The Dark Side of the Road

Ishmael Jones Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Simon R. Green

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Ishmael Jones is someone who can't afford to be noticed, someone who lives under the radar, who drives on the dark side of the road. He's employed to search out secrets, investigate mysteries and shine a light in dark places. Sometimes he kills people.

Invited by his employer, the enigmatic Colonel, to join him and his family for Christmas, Ishmael arrives at the grand but isolated Belcourt Manor in the midst of a blizzard to find that the Colonel has mysteriously disappeared. As he questions his fellow guests, Ishmael concludes that at least one of them - not least Ishmael himself - is harboring a dangerous secret, and that beneath the veneer of festive cheer lurk passion, jealousy, resentment and betrayal.

As a storm sets in, sealing off the Manor from the rest of the world, Ishmael must unmask a ruthless murderer before they strike again.

©2015 Simon R. Green (P)2018 Tantor

Couldn’t put it down

Yet another cracker from Simon R Green. He hasn’t written a book yet that I don’t love love love. Moving straight on to book 2.

Excellent

This is an amazing who dunnit set in the weird world of Mr. Greene and it's absolutely brilliant. The narrator sucks you in to the story and you will be riveted to the edge of your seat!

Cross genre story - fantasy and mystery. Yes!

Simon Green writes great books, and this is another. The setting is a Christie-like English house party where all the guests start dying; only the hero is an alien. I know sounds a bit far fetched but Mr Green works it all in seamlessly, and there are a few plot threads to weave in. The narrator seemed a bit so so at first but I soon grew to appreciate the nuances of his voice and reading and enjoyed it a lot. Great book, great plot, great characters, great narrator.

Supernatural levels of humor and wit.

If Anne Rice and Douglas Adams had had a love child it would have Ben Simon R. Green!

I Probably should have researched it more

Pros: The Narration is great. Its so great that I will continue to give the next book a try even though this one fell very flat for me.
There was definitely a twist ending that I didn't expect.
I appreciate that the story felt like it could take place at any point after the invention of the automobile and the phone. It doesn't make much historical references so it can present as timeless.

Cons: Took too long to get to the mystery parts. Didn't care for the love affair after spending so much of the book basically being dismissive of it altogether. The "killer" was a bit much for me.

It's my fault mostly for not reading the description and tags properly. I wanted a classic average cookie cutter murder mystery, not one with a supernatural twist. I think that was the main reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. But it was a good story, I followed it through to the end and didn't get bored. I am curious to see what the next book is like so will listen to that. The Narration was marvelous, another reason I stuck with it to the end.

Woefully Underrated

This series is by no means perfect, but as I occasionally enjoy lighter fare while performing other activities, it serves the purpose of entertaining and bringing joy to my brain. Green isn't reinventing the wheel. He's relying on long established tropes. But, as I happen to adore Clue (film) and Sherlock Holmes, I don't mind this at all. I find this series to be far better than Dresden or The Iron Druid Chronicles (to which Green's many books seem to draw constant comparison) where the obvious perfections of the main character distract me from the plot. This isn't to say that Jones isn't egotistical, it just suits him better. He's also very flawed.

I binged the first book in one evening, and the second and third books over four evenings and am sad there are no more on Audible as of this writing. But, I've moved on to another of Green's series (Secret Histories) and am enjoying that too. I've described this to friends as, "The Scooby-Doo of adult paranormal mystery." If that's something you think you might enjoy, absolutely listen to this. Gildart Jackson does a tremendous job narrating.

it's like a movie

just turn your brain off and enjoy. not spectacular. but enjoyable. characters adte flat. not surprises.

Not as good as the others

There are some serious pacing issues with this book. I almost had to skip forward during an interlude between action sequences, he was just repeating the same plot device over and over again, trying to make it a more character driven story, despite the purpose of that device already having been served.

My stepson told me about this series....

My stepson is a night owl, and loves to read. He doesn't have as much time when he is working, so he devours reading when visiting during his vacation time. He told me about this series and said I would really like it. "It is like a cross between X-files, Men in Black, sprinkled with British humor". So, I looked it up in Audible, and decided to try the first book. This is absolutely wonderful for an "over-the-top sci-fi crazy person" like me. I love it! (I DO love a good British accent.) And this is just the beginning...
By the way, he finished reading (he doesn't do audio-books) the entire series within a week, and said you really need to keep going. So I am!
"Call me Ishmael Jones..."

Not my genre

however it was done very well and I enjoyed listening to this book. I am surprised.