Book Review: Hell To Pay

I thought Simon R. Green had wrapped up the Nightside series. Turns out he'd just wrapped up one story arc. With "Hell To Pay" he starts another arc.

The Nightside is a realm of perpetual night that is out of reach of Heaven and Hell. Demons, minor gods, immortals of all sort, and creatures from other planets live here and not exactly peacefully either.

John Taylor is a private eye with a gift. He can find things. He can find almost anything. But when he uses his power he makes himself visible to people who have been trying to kill him his whole life. People he's never met worship him.

John Taylor was born in the Nightside. His mother vanished right after he was born. His dad never talks about her. Dad was never quite right after she left. It wasn't just having his wife walk out. It was because he found out what she really was.

In the first book Taylor returns to the Nightside after five years to save a girl who went where she shouldn't. It reads like a pulp detective novel.
As the books progress Taylor uncovers clues about who his mother was and what his father did. As the series progresses he slowly spends less time on cases, more investigating his mother, and then trying to save the Nightside from what he's found. Meanwhile, he faces repeated attacks from assassins from the distant future and confronts a variety of horrible being of untold power.

One of my favorite things in the early books is a heavily armed fortress full of people who have been abducted by aliens. They've banded together to protect each other when the aliens return for them. Cameras everywhere, even the toilets, and a large enough arsenal to conquer most countries.

The first story arc covers six books.
1) Something from the Nightside
2) Agents of Light and Darkness
3) Nightingale's Lament
4) Hex and the City
5) Paths Not Taken
6) Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth

The second story arc begins with "Hell To Pay". With most of the Nightside in ruins and the old power brokers dead it's a time for rebuilding. Gods who couldn't compete with the old gods are trying to setup shop. An immortal business man whose plans for control were foiled by the old guard now has nothing to stand in his way. That is until his granddaughter goes missing. He hires the most powerful detective in the Nightside to find her no matter what.
This book doesn't have the pulp feel of the early books, but John Taylor is back doing detective work. I suggest starting at the beginning of the series, but this is the next best place to start.

I love this series. It manages to stay fresh and innovative better than the Dresden Files.