Something From The Nightside is the first book in another of Simon Green’s series. It seems that there’s a small area in the darkest heart of London that’s so given over to sin and debauchery that it’s become a pocket universe all of its own. It’s always 3 AM in the Nightside; life is cheap there, and anything else you can imagine (and things you should be glad you can’t) is available there for the right price.

John Taylor is a private investigator. He’s currently based in the more normal part of London, but he grew up in the Nightside, and when he’s there he access to certain….gifts. He can find pretty much anything, and as he says a few too many times, he has never made it a habit of carrying a gun—he’s never felt the need.

In short, we’ve got the occult private eye shtick going on here; yes, we’re firmly into Harry Dresden territory. Problem is, Simon Green’s no Jim Butcher. I found the book mildly entertaining, but not particularly memorable, and considerably more lightweight than Green’s The Man with the Golden Torc (which is fairly light and frothy to begin with).

I picked this up because I enjoyed Green’s Eddie Drood books; but if I’d started with this one I might not have gotten any farther. On the other hand, I might pick up the next in the series some day when I’m looking for some really light reading.