It was good. Was it great? No. Was is clichéd? Definitely. Was it a quick, fun read that didn't require any thinking? Yep. And let's face it, sometimes that is what you need. ( )

I wish I could give this 1.5 stars, as it doesn't even quite even live up to 2 stars.
'Nightside' was supposed to be an urban fantasy, leaning farther into horror, about John Taylor...a private eye with...a 'private eye' as his magic power. That gives you an idea of the quality and creativity you'll experience throughout the book. John is pulled back into the shadow city (the Nightside) within London in service of a case after 5 years away and vowing never to return to his place of birth.
Its kind of hard to fully miss these days with urban fantasy, but this manages to do so. The Nightside (which, as others have said is a name/phrase we see ENTIRELY to frequently throughout the book) feels like a thinly veiled and poor shadow of the London of Neverwhere. In fact, the book as a whole feels like an artless imitation of Neil Gaimen's work mashed up with more mainstream urban fantasy, traditional hard-boiled detective novels without a solid grounding in the tropes of genre, and horror minus anything actually disturbing or horrific. It frequently tells rather than shows, with long exposition between characters info-dumping descriptions and information on one another rather than letting us experience the world. While some nods to Zelazny's Amber and Moorcock's Champion are fun references, they push the feeling of the overall book further into realm of low-quality fan fiction. As does the frequent shifting of tone from what is clearly attempting to be horrific/disturbing to a humorous tone that never actually manages to be funny. ( )

this is definitely one of the top ten books that I have read this year ( )

I'd already read Nightside books two through four and six before I got a copy of book one, Something From the Nightside, so I was already spoiled for some secrets. That didn't keep me from enjoying this book.

John Taylor, private investigator, fled the Nightside five years ago. His gift of being able to find anything doesn't work in the real London, but he doesn't intend to return to the dark and dangerous version of London that is the Nightside. Of course he gets a rich client, Joanna Barrett, whose daughter, Cathy, is missing - and she's gone to the Nightside.

The Nightside promises a chance to fulfill one's desires, no matter how perverted. Not everyone in the Nightside is human, as Joanna finds out as soon as they get to the Underground [Subway] Station to the Nightside. We don't get a full tour, but there's enough to give a sensible person pause. Our P.I. and client are only on the train when we get a hint about John's parentage.

While the reader is lurched from danger to danger, we're introduced to the oldest bar in the world and series regular spot, Strangefellows. We're also introduced to recurring characters Razor Eddie, Suzie Shotgun, better known as 'Shotgun Suzie'; Walker, Alex Morrisey, Lucy & Betty Coltrane, and the Collector, etc.

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. Taylor, his office in the real London, Joanna Barrett, and a bit of the Nightside are described.

b. Nightside calls the real London 'the Smoke'.

Chapter 2:

a. John Taylor has been 30 for a few months. His father drank himself to death because his wife wasn't human.

b. The way to the Nightside is described.

c. John runs into Blind Pew.

d. A graduate of the Deep School is on the train. Later, the Brittle Sisters of the Hive pester the passengers.

Chapter 3:
a. Some of the conveyances of the Nightside are mentioned and demons pretending to be a street gang who up.

b. Taylor uses his gift.
Mentions: Salvation Army

Chapter 4:

a. Strangefellows is described, as is its owner, Alex Morrisey.

b. Merlin Satanspawn is brought up. John has seen him manifest at Strangefellows once.

c. We learn what happened to a customer who asked Alex to play Country Western music. Alex says a poltergeist is in the cellar and what Pale Michael is claiming.

d. Ffinch-Thomas picks a fight with John Taylor. We're told why.

e. Lucy and Betty Coltrane, the bouncers, are described.

f. We're introduced to Razor Eddie after learning a bit about his backstory.

g. Alex has a weakness for blondes. He tells Joanna about John and the Fortress.
Mentions: Merlin, Logres, the Stranglers and their song, 'No More Heroes',

Chapter 5: John and Joanna are attacked by the Harrowing.

Chapter 6:

a. John and Joanna take a hansom carriage owned by a talking Clydesdale with silver hooves.

b. The Fortress is between a Voodoo Business School and an Army Surplus Store.

c. They meet Suzie Shooter/Shotgun Suzie.
Mentions: Baron Samedi, the films 'Girl on a Motorcycle' and 'Easy Rider,' and Roger Corman Hell's Angels films

Chapter 7:
a. John and Joanna enter a timeslip to 82 years in the future. Once a timeslip is established, it's there for its duration unless the Courts of the Holy shift.

b. John hates creepy-crawlies.

c. We meet the Collector.
Mentions: sirens, Al Capone, ley lines, the Rainbow Run,

Chapter 8:

a. John and Joanna go to the Hawk's Wind Bar & Grill, where it's always the 1960s. We will learn why.

b. Persons seen there: the Sonic Assassin, the Notting Hill Sorcerer, the Victorian Adventurer, the Amber Prince, the five Tracy brothers, the entire Cornelius clan,

c. Joanna gets John to talk about his friendship with Razor Eddie.

d. John's father worked for the Authorities. We meet their voice, Walker
Mentions: the Kink's 'Sunny Afternoon,' the Lovin' Spoonful's 'Daydream', beatnik, the Animals' 'House of the Rising Sun', Turin Shroud, the Fifth Dimension's 'Aquarius' and 'Let the Sun Shine,' The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's 'Fire,' the Maltese Falcon, Raymond Chandler, and Eton.

Chapter 9: Blaiston Street is described. A wise person wouldn't go there.

Chapter 10: Shotgun Suzie joins John and Joanna.
Mentions: the first line of Mary Howett's 'The Spider and the Fly' is quoted.

Chapter 11: We get more of John's backstory. Ditto Joanna's. We learn another side of John's gift.
Mentions: a Judas Goat,

Epilogue: John hires a secretary.

Even in this first book, Mr. Green does a very good job of showing what a frightening place the Nightside can be. I love the descriptions of the place and its inhabitants. The semi-final destination was no surprise for me because I'd read that plot in a horror comic book decades ago, but this version was even more effective. I happen to love horror and mysteries, and I recommend this series to other dual fans (or even mystery fans). If you don't like horror, this is not a series for you. ( )

This first book in the Nightside series begins like a noir hard-boiled detective story. John Taylor is scraping a living as a private investigator in London. Then a woman walks in with a problem. She's offering big bucks to Taylor to find her runaway daughter. Intrigued by the case and the woman, Taylor agrees. But there is a problem - the case will take him back to the Nightside he left six years earlier.

From that point the book shifts to a dark urban fantasy with more than a touch of horror as Taylor travels the Nightside with his client meeting old friends and old enemies in his quest to find the missing teenager.

The worldbuilding was intriguing and, frankly, horrifying. A house that eats people and dead zones that transport people to other times were intriguing. The characters and dialog seemed ripped from a 1940s mystery.

While I enjoyed this story, the horror aspects will keep me from continuing on with the series. Fans of horror and noir mysteries will likely want to continue. ( )