Nightingale's Lament

Nightside, Book 3

By: Simon R. Green

Narrated by: Dan Calley

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The name's John Taylor. I work the garish streets of the Nightside - the hidden heart of London where it's always three a.m., where inhuman creatures and otherworldly gods walk side by side in the endless darkness of the soul.

I have a talent for finding things. People...property...no problem. But now I'm after something different.

A local diva called the Nightingale has cut herself off from her family and friends, and I've been hired to find out the reason. I'm also wondering why her suicide-prone fans think she has a voice to die for. Literally.

To get the truth, I'll have to lend an ear to the most enticingly beautiful and deadly voice in all of the Nightside - and survive.

©2004 Simon R. Green (P)2022 Tantor

Classis series!!

I love this series!
I have read the series multiple times, but there is something different about listening to the series.
The voice actor is great!
I really think the voice matches the image I have created of John Taylor!
On to the next book in this series 😃

Another wonderful night side story!

Simon R Green has always captivated me with all his stories, and this one is a favorite of mine. I was caught off guard with the switch of the voice actor change from the previous story but soon came to live his style especially with dead boy. Worth a listen!

Upstaged by Deadboy

“Don’t try to scare me, Billy Latham, I’ve sneezed scarier objects than you.”
John Taylor is so unbelievably overpowered that it kills most of the suspense.

“That’s the trouble with the Nightside: you can’t rely on people staying dead.”
The entertainment instead lies with the mystery and supporting characters. This third book sees the introduction of Deadboy and his futuristic car. I find Deadboy far more interesting than John, and their buddy-buddy detective work was one of the better parts of this rather dry installment.

“Condiments: never leave home without them.”
The characters were cheesier than usual, perhaps in deference to the nightclub venue. I liked that this story had better developed villains with lines and scenes throughout, as opposed to the previous books where the reveal only happened at the end. I agree with another reviewer that the unfortunate, and repeated, use of “tranny” to describe the entertainers was a bit cringe. However, it didn’t feel hateful:
it was just an overused phrase where I’d have preferred Queens or drag. At the end of the day,
they were just one more kind of oddity in a world full of oddities.

Eh, it didn’t age well.

This was written in 2004, so maybe that’s an excuse- but calling people “tranny”, even in the early 2000’s was not really acceptable. I get that maybe this is how the character speaks, but that doesn’t seem to jive with the rest of his character. I do hope this doesn’t continue in the rest of the series!