2006 Reading List - Nightingale's Lament
Book Sixty-seven
Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green
This is the first of four Nightside books that I picked up via Bookmooch, a very nice little book exchange site. Someone had the four latest books, and was kind enough to send them over. Rock on. Since they're pretty quick reads, I'm taking care of all of them at once, and hoping that the newest one might find its way into my hot little hands for Christmas.
As I mentioned in the previous Nightside reviews, the setup for these novels is pretty simple, and Green gives it to you within the first few pages. The Nightside is the dark heart of London, where all of the unthinkably cool stuff is, and all the unimaginably dangerous stuff resides. Our guide through this nasty neighborhood is John Taylor, a private eye with a Gift - he can find anything. Anything at all.
This time he's being asked to find a few facts, specifically about the Nightside's newest singing sensation, Nightingale. Her songs are dark, the lyrics are sorrowful, and people are killing themselves to be near her.
Literally.
Something has happened to this girl. It's true that well-sung songs can have a powerful effect, but very few performers have fans blow their brains out during the second number. That almost never happens, not even during Evanescence gigs. So John Taylor has been hired to figure out what's been done to her, by whom, and how it might be stopped.
Like the other Nightside books, it's a good, quick read. I did notice, however, a bit of cribbing from Terry Pratchett with a reference to "Retrophrenology," a concept which I believe Pratchett introduced in Guards! Guards! Still and all, it's a nice mystery with the usual cast of interesting characters, including the invincible Dead Boy and the blind priest Pew, who is convinced he should have killed John long ago....
Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green
This is the first of four Nightside books that I picked up via Bookmooch, a very nice little book exchange site. Someone had the four latest books, and was kind enough to send them over. Rock on. Since they're pretty quick reads, I'm taking care of all of them at once, and hoping that the newest one might find its way into my hot little hands for Christmas.
As I mentioned in the previous Nightside reviews, the setup for these novels is pretty simple, and Green gives it to you within the first few pages. The Nightside is the dark heart of London, where all of the unthinkably cool stuff is, and all the unimaginably dangerous stuff resides. Our guide through this nasty neighborhood is John Taylor, a private eye with a Gift - he can find anything. Anything at all.
This time he's being asked to find a few facts, specifically about the Nightside's newest singing sensation, Nightingale. Her songs are dark, the lyrics are sorrowful, and people are killing themselves to be near her.
Literally.
Something has happened to this girl. It's true that well-sung songs can have a powerful effect, but very few performers have fans blow their brains out during the second number. That almost never happens, not even during Evanescence gigs. So John Taylor has been hired to figure out what's been done to her, by whom, and how it might be stopped.
Like the other Nightside books, it's a good, quick read. I did notice, however, a bit of cribbing from Terry Pratchett with a reference to "Retrophrenology," a concept which I believe Pratchett introduced in Guards! Guards! Still and all, it's a nice mystery with the usual cast of interesting characters, including the invincible Dead Boy and the blind priest Pew, who is convinced he should have killed John long ago....