John Taylor works as a private investigator in the
Nightside: an in-between world hidden in London, where it's
always 3 a.m. and few things are as they seem. Surprises --
usually unpleasant -- lurk around every corner. Humans and
nonhumans come here to indulge in their wildest fantasies
and sometimes end up trapped in their worst nightmares.
Taylor, who is not quite human himself, has a gift for
finding things and a reputation that allows him to move
freely through the Nightside with few who dare to cross
him.
His first job is seemingly simple: an elf on a diplomatic
mission needs an escort to the Osterman Gate to get back to
his own world. Despite the old saying, "Never trust an
elf," Taylor takes the job with the help of a transvestite-
crime-fighter named Ms. Fate.
After a harrowing journey through the Nightside, including
an encounter with a werewolf biker gang, Taylor heads to
Strangefellows, the oldest bar in the world, to relax.
There he encounters Larry Oblivion, a fellow PI who just
happens to be dead. Larry wants Taylor to help find his
brother, Tommy Oblivion, who disappeared and was presumed
killed during the recent Lilith War (a war started by
Taylor's evil mother). Larry, who feels he would know if
Tommy were truly gone, has discovered some other
disappearances that may hint at something sinister going
on. Taylor, who was supposed to be protecting Tommy, feels
obligated to take the case.
That would be complicated enough, but then Walker, the all-
powerful agent for the Authorities that rule the Nightside --
and Taylor's arch nemesis -- approaches him with the news
that he is dying. A new agent is needed to run the
Nightside; Walker has decided it can only be his most
worthy opponent: John Taylor. And Walker never takes "no"
for an answer.
The Nightside stories are a delightful combination of noir
and urban fantasy, with bizarre human and nonhuman
characters: some funny, some tragic and some flat-out
frightening; a twisted, desert-dry sense of humor; a hero
who holds on to his principles in a world where the line
between good and bad is more of a smudge; and the
Nightside, almost a character in itself with its cheerful
decadence and anything-goes aura. These books are sure to
appeal to readers who enjoy Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden but
find the Chicago setting a little too mundane.
Things were going so well for P.I. John Taylor, that it was
only a matter of time before everything hit the fan.
Walker, the powerful, ever-present, neverto-be-trusted
agent who runs the Nightside on behalf of The Authorities,
is dying. And he wants John to be his successor-a job that
comes with more baggage, and more enemies, than anyone can
possibly imagine.
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