I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny
by
Simon R. Green
urban fantasy in Hardcover edition that was published by Ace Books on January 5, 2010 and has 275 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Something From the Nightside, Mean Streets, Agents of Light and Darkness, Nightingale's Lament, Paths Not Taken, Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth, Hell to Pay, Just Another Judgement Day, A Hard Day's Knight, Hex and the City, The Unnatural Inquirer, The Bride Wore Black Leather, Home Improvement: Undead Edition, Hex Appeal, Man with the Golden Torc, Daemons are Forever, The Spy Who Haunted Me, From Hell with Love, Live and Let Drood, Casino Infernale, Blue Moon Rising, Tales of the Hidden World, Blood and Honor, From a Drood to a Kill, The Dark Side of the Road, Dead Man Walking, Very Important Corpses, Moonbreaker, Dr. DOA, Property of a Lady Faire, The House on Widows Hill
Tenth in the Nightside dark urban fantasy series for young adults based in “the hollow heart of London…where it’s always night, always dark, always three o’clock in the morning”. Where there are always deals being made and “if you can’t spot the patsy in the deal, it’s almost certainly you”.
My Take
Technically, The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny is just as good as the previous installments in this series. I just have a problem with the deaths particular to this story. Too sad without as much activity or smiting.
We did learn of the very negative effect of John using his Gift. Finally explains why he doesn’t trot it out at the drop of a hat!
Too funny. John is waiting for a train and casually watches as “a group of mimes beat a pickpocket with their invisible mallets”. Then there’s one of the T-shirts, Harry Fabulous is selling, If this is consensus reality, some of us are cheating.
I am curious as to why Walker is quite so vehement about how to perform his duties for the New Authorities when he must have known it would simply turn John away. Was it incentive for John to take it on and “do it better”? I guess we’ll find out if John will be the once and future king of the Nightside in A Hard Day’s Knight.
The Story
It’s a novel of change. Change for the Nightside and John Taylor with Walker not giving up on persuading John to take up his position as the New Authorities’ voice in the Nightside protecting the status quo.
A novel of use in which agents for change tidy up loose ends all aimed at pushing John where they want him. One in which Excalibur will play a part.
The Characters
John Taylor is a P.I. in the Nightside, one with a gift for finding lost things.
Walker and Uncle Mark, the Collector, get truly nasty. The eldest and the lost Oblivion brothers return. Suzie Shooter has softened up. Alex and Cathy are still a couple. And the Lord of Thorns has made a resurgence.
The Cover and Title
The cover is too, too appropriate with Walker strolling toward us in a pink-lit underground, head down, his right hand using his brolly as a cane, his left hand casually tucked into a jacket pocket.
The title is a summation of the Nightside and Walker and John Taylor’s tour of it. A look at The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny that makes it all up.
