Review – The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon Green (3/5 stars)

This is the 8th book in the Nightside series by Simon Green. It followed much in the pattern of the last book. Which is to say, it was okay.

In this book someone has promised the Unnatural Inquirer (a Nightside tabloid) exclusive rights to a DVD recording from the Afterlife. The Unnatural Inquirer hires John Taylor to find it when it goes missing. They send Betty Divine along with him to document his findings along the way.

This book was just okay. The series seems to have lost some of it’s interest and urgency with the completion of the over-arcing story in “Sharper than a Serpent’s Tooth”. I am still confused why the series didn’t end with that book. The only thing that is left mysteriously unanswered is where Walker’s power is coming from now that the Authorities are dead.

This seemed like another transition book. Really I would only think you’d need one of those to wrap up the first main story. Somehow all the characters in this book seem tired and bored. Betty Divine was a pitiful sidekick. She was clingy and unhelpful and painfully uninteresting. Many of the quips that were so amusing up to this point are starting to seem overused. The creativity that amuses me so much was there, but not to the degree it normally is.

Overall this book was a quick, well-written, and fun read…but it was also a bit disappointing as we wait for something big and interesting to start happening again. Hopefully the next book will be better.