Hell to Pay

Nightside #7

by Simon R. Green

In the wake of the war that left the Nightside leaderless, Jeremiah Griffin-one of the last of the immortal human families-plans to fill the power vacuum. But his granddaughter has disappeared, and he wants John Taylor to use his special abilities to find her. Except someone-or something-is blocking Taylor's abilities.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural

264 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 26, 2006

About the author

Simon 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.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty much comfort food. Not particularly nutritious but when it comes to old-school private eye stuff mixed with the unusual supernatural (and sometimes cyborg) madness of Nightside, it's always pretty colorful.

Now that the big action and plotline from the previous books are wrapped up, we dive right into some traditional stuff. Missing girl, deals with devils, gun-toting nuns. You know, the usual. And it's fine. Amusing.

Just don't expect anything THAT original. But it IS amusing and pretty solid.

[Kathryn Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? I love this series! I loved this book, just like all the others in this series so far. If you haven't read this series, then start it! :] This book was classic Simon R. Green.

[Timelord Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even as I complain about repetitive elements, I continue to slam these down... this one even introduced a new name for Suzie Shooter (Oh Hell, Just Shoot Yourself in the Head and Get It Over With)

I wasn't expecting the romance to sneak in...

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading my way through the first six books of the series and read to what really represented the culmination of one of the main story lines its fun to read a book from the series which is more concerned with the storyline at hand and not the bigger picture (although there are still plenty of references of what happened before and hints of what there is still to come).

Also I think Simon Green felt that after all those books he didn't need to spend so long describing both the characters and the unique environment of the nightside. As a result the action felt quicker and more intense as it started pretty much from the first chapter and didn't really let up after. As a result I was less inclined to put the book down and stop reading - now that is how to spent a Saturday afternoon.

That said there are still a lot of big questions swirling around in this series not only as part of the fall out from the climax of the last book but of how the characters find their peace and I guess how the various transitions of power come about. This series may be at times predictable but it has never stopped being fun, am looking forward to the next one.

[Behdad Ahmadi · Rating 2 out of 5]

مجموعه ای از خزعبلات محض.

همونطور که در نقد جلد قبل نوشتم، احتمال بسیار زیادی می دادم که خلاقیت نویسنده ته کشیده باشه و همینطور هم شد.

تمام شخصیت ها، رفتار ها، طنز ها، وقایع، و حتا ساختار شکنی ها تکراری بودن
برای بار هزارم یه نیرویی جلوی چشم سوم تیلور رو می گرفت،
برای بار هزارم جان تیلور به تمام رستوران های بالای شهر سر زد.
برای بار هزار و دویستم، سناریوی کسل کننده و نا امید کننده سر و کله زدن تیلور با محافظ جلوی رستوران ها تکرار شد.
و باز هم تیلور به هر رستورانی رفت، اونجا رو به گند کشید و کلی آدم کشته شدن.

آیا این خلاقیت ها و ساختار شکنی های تکراری باید اونقدر ادامه پیدا کنه که حال مخاطب رو بهم بزنه؟

درباره قوی نبودن سری نایت ساید به خیلی ها گفتم، و همه بهم پیشنهاد دادن: خب اگه انقدر ضعیفه چرا میخری؟
و من هربار پاسخ می دادم: چون 8 جلدش رو خریدم، نمیخوام کتابخونه م ناقص باشه.

و لطف بزرگی که این جلد بهم کرد، این بود که مصمم شدم جلد های بعدی رو به شکل کتاب الکترونیک بخونم.

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Mini-Review:

This is a bit of a let down after the last few books that I really loved. The central story for this book was okay but not a whole lot happened that made me "Ooo" or go "A-ha!" like some of the other stories in the series.

Plus there is only so much you can take of it happens that way because of Nightside. =P That isn't actually an explanation. Great narration as always! The story was good but not amazing.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite on the same level as prior entries but still effortlessly entertaining. After the end of the Lilith saga, there was bound to be a bit of a reset. This volume was much more contained, returning to a straight up detective noir plot.

Still, all of the good things from the series were there. The utter uniqueness of the Nightside, the atmospheric writing, the dark humor. On to the next one.

[Alondra Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

(Review to Follow)

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one set a deus ex machina high score.

[___blue___]

چند سال پیش همین یک جلد رو خوندم و حتی کتاب رو جایی گذاشتم که جلوی دیدم نباشه از بس که انرژی منفی داشت

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly fine Nightside story but still disappointing after the heights of the previous book.
If the Dresden Files is like Buffy the Vampire Slayer then this series is like Supernatural.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hell to Pay is the seventh book in Nightside Series written by Simon R. Green and centered on John Taylor, the main protagonist, who is not a private detective per se, but he has a knack for finding lost things.

In the wake of the war and with the Authorities dead, Jeremiah Griffin – one of the last of the immortal human families plans to fill the power vacuum, but his granddaughter has disappeared and he wants John Taylor to use his special abilities to find her – except someone or something is blocking his third eye.

Jeremiah Griffin is a nasty piece of work. He's an immortal who built his empire on the carcasses of his foes. So, when John Taylor is hired to find his granddaughter, he had little choice, but to accept it with or without his powers. With his powers seemingly gone, he has to go through the investigation the old fashioned way – questioning each and every member of the fearsome Griffin family. However, things are not going to be easy as Taylor thought – as fanatical nuns and gangster Chimera attack him along the way.

Hell to Pay is written somewhat well, albeit a tad repetitive – the old fashioned questioning of the Griffin family seemed repetitive and a tad slow and Green kept telling us how dangerous the family is, but falls flat after the umpteenth time he wrote it. Furthermore, the Griffin family seems a tad boring, comparatively speaking for Nightside characters – immortal human businessmen don't seem as creative or scary. Accordingly, I wondered where the Griffin family was during the war and why they weren't mentioned in earlier books if they are so powerful and fearful. For the most part, I fell that Hell to Pay is a transitional novel with the promise of things to come.

I do like the fact that there is less world building in this installment, which is to be expected after six installments to the series. It frees up a lot of space for action, which beside the interrogation of the Griffin family was rather quite exciting with all the twists and turns along the way. It's good to have John Taylor going back to his roots as a working detective again, because that was missing from the last couple of novels, which I sorely missed. Although reading about the Lilith War was nothing to sneeze at either.

All in all, Hell to Pay is a wonderfully written book that feels like a transitional novel in the series, which makes it rather weaker than the others. However, it's still a good continuation of the series, which I plan to read in the very near future.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a longtime fan, this is the book that turned me off to the Nightside series, and it's all the Griffon's fault.

Well, not entirely. Green has a noticeably repetitive writing style, not just in plot lines but in descriptions. The latter being the part that really gets on my nerves after this many books into a series, not to mention when the same descriptions are also used in the other books and series that he has written. I mean, if every place is "so bad even the rats are only passing through," where do the rats stay? And of course as soon as John opens up his third eye it's "as easy as anything" to do what he's wanting to do, so just go ahead and open it already. And of course "their sum was greater than their parts," no matter what they are that we're talking about.

Back to the Griffon, though. The creative strength that kept me coming back to Green's Nightside series was his awesome ideas and descriptions. How he would seed something in with a few intriguing lines in book one, and hook you into wanting to know what that guy or thing was all about. Then it would show up two books later and do something, and it would be awesome and already seeded into his world. Griffon was none of those things. Where was he during the Lillith war? Or, you know, anywhere before this? If he was supposed to be so powerful and influential, why had his name never been spoken previously? It was jarring, to say the least.

On top of that, he was also just a lackluster character, alongside his whole family. After seeing characters like Razor Eddie, Dead Boy, Father Time, Count Video, the Victorian Adventurer, the King of Skin, and many more intriguing and notable figures, 'immortal business guy with influence that is dangerous' doesn't really hook me. It makes me feel like there are no ideas left.

This book should really have focused more on the aftermath of the Lillith war, instead of kinda ignoring it. It should have capitalized more on the rich Nightside back story and characters, instead of trying to make up new stuff from nowhere. And most of all, it needed a really good hook to pull people back in after the impressive stuff in the last few books, and in my opinion, it just didn't deliver.

[Indilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd say about 3.5 out of 5. It was slower paced in comparison to the sixth book which I just finished not too long ago, but I liked that there was more of a mystery aspect regarding the immortals and getting to know all of them. Taylor going through the Nightside to learn more of the Griffin family and what they're up to in order to find a missing member of said family was far more interesting than the romp of death and destruction of the last one.

This is clearly a transitional book though - kind of a one off feel where it's wrapped up but there's that question of "what now" after the whole thing, since the first six books had their story arc finished up. Better than the last one but nothing spectacular.

Pet peeve/annoyance:
Considering this book was written ten years ago, I can give a possible excuse for the author to do this to a character, but there is a transgendered character who is important to the story, but the handling of trans people seems to flip flop from Taylor being disgusted to respectful and seems like the author isn't sure how to present it. Since the story is told through first person point of view, it's clearly Taylor speaking this way and we're there to understand a potential confusion or uncertainty regarding the transgendered character and those around them. They turn into a plot device and ultimately die for...really no reason other than to give Taylor angst or the deus ex machina that he needs to win at the end. It's not the worst I've read, but it didn't sit well with me either. This could be off putting to others though, who may be suffering from their own dysphoria and identify with this character, who ultimately dies. :(

[Karissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 7th book in Simon Green's Nightside series. To me this book seemed to be very much a transition book. Being that the 6th book capped off the over arcing storyline, it is not surprising that this book is a bit weak. I still enjoyed reading it; although it just wasn't nearly as good as Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth was.

In the aftermath of Lilith's War the Nightside needs a new leader and with John Taylor stepping aside; Walker is trying to fill that space. If there is anyone who can contend with Walker it is the Griffin family. A very powerful and immortal family the Griffin family is possibly in a position to rule the Nightside. Unfortunately when Griffin's granddaughter disappears John Taylor is called in to find her. Someone very powerful doesn't want her found and is able to shut down John's gift in an effort to stop him. Looks like John's going to have to solve this case the old-fashioned way.

While this was still an enjoyable book; it was probably the weakest one in the series. The action scenes were few and far between and somewhat blase'. The characters were weak. It was good to see Dead Boy some more but he wasn't there for much of the book. The main powers of the Nightside were notable in their absence. Seriously this is the most boring of the Nightside books. It truly seems to be a transition novel, with everyone picking up the pieces of the Nightside after the Lilith War. Unfortunately it seems like Green doesn't know exactly to do with everyone either.

I have high hopes for the next book but if it is as dull and uninspired as this one, I might have to rethink reading this series.

[Jaz Primo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell to Pay, the seventh Nightside novel in Simon Green’s amazing series, was an excellent read! The story harkened back to John Taylor’s roots, being a private investigator in the mysterious, and always irreverent, hidden world near London called the Nightside. It was refreshing to see John back in his primary role as the infamous “man who can find anything or anyone” following the near-apocalyptic events of recent installments in the series. This time, John must locate the missing heiress to Jeremiah Griffin, one of the wealthiest and powerful men in the Nightside who is known simply as the “Griffin.”
The story was tightly written and well-constructed, including the prerequisite sprinkling of dark humor throughout. Through the machinations of John’s investigations, eclectic characters, both foreign and familiar, weave themselves in and out of the tapestry of the storyline. In the end, Green has woven together a seamless mystery with a admirably-constructed surprise ending that neatly winds up all the loose ends. Well done, Simon Green! I highly recommend this novel to fans of the series, and can’t wait to read the next novel!

[MJ Codename: ♕Duchess♕ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can understand why some people had problems with this book after the adrenaline rush from the previous two books.

I, however, loved it, even though my favourite characters weren't in it that much (and some not at all). It was nice and refreshing to have John solving a mystery after everything with Lilith and the time travelling and what not.

Looking forward to the next book! I really regret not reading these as they came out. I'm doing them on audio and the narrator is AMAZING.

Also, when the day comes and I get another cat (all of mine are alive and kicking and happy and healthy so it won't be for a long, long time) I am totally naming it Merlin Satanspawn. (He wasn't in this book but still, just throwing it out there.)

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 7. This is a throwback to the very first book and Mr. Green keeps things simple in this one. Probably because after reading the epicness in the last few books, this one feels a bit of a let-down. Not to say this is a terrible story, but it is by far the weakest in the series. I was hesitant to read this one because at the time, this was the last book released in the Nightside series. However, Mr. Green has just released a new Nightside book so I didn't have long to worry. This is a simple detective story with some familiar faces thrown in. Not a great story, but still interesting.

[Maggie K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this installment a lot. The last book was a lot over the top for my taste, and being back in the normal world of Nightside (at least as normal as it gets) was like a breath of fresh air.

John takes on a missing person case, and manages to mix in a few old enemies into the process. There is plenty of action, although it may seem a bit tame after his last adventure. I loved the characters and was glad to see things are back to normal.

[Erick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably should say 3 stars or 3.5 stars for this one. Mainly because the main storyline was a bit laughable. John goes and does his thing, which is fun and interesting as usual. But basically, he fails miserably in the end and has the case gift wrapped for him on a platter when he's actually reached a dead end. Oh, goody, that's one way to get out of a hole. Just didn't like that aspect. Love the characters as usual though, except the stuck up Griffins who were all a bit annoying.

[AmirHosein · Rating 2 out of 5]

مشخصا اینکه خط سیر داستانی جلد های قبل به سرانجام رسید و نویسنده دوباره افتاده روی دور "هر کتاب یه سوژه" یه خورده آزار دهنده ست. منتها آنچه که آزار دهنده تر هست اشاره ها و جلوه های جنسی کتاب هست که جلد به جلد زننده تر و ناراحت کننده تر می شود. دارم به این فکر می کنم که ترجمه ی این کتاب زیر دست نوجوان ها به چه صورت رفته..

[Evald Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egyetlen Simonunknak sokkal jobban áll a krimi, azt kell, hogy mondjam, és nagyon örülök, hogy ennél a zsánernél maradt a Gideon Sable sorozatnál is. Egyértelműen jól áll neki és érezhető, hogy szereti is. Na meg a fejlődése se lebecsülendő, és őszintén szólva annyira jó látni, hogy: ha, ezt a dolgot is megtartotta, azt a trope-t is továbbvitte, mert ad egy plusz kapcsolatot.
És őszintén szólva az írót én elfogadom allynak.
Ugyan én nem számítottam rá, hogy kapunk full displaybe egy transz karaktert, és jó, oké, meghalt, de őszintén szólva nem éreztem queerbaitingnek, mert hogy nem voltunk azzal hitegetve, hogy nézzétek reprezentáció! Szerintem arra igyekezett a szerző, hogy önmaga jogán legyen karakter, és persze, mostani fejjel bele lehet kötni nyelvezetbe, meg a pronounsok közti ugrálásba, de nem látnám értelmét.
Egyértelműen nem ártó szándékkal szerepeltette, nem olcsó húzás volt, és végig érezhető volt az, hogy bár egy kicsit össze van zavarodva, de gets the spirit. Szóval thank you Simon R. Green for the representation, én nagyon szerettem.
Meg azt is, hogy az egész Diva's klub minden transzt, és draq-ot befogadott, és egy kőhajításnyira volt, hogy az asexuálisokra is kitérjen, de hát az ember nem kaphat meg mindent. És mondom: teljesen jó reprezentáció volt ez.
És sztoriilag is stimmelt! Nem győzöm hangsúlyozni, hogy mennyire azon volt a hangsúly, hogy a sztori szerves legyen és ne csak trófeavadászatként szerepeljen.
Ha pedig sztori: hát gyerekek, a kertész volt a gyilkos.
Tök sokáig nem láttam ezt jönni, alaposan megvezetett engem is a kedves szerző, és amikor összeraktam, hát azt hittem ki kell mennem a mosdóba, hogy békében kiadhassam a fuldokló fókahangjaimat. Szerencsére erre végül nem került sor, de hogy aztakurva. Ez egy összerakott krimi volt, pedig én nem is szeretem a krimit. (Bár kezdem azt hinni, hogy igazából Agatha Christit nem szeretem.)
Megvolt benne a feszültség, a titkok, és elérte, hogy végig találgassak én is, és aztán rájöjjek Taylorral együtt és így meglegyen az örömöm, hogy megfejtettem! Egész biztos ott voltak a nyomok, amik alapján összeadtam a kettő meg kettőt, de hirtelen nem tudnám megmondani hogy mik voltak, csak azt, hogy voltak, mert máskülönben meg nem lett volna az a satisfying érzés, hogy rájöttem én is!
Ügyesen fel volt építve az egész és nem is húzta el indokolatlanul sokáig, meg nem voltak túlkomplikálva a dolgok sem, és a végén azért megkapta mindenki amit megérdemelt. Örülök, hogy ezt is továbbvitte az író a Gideon Sable sorozatába.
A fő kedvencem továbbra is Walker, akármennyire is meg akar győzni a könyv az ellenkezőjéről, my man is just doing his job, and I love him for it.
Also Deadboy is egy jelenség, nem egyszerű, de jelenség.
És a not-car dolgok is több szerepet kaptak, aminek őszintén örülök, mert jó volt látni közelebbről is őket, ha már annyiszor fel voltak emlegetve.
Mondjuk az egy döntés volt, hogy az egész Lilith ügy után hirtelen visszaálltunk hétköznapi nyomozóba, de őszintén szólva nem bánom, ez igazán jól áll az írónak.

[ladyethyme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never really know how to rate these books. I have read all of them through #8, and unfortunately all the same issues pop up in every one.
World is awesome. Really interesting ideas, characters-so novel and the humour is FANTASTIC at times.
BUT the descriptions of them are cut/pasted into every book, so that only 1/3 of each book is actually the new story.

And even those phrases are repeated throughout the books- John talking about his reputation, talking about the streets and 'cats that weren't cars' or 'keep up appearances' etc several times each chapter.

John is a 'god character' unfortunately. Author spends a ton of time talking about how tough other ppl/security/etc are, but when it comes right to it, he destroys anything with ease. He even says 'it was the simplest thing in the world' (another repeated phrase).

It seems like every bar club is described and at least five paragraphs as to how much security and magical fences that it has, yet none of them are ever employed when bad or dangerous things happen.
The Diva Club had like three paragraphs talking about all of the new magical defense installations, and yet a bunch of military nuns came in and could have slaughtered every single person in the place in a matter of seconds.

And if the Griffen wanted John to attend the party, why didn't he say so when he interviewed him that morning? Why call him at the very last second one that is already going on?

I find it pretty ludicrous that in the most exclusive tea room for the most wealthy and famous people, that security would allow a bunch of bodyguards to attack someone who was the guest of, quite literally, the richest and most powerful man in the city.
The fact that they attacked John and not Ramone is equally stupefying, as Ramone was the one doing the attacking attacking- with a knife- the guest of a hugely wealthy and influential person.
It seemed a little shoehorned into the plot, just to make another incident where John could show off being a bad ass.

It happens at least once a chapter.....
I felt that this seems extremely clunky storytelling and and often does not align with either the world or logic in anyway.

Plot holes are pretty typical in this series, too...
And....Paul is immortal....so how could he die....??
If Melissa went on her own, and Paul knew-why was Paul terrified to the point of crying and shaking and saying "you can't protect me"....

Oh, and he quoted Douglas Adam's god who 'disappeared in a puff of logic" but....acted like it was his own idea.

And sadly...the narrator is TERRIBLE. Every sentence is delivered with the same tone. The accents are...really bad. Like trying to be American but not pulling it off. And talks SUPER fast.

[Alex McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our seventh foray into Green’s wonderful Nightside finds our sullied hero John Taylor on a classic PI case to find a lost girl for her rich grandfather.
Of course this is the Nightside we’re talking about so the grandfather is an immortal big business scumbag and he may only want her back to kill her and save himself…… all is not what it seems. As usual.
Hell to Pay was one of my favourite in the series thus far, maybe because it had the most straightforward plot. A girl goes missing, he interviews all sorts of slimeball characters, asks some hard questions and kicks ass along the way. Classic fedora wearing, gumshoe awesomeness.
The book was clearly a nod to classics by the likes Chandler and Spillane, but with a clear spin to the fantastic and horrific. For example Taylor is hired by a prototypical rich, unscrupulous grandfather to hunt down his stolen granddaughter at all costs. Except this grandfather cut a deal with the devil to live forever and the Man is coming to collect.
As always Green keeps a brisk pace, introduces us to interesting new characters, brings back all our past faves and keeps the dialogue cracking. I always have a few moments of giggling aloud when I read my way through the Nightside.
An excellent entry into the series and a nice change in its pace.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

I have had The Nightside Series on my TBR for YEARS! I finally got around to dusting them off and taking a walk on The Nightside. They are a somewhat gritty and darkish urban fantasy with paranormal and sci-fi elements- there is suspense, drama, and plenty of things that go bump in the night.
The series follow John Taylor, a Private Detective who has a reputation for ‘finding things that don’t want to be found”. So, what is The Nightside? It is a place (parallel/alternate reality) in London- but hidden to ‘normal’ Londoners; it is where you can find every imaginable paranormal/supernatural creature can be found, and much more. It’s "that square mile of Hell in the middle of the city where it's always three a.m. Where you can walk beside myths and drink with monsters. Where nothing is what it seems and everything is possible."
I have enjoyed my trip to The Nightside- I found it to have a bit of a noir, steampunk, supernatural feel to it- which I enjoyed. The books are all very quick and easy reads- they didn’t ‘blow me away’, but they definitely entertained!

Thank you, Mr. Green!

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

John actually has a case! We get to see him in all of his Private Investigation glory, but this time, he's not able to rely on his "inner eye" his "private eye" (insert big ol' eye roll here) which allows him to find anything he wants because something big and powerful is blocking him.

The case
Find the missing granddaughter of the wealthy immortal Griffin.

The demon-butler did it Y'all...seriously. I knew that from chapter one.

The case isn't hard to figure out, especially for the sophisticated and savvy reader of urban PI fantasy novels. You'll see it coming WAY before John ever does. Yet, I still found this fun. It's nice to get away from Lilith and all of the drama from the other books.

John mentions his "girlfriend" shotgun Suzie a lot. Apparently, they're officially an item. Walker, is still the Big Man on campus, er, Nightside.

And onto book 8.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, we're done with The War and the Nightside has begun to settle into a routine. Neighborhoods are rebuilding, people are going about their regular day, and that includes PI John Taylor. In grand old school PI tradition Taylor is hired to find a kidnapped heiress, who's grandfather is s crime kingpin and possibly a challenger to Walker's rule of the Nightside.

With someone, or something, blocking Taylor's use of his gift he has to rely on good old fashioned legwork and asking lots people lots of questions. As in past installments part of the fun for me remains the pop cultural, and similar, Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book. As we travel with John we again get a little more insight to everything that makes up the Nightside.

This, like the series to date, is quick fun listen. The NIghtside books work for me because I'm listening to them while driving, and heavy duty literature is not always a good fit me in that environment.

[Uwe Tallmeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the last book, the battle for Nightside finally took place. Armies fought, chaos reigned and the big bad was finally defeated. This made me wonder what would be the next book like - how does it handle the aftermath?

Turns out - mostly ignoring it. This has all kinds of classic noir elements:

A rich and powerful family with a snooty butler
Each family member having a terrible secret and not being what they appear at first glance
Unexpected allies and enemies
Cameos from other interesting characters that did not steal the spotlight
Twist ending

But those were combined with a supernatural twist. Despite the repeated descriptions (if I hear "my private eye" one more time..." and a few repeated jokes, this was a gripping tale. I enjoyed it far more than I expected.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seems like one of the best of the series. The most compelling part is the family that the main character is investigating. Called in by the legendary patriarch to find his missing granddaughter, John Taylor proceeds to discover the Griffins' web of secrets, obsessions, and resentments that could lead to the demise of at least one member of the family -- a tricky feat as they are all immortal.

Like the other books, there is still a little bit of meandering through largely unrelated parts of the story, but overall this book seemed more cohesive than the couple of others I have read so far.

[Michael Mc Donnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was nice and self contained, which is a change from the last few which felt more like one long book split into pieces than individual entities. It was also refreshingly back to being more of a mystery, even if it did have a familiar problem for this series, making the villain of the piece far too obvious. But perhaps its most egregious sin was the bizarre plot hole that appears in the middle of it, where in chapter six or seven you have a character complaining about how being immortal is interfering with them having a sex change but two chapters later they get gunned down and killed. These kind of sloppy plot holes seem to be popping up more and more as the series goes on.