this could be the opener of a new series but I do struggle to see where or how it could anywhere else where as like I say the Nightside series is just bursting with possibilities. So yes it was fun while it lasted and the dialogue as always raised a smile or two but I have read and enjoyed better from Mr Green - sorry
Now I always try and avoid spoilers so bare with me but I would say that the concept of this books - become a monster to fight monsters (and yes that is splashed all over the book cover) is not an old one always open to some great action and fun - however this book felt both rushed and limited on material to the point it felt like it had finished even before I read to the end of the book.
How I could be wrong this could be the opener of a new series but I do struggle to see where or how it could anywhere else where as like I say the Nightside series is just bursting with possibilities. So yes it was fun while it lasted and the dialogue as always raised a smile or two but I have read and enjoyed better from Mr Green - sorry
September 11, 2021
Originally published at Reading Reality
I picked this book up because I usually enjoy the author’s fine line in snark. His characters generally manage to say the things we all wish we’d said, and that’s always good for a bit of a chuckle, even if the humor involved tends to have the whiff of the gallows about it.
In other words, I expected to enjoy this book, at least on some levels. Even when his stories are at their most macabre, there’s always been something in the banter and the byplay that has tickled me a bit. Even when, or especially because there’s frequently something awful going on at the time.
I expected to have a good reading time with Jekyll & Hyde Inc. I really did. I liked the concept of it taking a monster to catch a monster, and the idea of Edward Hyde still running around London almost a century and a half after he supposedly died – along with his alter ego and progenitor, Dr. Henry Jekyll.
The blurb makes it seem as if the Hydes are, if not exactly on the side of the angels, at least on the side of putting the monsters down and out of both our and their misery – because the monsters have certainly earned it.
I was looking for a fun, horror-adjacent story with a heaping helping of snark. I expected to end with a bit of a chuckle and the feeling of order restored to the world in one way or another. Something along those lines.
But at the end of Jekyll & Hyde Inc., all I felt was sad. And I’m really, really sad about that.
Escape Rating C: From the description, and from the opening of the story, I’ll admit that I was wondering if this was going to turn out to be a bit like the Secret Histories series, only with real monsters as the protagonists instead of merely human monsters with great technology.
But the Hydes as a group don’t seem to have any redeeming motives the way that the Droods did. The Droods believed that they knew what was best for humanity, and even if they were wrong about methods or results, even if they caused a lot of collateral damage, and even if some of their number were corrupt, their overall goals at least nodded at being righteous.
The Hydes, or at least Edward Hyde himself, just want to eliminate all the other monster clans so that he can be the top dog and rule the underworld. Daniel and Tina are just tools in his hands who don’t realize that they are being taken for a ride until very near the end.
The underworld the Hydes are taking out has all the creepiness of the Nightside, or even Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, without any light shining in from John Taylor or Richard Mayhew or even the Marquis de Carabas. In other words, I was looking for a least a bit of a redemptive arc or the possibility thereof, and all I got was a breather between monster mashes.
The relationship that develops between Daniel and Tina may be intended to mimic some kind of romance, but just doesn’t have the kind of heart that the relationship between Ishmael Jones and Penny Belcourt has in that series. Or even the on again/off again relationship that Gideon Sable has with Annie Anybody in The Best Thing You Can Steal.
Something is just missing in Jekyll & Hyde Inc. It has all the grim and all the dark of many of the author’s previous series, but it’s lacking in the light moments – and the snark – that made Ishmael Jones and Gideon Sable and the Nightside so compulsively readable.
Qualities that I sincerely hope he brings back in his next book, whatever it might be. I’ll certainly be looking for it the next time I go back to see what Ishmael Jones is up to in Till Sudden Death Do Us Part and the rest of that series.
I picked this book up because I usually enjoy the author’s fine line in snark. His characters generally manage to say the things we all wish we’d said, and that’s always good for a bit of a chuckle, even if the humor involved tends to have the whiff of the gallows about it.
In other words, I expected to enjoy this book, at least on some levels. Even when his stories are at their most macabre, there’s always been something in the banter and the byplay that has tickled me a bit. Even when, or especially because there’s frequently something awful going on at the time.
I expected to have a good reading time with Jekyll & Hyde Inc. I really did. I liked the concept of it taking a monster to catch a monster, and the idea of Edward Hyde still running around London almost a century and a half after he supposedly died – along with his alter ego and progenitor, Dr. Henry Jekyll.
The blurb makes it seem as if the Hydes are, if not exactly on the side of the angels, at least on the side of putting the monsters down and out of both our and their misery – because the monsters have certainly earned it.
I was looking for a fun, horror-adjacent story with a heaping helping of snark. I expected to end with a bit of a chuckle and the feeling of order restored to the world in one way or another. Something along those lines.
But at the end of Jekyll & Hyde Inc., all I felt was sad. And I’m really, really sad about that.
Escape Rating C: From the description, and from the opening of the story, I’ll admit that I was wondering if this was going to turn out to be a bit like the Secret Histories series, only with real monsters as the protagonists instead of merely human monsters with great technology.
But the Hydes as a group don’t seem to have any redeeming motives the way that the Droods did. The Droods believed that they knew what was best for humanity, and even if they were wrong about methods or results, even if they caused a lot of collateral damage, and even if some of their number were corrupt, their overall goals at least nodded at being righteous.
The Hydes, or at least Edward Hyde himself, just want to eliminate all the other monster clans so that he can be the top dog and rule the underworld. Daniel and Tina are just tools in his hands who don’t realize that they are being taken for a ride until very near the end.
The underworld the Hydes are taking out has all the creepiness of the Nightside, or even Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, without any light shining in from John Taylor or Richard Mayhew or even the Marquis de Carabas. In other words, I was looking for a least a bit of a redemptive arc or the possibility thereof, and all I got was a breather between monster mashes.
The relationship that develops between Daniel and Tina may be intended to mimic some kind of romance, but just doesn’t have the kind of heart that the relationship between Ishmael Jones and Penny Belcourt has in that series. Or even the on again/off again relationship that Gideon Sable has with Annie Anybody in The Best Thing You Can Steal.
Something is just missing in Jekyll & Hyde Inc. It has all the grim and all the dark of many of the author’s previous series, but it’s lacking in the light moments – and the snark – that made Ishmael Jones and Gideon Sable and the Nightside so compulsively readable.
Qualities that I sincerely hope he brings back in his next book, whatever it might be. I’ll certainly be looking for it the next time I go back to see what Ishmael Jones is up to in Till Sudden Death Do Us Part and the rest of that series.
December 28, 2021
Fans of Simon R. Green will find this quick novel a bit disappointing. As usual, Mr. Green has a fascinating premise: monsters still exist in our world, they have just gone underground and now control various criminal enterprises. Daniel Carter, London cop, finds this out the hard way - he and his fellow detectives go to bust an undercover "Frankenstein" surgery, only to be (almost) wiped out. Left a broken man, he gets an opportunity for revenge through the wonderful elixir of Edward Hyde.
Sounds pretty good so far, right? But the rest of the book is a rushed affair from here. Daniel becomes a Hyde, meets a fellow Hyde in Tina, with whom he falls in love with in a day or two, and then proceeds to take on a monster clan, who all happen to be having gatherings in London during the same week or two.
We get a little bit of banter, a little bit of Edward Hyde, a rushed fight with a new monster clan, and repeat. Not very engaging, the relationships are all very rushed, and the fights seem repetitive. Not the best effort from Mr. Green.
Sounds pretty good so far, right? But the rest of the book is a rushed affair from here. Daniel becomes a Hyde, meets a fellow Hyde in Tina, with whom he falls in love with in a day or two, and then proceeds to take on a monster clan, who all happen to be having gatherings in London during the same week or two.
We get a little bit of banter, a little bit of Edward Hyde, a rushed fight with a new monster clan, and repeat. Not very engaging, the relationships are all very rushed, and the fights seem repetitive. Not the best effort from Mr. Green.
September 12, 2021
Disappointing
I’m a longtime fan or Simon Green’s work, but this novel really was lacking so very much. Just a flimsy plot, two-dimensional world and characters, and just unsatisfying overall.
I expected better, and give this what is really 2.5 stars. At least Mr. Green published a professionally edited book, and there were no spelling, or other obvious grammatical errors as we often see in newly published digital works, even from major publishing houses.
Still, this felt like something written for a middle school level mentality (aside from some of the content), with the kind of simplicity you find in (some) works for children.
I’d love to know how other readers feel about this book.
I’m a longtime fan or Simon Green’s work, but this novel really was lacking so very much. Just a flimsy plot, two-dimensional world and characters, and just unsatisfying overall.
I expected better, and give this what is really 2.5 stars. At least Mr. Green published a professionally edited book, and there were no spelling, or other obvious grammatical errors as we often see in newly published digital works, even from major publishing houses.
Still, this felt like something written for a middle school level mentality (aside from some of the content), with the kind of simplicity you find in (some) works for children.
I’d love to know how other readers feel about this book.
December 31, 2022
I liked the idea behind the story
This book has no pacing. It one event to the next like one big coke fueled bender. The writing is also like a teenage power fantasy. I really wanted to like this book but I think I’m just to old for this. Definitely meant for younger crowds, I probably would have loved it at 13.
This book has no pacing. It one event to the next like one big coke fueled bender. The writing is also like a teenage power fantasy. I really wanted to like this book but I think I’m just to old for this. Definitely meant for younger crowds, I probably would have loved it at 13.
September 10, 2021
Awesome and way too short!
April 3, 2024
I enjoyed it, though I wished the author had broken this into three novels and spent more time dealing with the individual monster clans. Fun read, like a summer movie where you need to suspend your belief and just enjoy the ride.
November 19, 2021
He has a lot of really good book - he's one of my favorite authors; but this on just wasn't for me at all. I have plenty of others he's written that I can keep rereading!
June 29, 2021
What if monsters were real. Vampires, Werewolves, Mummys, all real but driven underground by the bright lights of modern society. The monsters as evil as ever, have taken over organized crime. How do you stop them? Apparently it takes a monster to kill a monster.
Enter Edward Hyde, the incarnation of evil, who recruits a team at Jekyll and Hyde, Inc to put an end to the monsters.
I was given an ARC of this book to review. The story moves along quickly from one battle to the next. Plenty of action. Quick read. This is an early copy, it could use some editing - lots of repetition.
Enter Edward Hyde, the incarnation of evil, who recruits a team at Jekyll and Hyde, Inc to put an end to the monsters.
I was given an ARC of this book to review. The story moves along quickly from one battle to the next. Plenty of action. Quick read. This is an early copy, it could use some editing - lots of repetition.
June 6, 2024
If you have read any other Mr. Green book you have honestly already read most of this. Dialogue feels exactly the same as all his other Hero & Heroine couples. The side cast never get interesting and feel only added to have something other than the Duo to break up their Dialogue. With the big twist ending not having a twist at all.
Hopefully this was a one off adventure and not more recycling.
Update: I reread this to think about getting into the next and I had to lower my rating. This feels like a rewash of old stories with a new face-lift in main characters but they aren't fresh and it lacks the charm of older books as it rehashes Green's old tropes.
Hopefully this was a one off adventure and not more recycling.
Update: I reread this to think about getting into the next and I had to lower my rating. This feels like a rewash of old stories with a new face-lift in main characters but they aren't fresh and it lacks the charm of older books as it rehashes Green's old tropes.
March 22, 2023
So, picture this. Vampires, werewolves, mummies, and “Frankensteins” are real. They’re all pretty corny, there’s only one tiny group of each, and they live in London. Edward Hyde, the Robert Louis Stevenson creation who is also apparently real, wants to sort them out.
This Met cop named Daniel got roped into a sting against what he thought was some black market organs operation. But it turns out to be a Frankenstein den (as in, other mad scientists making people out of body parts) and Daniel and the rest of his squad get wrecked. Daniel survives, but is left crippled, and dismissed from the force.
Hyde brings him in, and knowing how consumed he is by the idea of revenge, gives him the “Elixir” that made him who he is. This heals his injuries, makes him huge and strong, and filled with righteous fury against his enemies. Pairing him up with another “Hyde,” a massive woman named Tina, they are then dispatched to sort out the other monsters.
This initially appealed because the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic has several interpretations over the years, and I wondered how they’d approach it here. Hyde as the repressed, base urges made physical? A better version of yourself? A burly, superpowered split personality?
Here, it’s an uneven mix of all of these. It’s mostly the huge super-strong monster, often portraying feats of mind-boggling strength and durability. Some attention is paid to the original’s interpretation where Hyde is patently immoral and driven by id, particularly early on, when Daniel is new to all this and learning what he can do with Tina. Some incidental attention is paid to the temptation of giving in to your evil half, but it’s not really acted upon.
Which leads nicely into one of my biggest peeves with this book: it’s basically just the characters moving to the next bunch of monsters they need to kill, with isolated adventures between them. Some of them seem like they’ll add some intrigue to the narrative, and they just don’t. Daniel and Tina simply go to the next place, wisecrack a bit, a scene of gross yet tepid bloodshed occurs, and then it ends. The leads dust themselves off and go to the next one.
It doesn’t help that the monsters are written with the barest amount of imagination. Picture every mainstream, popcultural version of movie monsters, and that’s basically what there is. There is no real sense that these monsters fester in the shadows, brushing so close that we can feel their fur and scales, as perhaps would be the case with Neil Gaiman or Stephen King. They’re just waiting around to get beat up. It also undermines the book’s stakes when the two mains are impervious to damage, and most of the suspense is when they have to do something slightly more complex than punch them to death.
The few intrigues set up in the book, like Daniel wondering if his morality will atrophy now that he’s impossibly strong and impervious to consequence, are forgotten about or ignored. Tina suggests buried depths, but the story firmly avoids any chances to develop them. A few of the supporting characters might have added some welcome texture to this otherwise rote story, where most of my time was spent thinking about what could or should happen, rather than the infuriatingly predictable thing that does. It further limits the book’s interest where all the characters speak with the same snarky voice, and the easiest way to tell them apart is by finding other names they use in their dialogue.
For all of that, though, I at least wasn’t bored. The story is pulpy and sprightly, and even though Daniel and Tina are pretty thin as characters, seeing them revel in their violence and appetites is entertaining. It’s tempting to imagine what they might have done in a premise that actually explored the Jekyll/Hyde concept from its emotional or psychological aspects, but that may be a bit much from a premise like this.
This Met cop named Daniel got roped into a sting against what he thought was some black market organs operation. But it turns out to be a Frankenstein den (as in, other mad scientists making people out of body parts) and Daniel and the rest of his squad get wrecked. Daniel survives, but is left crippled, and dismissed from the force.
Hyde brings him in, and knowing how consumed he is by the idea of revenge, gives him the “Elixir” that made him who he is. This heals his injuries, makes him huge and strong, and filled with righteous fury against his enemies. Pairing him up with another “Hyde,” a massive woman named Tina, they are then dispatched to sort out the other monsters.
This initially appealed because the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic has several interpretations over the years, and I wondered how they’d approach it here. Hyde as the repressed, base urges made physical? A better version of yourself? A burly, superpowered split personality?
Here, it’s an uneven mix of all of these. It’s mostly the huge super-strong monster, often portraying feats of mind-boggling strength and durability. Some attention is paid to the original’s interpretation where Hyde is patently immoral and driven by id, particularly early on, when Daniel is new to all this and learning what he can do with Tina. Some incidental attention is paid to the temptation of giving in to your evil half, but it’s not really acted upon.
Which leads nicely into one of my biggest peeves with this book: it’s basically just the characters moving to the next bunch of monsters they need to kill, with isolated adventures between them. Some of them seem like they’ll add some intrigue to the narrative, and they just don’t. Daniel and Tina simply go to the next place, wisecrack a bit, a scene of gross yet tepid bloodshed occurs, and then it ends. The leads dust themselves off and go to the next one.
It doesn’t help that the monsters are written with the barest amount of imagination. Picture every mainstream, popcultural version of movie monsters, and that’s basically what there is. There is no real sense that these monsters fester in the shadows, brushing so close that we can feel their fur and scales, as perhaps would be the case with Neil Gaiman or Stephen King. They’re just waiting around to get beat up. It also undermines the book’s stakes when the two mains are impervious to damage, and most of the suspense is when they have to do something slightly more complex than punch them to death.
The few intrigues set up in the book, like Daniel wondering if his morality will atrophy now that he’s impossibly strong and impervious to consequence, are forgotten about or ignored. Tina suggests buried depths, but the story firmly avoids any chances to develop them. A few of the supporting characters might have added some welcome texture to this otherwise rote story, where most of my time was spent thinking about what could or should happen, rather than the infuriatingly predictable thing that does. It further limits the book’s interest where all the characters speak with the same snarky voice, and the easiest way to tell them apart is by finding other names they use in their dialogue.
For all of that, though, I at least wasn’t bored. The story is pulpy and sprightly, and even though Daniel and Tina are pretty thin as characters, seeing them revel in their violence and appetites is entertaining. It’s tempting to imagine what they might have done in a premise that actually explored the Jekyll/Hyde concept from its emotional or psychological aspects, but that may be a bit much from a premise like this.
August 24, 2022
“It takes a monster to kill a monster”, indeed. For the most part this is a love letter to the Universal and Hammer Film monster movies of old, and it was a fun, if imperfect read. I get the feeling that Simon R Green’s latest novel was meant to be the start of a new series, but somewhere along the line that idea got scrapped. The idea is that the standard Green romantic couple/badass partners are recruited by none other than *the* Edward Hyde to destroy clans of classic monsters. The twist is that these clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the Frankensteins and the Mummies have over the past few decades gone to ground to take over organized crime in London, becoming the lords of its Underworld (cue lightning strike)!
Throughout the novel, our heroes take on each clan, fighting the good fight but the whole thing becomes a little repititious, particularly in the space of one book. One can’t help but wonder how each monster clan would have developed had they been the focus of their own novel
Another element that became somewhat repetitious was the dynamic between the leads, Daniel and Tina. Despite their being partners and each saving each other from various threats, the clear protagonist in the book is the male lead, Daniel and for once I wish Green would have broken with that tradition. A female main protagonist would have been a breath of fresh air, also, it was a little uneasy to watch Tina go from teacher to subordinate in a short amount of time.
But for all it’s faults I enjoyed reading it and probably would read again some years from now if I ever got the chance. I also am keeping hope alive for a sequel
Throughout the novel, our heroes take on each clan, fighting the good fight but the whole thing becomes a little repititious, particularly in the space of one book. One can’t help but wonder how each monster clan would have developed had they been the focus of their own novel
Another element that became somewhat repetitious was the dynamic between the leads, Daniel and Tina. Despite their being partners and each saving each other from various threats, the clear protagonist in the book is the male lead, Daniel and for once I wish Green would have broken with that tradition. A female main protagonist would have been a breath of fresh air, also, it was a little uneasy to watch Tina go from teacher to subordinate in a short amount of time.
But for all it’s faults I enjoyed reading it and probably would read again some years from now if I ever got the chance. I also am keeping hope alive for a sequel
July 5, 2024
I liked the beginning of this. I really did.
When the main character, Daniel, gets told to show up at Jekyll & Hyde Inc because they can turn him into a monster so he can hunt other monsters in his quest for revenge. It was a fairly suspicious timing how Daniel decided to show up on the exact day where he would be extremely helpful in destroying an entire monster family. Suspicious, but there was already someone prepping for that mission so it was kind of okay. He'd be extra muscle!
But then Daniel and Tina jump into bed together, and spend several days in each others arm and only drags their asses back to Jekyll & Hyde Inc because they wouldn't want the Boss to show up on their doorstep looking for them. Mind you, this happened twice in the book. And both times, they arrive at the Boss Man's lair and get told their timing is perfect because TODAY of ALL DAYS with NO WARNING is when another monster family is having their annual gathering and they can go wipe out another monster family.
I am.. speechless at this decision by Simon R. Green. Who is an author I've read and enjoyed before. Why have this major plot hole when an unobtrusive text from the boss man, or his assistant, would have had the same effect without it seeming like this was written by a toddler.
And let us not ignore the fact that they spent the entire books saying how they were going to need to deal with the boss man at the end of the book because he was ALSO a monster who was up to no good just for them to be *gasp* betrayed! and then have an conversation about how "well I suppose we gotta kill him now" as if they hadn't been planning that from THE VERY BEGINNING!
When the main character, Daniel, gets told to show up at Jekyll & Hyde Inc because they can turn him into a monster so he can hunt other monsters in his quest for revenge. It was a fairly suspicious timing how Daniel decided to show up on the exact day where he would be extremely helpful in destroying an entire monster family. Suspicious, but there was already someone prepping for that mission so it was kind of okay. He'd be extra muscle!
But then Daniel and Tina jump into bed together, and spend several days in each others arm and only drags their asses back to Jekyll & Hyde Inc because they wouldn't want the Boss to show up on their doorstep looking for them. Mind you, this happened twice in the book. And both times, they arrive at the Boss Man's lair and get told their timing is perfect because TODAY of ALL DAYS with NO WARNING is when another monster family is having their annual gathering and they can go wipe out another monster family.
I am.. speechless at this decision by Simon R. Green. Who is an author I've read and enjoyed before. Why have this major plot hole when an unobtrusive text from the boss man, or his assistant, would have had the same effect without it seeming like this was written by a toddler.
And let us not ignore the fact that they spent the entire books saying how they were going to need to deal with the boss man at the end of the book because he was ALSO a monster who was up to no good just for them to be *gasp* betrayed! and then have an conversation about how "well I suppose we gotta kill him now" as if they hadn't been planning that from THE VERY BEGINNING!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2022
☆☆SPOILER ALERT ☆☆
My first thought: almost adequateNext
Next: It could have been so much more.
The prerequisite Simon R Green phrases were there ie; "red with tooth and claw" and "I never knew you when you weren't" ect ect.
But the characters were oddly slow and wishy washy and moral at odd times. I wanted to like Daniel, but he couldn't make up his mind except when when he was saving his friends by killing them. None of them even got the chance to learn to be better.
》So when you kill all the monsters in the world by being a stronger, smarter, more devious monster, do you kill yourself in the end?
What happens to the families and friends of all the other people and things they killed? Nothing is scary forever.
I know this was several books into one so somethings were shortened but they were shortened.
Ps If you write strong women but have the men always need to save them and then apologize after every time are you really writing strong women or just a place where the men only act like they support them, but in the end do believe in their skills ie; Eddy and Mollie
》How come Tina was a Hyde for a while longer than Daniel, but he was just as strong and as fast as her?
Dashed off fash with less thought than usual.
OK but not great. I don't believe they would live very long in say The Nightside.
Only my opinions
XX ✌🏾
My first thought: almost adequateNext
Next: It could have been so much more.
The prerequisite Simon R Green phrases were there ie; "red with tooth and claw" and "I never knew you when you weren't" ect ect.
But the characters were oddly slow and wishy washy and moral at odd times. I wanted to like Daniel, but he couldn't make up his mind except when when he was saving his friends by killing them. None of them even got the chance to learn to be better.
》So when you kill all the monsters in the world by being a stronger, smarter, more devious monster, do you kill yourself in the end?
What happens to the families and friends of all the other people and things they killed? Nothing is scary forever.
I know this was several books into one so somethings were shortened but they were shortened.
Ps If you write strong women but have the men always need to save them and then apologize after every time are you really writing strong women or just a place where the men only act like they support them, but in the end do believe in their skills ie; Eddy and Mollie
》How come Tina was a Hyde for a while longer than Daniel, but he was just as strong and as fast as her?
Dashed off fash with less thought than usual.
OK but not great. I don't believe they would live very long in say The Nightside.
Only my opinions
XX ✌🏾
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2021
I chose to read this book because I read about it in an email from the publisher and the premise sounded very interesting. Monsters exist, but have been underground for over a century (literally, in some cases), fading from the scene to run criminal enterprises of various types. One seemingly immortal man, Edward Hyde, uses Dr. Jekyll’s formula to enhance selected humans to help him in his war against these monsters.
This is billed as a fantasy novel, but it reads more like horror to me because of all the monsters and the violence the Hyde’s use against them. There are some rom-com elements to it, especially the clever banter in much of the dialogue. This book was a little on the short side, a little over 200 pages but the small font/type size resulted in tightly-packed text on each page, so it probably would have been 275-300 pages in larger type. Regardless, the story did feel rushed, with the Hyde’s battles with the different monster clans occurring within a few days of each other.
I gave Jekyll & Hyde Inc. four stars on Goodreads. The premise was well executed, but with the amount of blood and gore, the rem-com elements were a distraction.
This is billed as a fantasy novel, but it reads more like horror to me because of all the monsters and the violence the Hyde’s use against them. There are some rom-com elements to it, especially the clever banter in much of the dialogue. This book was a little on the short side, a little over 200 pages but the small font/type size resulted in tightly-packed text on each page, so it probably would have been 275-300 pages in larger type. Regardless, the story did feel rushed, with the Hyde’s battles with the different monster clans occurring within a few days of each other.
I gave Jekyll & Hyde Inc. four stars on Goodreads. The premise was well executed, but with the amount of blood and gore, the rem-com elements were a distraction.
September 22, 2023
Sigh. I've read and enjoyed a lot of Simon Green's books. The Ishmael Jones series is a particular favourite, followed closely by the Ghost Finders series, then Hawk & Fisher.
But this one? Character is betrayed. Character is transformed. Kill group 1, kill group 2, kill group 3, kill group 4, go after big guy. It was more like a really bad video game. The plot was completely linear, no surprises, with the occasional stop to debate what's going on, even if they are spying on bad guys.
To be honest, it read more like an outline of a longer series, with dialog and descriptions. Maybe, if it had been a series it could have fleshed things out a bit more. But as it is?
Sigh. Don't bother with this one.
But this one? Character is betrayed. Character is transformed. Kill group 1, kill group 2, kill group 3, kill group 4, go after big guy. It was more like a really bad video game. The plot was completely linear, no surprises, with the occasional stop to debate what's going on, even if they are spying on bad guys.
To be honest, it read more like an outline of a longer series, with dialog and descriptions. Maybe, if it had been a series it could have fleshed things out a bit more. But as it is?
Sigh. Don't bother with this one.
September 15, 2021
An interesting concept
Simon Green has created more new characters, taking the classic Jekyll and Hyde story and giving it his macabre twist that he does so well. A good read, although there is a lot of inner angst that the characters explore within themselves and each other. Monster are destroyed right and left...including the worst one of them all. I certainly would be interested to see where Mr. Green takes these characters from here if he decides to Make this into a series.
Simon Green has created more new characters, taking the classic Jekyll and Hyde story and giving it his macabre twist that he does so well. A good read, although there is a lot of inner angst that the characters explore within themselves and each other. Monster are destroyed right and left...including the worst one of them all. I certainly would be interested to see where Mr. Green takes these characters from here if he decides to Make this into a series.
Read
May 11, 2024DNF
I like Green's work but this just wasn't great even before the animal cruelty. (Used in a lazy way to denote how eee-vil a character was.) This is very straight forward, to the point where there is no tension or suspense. It's basically 'well you'd better become a Hyde - now you need to destroy the Frankenstein clan. Great now they're dead, take out the vampires...' etc So no, not the author's best work. If you want pop corn violence scenes without much plot then you might enjoy this.
I like Green's work but this just wasn't great even before the animal cruelty. (Used in a lazy way to denote how eee-vil a character was.) This is very straight forward, to the point where there is no tension or suspense. It's basically 'well you'd better become a Hyde - now you need to destroy the Frankenstein clan. Great now they're dead, take out the vampires...' etc So no, not the author's best work. If you want pop corn violence scenes without much plot then you might enjoy this.
September 12, 2021
3.5 Stars. Simon R. Green writes wonderfully readable and bizarre set pieces and this book is no different. The characters resemble the characters from his previous series. John Taylor, Edwin Drood and now Daniel Hyde all share basically the same motivations and drives. Entertaining and yet familiar.
February 3, 2022
Pretty interesting take on the classic literary monsters existing in the real world. The story had heart, humor, and violence to keep it from getting stale. A good solid pace, so the story never feels like it dragged. The main leads were likable and the villains were completely despicable, as all great heroes & villains should be. Worth a read.
May 26, 2022
I had high hopes for another series from Simon, but while this one was interesting and something I've never read anything like before. I just didn't enjoy it. Too gory for my enjoyment. Not saying I won't try the next one if one comes out, but I'm starting to not enjoy the latest novels as much as I enjoyed his previous series.
June 17, 2022
Simon R. Green takes familiar tales and spins them anew. There are still monsters, they've just gone underground. Daniel becomes a Hyde and takes on the Frankenstein Clan, the Fampire Clain, the Clan of Mummies, and the enforcers of this world, the Werewolf Clan. An excellent romp through blood, guts and satire.
February 19, 2023
Four pages in. Stopped after “ Alicia Gill was the youngest police commissioner ever- a short, blond powerhouse packed full of authority and ambition, with a face that might have been attractive if she ever smiled.”
Along with that, clunky character intros that are info-dumpy as hell, writing that I’ve seen from a lot of self-insert fanfics, (and done better, mind you) DNF.
Along with that, clunky character intros that are info-dumpy as hell, writing that I’ve seen from a lot of self-insert fanfics, (and done better, mind you) DNF.
September 23, 2021
PLEASE 🚫 DO NOT READ OR LISTEN TO THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU WANT SOMETHING TO BORE YOU TO 😴 SLEEP! The beginning of the book caught my attention, but after the main character was introduced to Jekyll and Hyde Inc, it started to decline! I don't want to give any spoilers. I just want my money back smh!
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