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kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Seventh in the Nightside dark urban fantasy series for young adults revolving around the infamous John Taylor, scourge of evil and anyone else who just plain pisses him off.
The Story
John Taylor is hired to find the designated heir to the Griffin empire kidnapped shortly after the Griffin made a new will designating young Melissa as his sole heir, cutting out the rest of the family.
Unfortunately, JT is hampered in his search as some big bad is thwarting the use of his Third Eye. The Eye he uses to Find whatever is missing. Damn, now JT will have find Melissa the old-fashioned way…ask questions and deduce. So saying, JT wends his way through the Nightside taking us on a tour of its many interesting clubs and hangouts to find the various family members in their public and not-so-public pursuits and learning their side of life in the Griffin manse.
It's a corkscrew of adventures and unfortunate deaths until the last when a saintly Hand of Glory takes us to the final clue.
The Characters
The Regular Cast
The Nightside, where "you can find anything here if it doesn't find you first. Buyer beware…"
When John Taylor appears, everyone knows to duck and find cover. Security cops have it in their contracts that if JT appears, they can run. For after John's actions in the War of Lilith, no one wants to go up against John, well, almost no one.
Suzie Shooter is now JT's girlfriend…and we see very little of her in this story.
Dead Boy is such a handy ally. Reliable as a human shield and as a distraction at parties…since he has absolutely no manners at all.
Walker is now the supreme voice in the Nightside since the Authorities were all killed in Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth.
The Cast of Hell to Pay
Jeremiah Griffin did a deal with the Devil for immortality. Alive for centuries, his wife, Mariah, and any children will be immortal as long as he lives. His grandchildren will be mere mortals. Melissa is the not-yet-18-year-old heir to the Griffin Empire and William and Gloria's daughter. Paul is Melissa's cousin, Eleanor's son, and terrified for his life even as he enjoys and spreads the joy of his secret life. Eleanor is Jeremiah's daughter and currently spends her time faffing about enjoying her money and rescuing her husband, Marcel, from his various gambling debts. William is Jeremiah's son and incredibly miserable in his life spending most of his time in Arcadia…must be heaven. His wife, Gloria, is fed up with her nonentity of a life in the Griffin household and spends most of her time at the Caligula Club where she can boss wealthy men around. Hobbes is the starched up, stuffy, very imperturbable butler for the Griffins.
The Salvation Army Sisterhood (SAS) are "hard-core Christian terrorists" who gets things done whoever hires them. Sister Josephine seems to be in charge. With her saintly Hand of Glory.
My Take
It's always a fun romp through the Nightside with JT with Green's imagination running rampant as he skewers society and rips apart parenting skills…or the lack thereof.
I do love Dead Boy's car…I want one! Then there's this church over on the Street of the Gods, the Temple of Saint Einstein where "It's all relative". I love the blatant parody of religious groups with the "old-style Prophet" yelling that "Money is the source of all evil!...[with] Wealth is a burden on the soul! So save yourself from its taint by giving it all to me! I am strong; I can bear the burden!..." Sound familiar…
I do look forward to the next installment, Unnatural Inquirer, to find out what's gonna happen to Walker..!
The Cover
I have no idea what the cover refers to with the curly-maned, trench coat-clad woman wandering around the cemetery and its tombstones with a city skyline in the background. She is highlit with a bright yellow light in a radial gradient darkening down to a deep brown. As for the title, Hell to Pay. Oh yeah. There is indeed a debt that needs paying!
The Story
John Taylor is hired to find the designated heir to the Griffin empire kidnapped shortly after the Griffin made a new will designating young Melissa as his sole heir, cutting out the rest of the family.
Unfortunately, JT is hampered in his search as some big bad is thwarting the use of his Third Eye. The Eye he uses to Find whatever is missing. Damn, now JT will have find Melissa the old-fashioned way…ask questions and deduce. So saying, JT wends his way through the Nightside taking us on a tour of its many interesting clubs and hangouts to find the various family members in their public and not-so-public pursuits and learning their side of life in the Griffin manse.
It's a corkscrew of adventures and unfortunate deaths until the last when a saintly Hand of Glory takes us to the final clue.
The Characters
The Regular Cast
The Nightside, where "you can find anything here if it doesn't find you first. Buyer beware…"
When John Taylor appears, everyone knows to duck and find cover. Security cops have it in their contracts that if JT appears, they can run. For after John's actions in the War of Lilith, no one wants to go up against John, well, almost no one.
Suzie Shooter is now JT's girlfriend…and we see very little of her in this story.
Dead Boy is such a handy ally. Reliable as a human shield and as a distraction at parties…since he has absolutely no manners at all.
Walker is now the supreme voice in the Nightside since the Authorities were all killed in Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth.
The Cast of Hell to Pay
Jeremiah Griffin did a deal with the Devil for immortality. Alive for centuries, his wife, Mariah, and any children will be immortal as long as he lives. His grandchildren will be mere mortals. Melissa is the not-yet-18-year-old heir to the Griffin Empire and William and Gloria's daughter. Paul is Melissa's cousin, Eleanor's son, and terrified for his life even as he enjoys and spreads the joy of his secret life. Eleanor is Jeremiah's daughter and currently spends her time faffing about enjoying her money and rescuing her husband, Marcel, from his various gambling debts. William is Jeremiah's son and incredibly miserable in his life spending most of his time in Arcadia…must be heaven. His wife, Gloria, is fed up with her nonentity of a life in the Griffin household and spends most of her time at the Caligula Club where she can boss wealthy men around. Hobbes is the starched up, stuffy, very imperturbable butler for the Griffins.
The Salvation Army Sisterhood (SAS) are "hard-core Christian terrorists" who gets things done whoever hires them. Sister Josephine seems to be in charge. With her saintly Hand of Glory.
My Take
It's always a fun romp through the Nightside with JT with Green's imagination running rampant as he skewers society and rips apart parenting skills…or the lack thereof.
I do love Dead Boy's car…I want one! Then there's this church over on the Street of the Gods, the Temple of Saint Einstein where "It's all relative". I love the blatant parody of religious groups with the "old-style Prophet" yelling that "Money is the source of all evil!...[with] Wealth is a burden on the soul! So save yourself from its taint by giving it all to me! I am strong; I can bear the burden!..." Sound familiar…
I do look forward to the next installment, Unnatural Inquirer, to find out what's gonna happen to Walker..!
The Cover
I have no idea what the cover refers to with the curly-maned, trench coat-clad woman wandering around the cemetery and its tombstones with a city skyline in the background. She is highlit with a bright yellow light in a radial gradient darkening down to a deep brown. As for the title, Hell to Pay. Oh yeah. There is indeed a debt that needs paying!
ladyethyme's review against another edition
3.0
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.
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.
eclecticbookreviewer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Amazing read. This series will not let up on how amazing it is. Action from start (think futuristic weaponized car defending itself) to the end (think shotgun in your face). This series has the most lovable and hateful characters you will ever read about. And in every book in the series you have to ask yourself are you on the side of good or evil or somewhere in between. 5 stars.
ogreart's review against another edition
4.0
Since Goodreads no longer trusts me to add a new edition when needed, I am writing this here. I listened to an audiobook, not an audio CD. But it's the right narrator, Dan Calley, so this is closer.
Circles within circles. Wheels within wheels. Lots of action. Lots of blood and gore. Loads of snark. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Circles within circles. Wheels within wheels. Lots of action. Lots of blood and gore. Loads of snark. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
seeinghowitgoes's review against another edition
3.0
While it's always great to read a new novel in a loved series, I couldn't help but feel let down by the latest edition which seemed to bring the pace down a notch or so.
After the epic battle of book 6, it's a little surprising to see book 7 out. I started reading the series after reading that book 7 had come out, to the surprise of a few fans as the series could have ended comfortably on book 6. I understand what they were saying now and half wish myself that book 7... hadn't come out.
Book 7 continues on from the events of 6 as almost though nothing had happened. John is once entrenched in a case, this time to find a missing grandchild of an immortal bloodline, with his abilities blocked by a mysterious force within the house John does his sleuthing the old fashioned way, one suspect at a time.
Simon Green never pulls his punches and brings us back to the roots of the series with an enjoyable installment that could fit nicely just after the first few novels, the only problem is, after 6 books it seems a bit of let down to be back where we started.
After the epic battle of book 6, it's a little surprising to see book 7 out. I started reading the series after reading that book 7 had come out, to the surprise of a few fans as the series could have ended comfortably on book 6. I understand what they were saying now and half wish myself that book 7... hadn't come out.
Book 7 continues on from the events of 6 as almost though nothing had happened. John is once entrenched in a case, this time to find a missing grandchild of an immortal bloodline, with his abilities blocked by a mysterious force within the house John does his sleuthing the old fashioned way, one suspect at a time.
Simon Green never pulls his punches and brings us back to the roots of the series with an enjoyable installment that could fit nicely just after the first few novels, the only problem is, after 6 books it seems a bit of let down to be back where we started.
b00kdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
csdaley's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great bounce back book in this series. I was not really happy with the direction the series was going. I was really worried about the next book but this book was very good.
bibliofiendlm's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5. Surprisingly I liked this one better than some of the others now that the Lilith arc is "complete."
hbaier94's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0