Hell to Pay

Nightside Series, Book 7

By: Simon R. Green

Narrated by: Dan Calley

The name's John Taylor. I'm a PI, though what I really do is find things that are lost. I work the Nightside, the city within the city of London, where the sun never rises and where the human and inhuman go to get their kicks, provided they're willing to pay the price in whatever currency the seller demands.

In the wake of the war that almost brought the Nightside to total ruin, there's a power vacuum begging to be filled—and some think I should take charge. I don't agree. Neither does the immortal known as the Griffin. Wealthy beyond reason, he has his own ideas about who should be running things. Still, when his granddaughter—and designated heir—is kidnapped, he calls on me to find her.

But someone—or something—is blocking my special gift. So this time, I'm going to have to do my job the hard way. And quickly, or the Griffin will have to choose a new heir . . .

©2007 Simon R. Green (P)2022 Tantor

Love it!

Thank you!
May I please have some more?!
I absolutely love this series!
This is like my fourth time consuming the complete series in order and I still cannot get enough of the characters!

Post Lilith

It’s interesting seeing new powers place restrictions on Taylor’s power given that his old enemies are no longer around. Nice to see things keep moving

The Kardashian episode

“Nailing an octopus to the wall is impossible- everything else is merely difficult.”
Oh, the gallows humor … perfect for a mystery procedural surrounding a powerful Nightside family rumored to have struck a deal with the devil. It took a while to get going, and spent too much time dwelling on the vapid lives of the magical upper crust, but the final third was a bloody good time.

Of Walker: “They say he once made a corpse sit up and answer questions.”
Because this was a self-contained mystery, it’s okay to take this out of order. And, since part of the series’s formula is the repetition of certain catch phrases, recaps of everyone’s backstories, and
John-isms, if you start here, you’ll be caught up in no time.

Not a bad story. Not my favorite but an OK read.

I guess one of the things I like about the night side in the creativity of the situations that are investigated. I thought the mystery of this one was not quite up to some of the others I read and listen to book 6 or seven for me.

Conceptually excellent

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.