Dark Side of the Road, The

Ishmael Jones isn't sure who he works for, nor what deadly mission he will be sent on next. Always moving, never standing still, he is summoned to a secluded manor in the English countryside during a fierce snow storm only to be throw in with a motley group of people under siege. Someone is a killer, and Ishmael must use his other-Earthly talents to save himself and everyone else from an ancient dark threat. So, Simon R. Green starts a possibly new series with a new and interesting protagonist. Everything moves along quite nicely as Green's prose is like honey to the ear, and action and intrigue set in. Much like his Nightside, Deathstalker, and Secret Histories series, this is very entertaining.

I had read books by Simon Green before. Some I really like, the Nightside series specifically, and others which weren't as enjoyable for me. When I saw this new book offered by Severn House publishers it really got my curiosity up. This is a modern English country house mystery with a twist. Actually there are two twists so you need to read the book to find out what they are.

Ishmael Jones works for the Organization with his sole contact person being the Colonel. That is all he needs to know because details don't help him complete his missions. An under-the-radar group taking care of let's-not-worry-the-population problems. When Ishmael gets a call to travel through a blizzard destined to go down in the history books in order to spend Christmas with the Colonel at Belcourt Manor the unspoken truth is that his very special talents will be put to good use. From there on we have the English country house mystery updated to involve weirdness from the writing talent of Simon Green. There is a pretty hefty dash of similarity to the Agatha Christie story "And Then There Were None" but with Green letting the reader know he's fully aware that is happening. Ishmael is by turns terse, ironic, and sarcastic trending towards sympathetic and compassionate. He changes considerably as the book progresses.

I enjoyed reading this. I will definitely be willing to read the next book if this becomes a series. There is a lot of room for Ishmael to develop some additional strange powers, that's really the only thing I found lacking in him so far. And if he simply must have a partner, I'll do my best not to wish he was still that handsome loner sitting by himself while drinking at the bar.

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley.

Simon Green is one of my favorite authors. I always buy a copy for me and one for our library collection!

Green brings us a deliciously dark, page-turning mystery. It's like a cross between a cozy mystery & a sci-fi mystery, set in a dark, forbidding winter wonderland. The murderer is a of a trope, but all in all, I enjoyed this latest and a bit different offering from Mr. Green.

Simon R. Green is a very talented author of many interesting Science Fiction and Horror Books; in The Dark Side of the Road he proves he can merge those two into an interesting and funny tale. Leading character Ishmael Jones is somewhat tragic and almost always very human... which is extraordinary because he is in fact an alien. Everything Simon Green writes is fast-paced and full of twists and turnes. In The Dark Side of The Road the reader also encounters more familiar places from other horror books. I've read it with real pleasure!

I received this book on net-galley from the publishers in return for an honest review.

I love Simon R Green, aside from his sci-fi series I pretty much have ready everything he has ever written. I don't care for the Secret History novels, but the Nightside books and the Ghost Hunter books and many of his stand alone novels are ones I have read over and over and recommended to anyone and everyone.

This book was really good and I can't wait to purchase it in paperback this coming May. It was like Clue on fantasy crack. I always love this authors way of writing people humorously and in a very real and dark way, playing on how we humans have darkness that lurks in our thoughts that we sometimes act on. Mr. Green also has a talent for writing backstories and places that pop, whether that pop is light hearted or sinister and haunted.

This was a great mystery novel and I didn't get the catch until the MC himself figured it out, though I did guess the murderer a bit before hand. I like mysteries where it's a bunch of people locked in a house where they can't leave and people are being murdered, secrets are revealed and EVERYONE is a suspect. My favorite board game is Clue. There is a colorful cast of characters and very much "The Trophy Wife in the Study with the Poisoned Hot Toddy" kind of feel to it. (No that's NOT a spoiler, sheesh, it's just a funny Clue-esque joke.)

My only issue with this book is that Simon R Green write most of his male lead characters the same; Eddie Drood, Ishmael Jones, John Taylor and JC Chance.... all kind of the same person, just different in whether they are human or not and have a unique special gift. I would REALLY like a main character from Simon R Green that is a woman or not a decently handsome dark haired sarcastic awesome guy...Though in THIS book what Ishmael is...is a little kooky.

So enjoy the mystery, I sure did!

Emphasis on "Supernatural Twist"

To paraphrase The Most Interesting Man In The World, I don't always read English manor house murder mysteries, but when I do I prefer to read Simon Green manor house murder mysteries with a supernatural twist.

This story starts out at an ancient pile of a country house in Cornwall that has been cut off from the outside by an extremely brutal snow storm. The lord of the manor, family members, hangers on, companions, and creepy domestics have all been trapped there. Our hero, Ishmael, (really?), has been summoned to the manor by way of a frantic, frightened phone call from his employer, the Colonel, only son of the family patriarch. When Ishmael arrives, just before the storm seals off the house for good, a family Christmas party, loaded with secrets, tension, arguments, flirtations, lustful glances, and veiled threats, is underway. Classic murder mystery mayhem follows.

We see everything through the first person narration of Ishmael. He isn't an unreliable narrator, just a closely guarded and deceptive narrator, which keeps his role in the mix something of a mystery within the murder mystery.

This has all of the signature Simon Green touches. The sarcastic, smart, dangerous and almost supernaturally prescient narrator is, of course, a given. The women are smart, subtle, and never entirely what they wish to appear to be. The men are ambitious, damaged, evil, conspiratorial and frequently weak or deluded. There is tremendous menace in the air and hidden portent in almost every conversation. Witty dialogue is interspersed with clunky dialogue, but as always it is the narrator's sly throwaway observations that supply the charm and most of the rewards of the narrative. Also as is often the case in Green books, the secondary characters, (like the butler, "Jeeves"), have many of the funniest lines and bits of conversation.

The title announces that this book has "a supernatural twist", which means the reader has been warned that there will be more and weirder plot developments than Dame Christie would allow. But, it's Simon Green, so the reader should have expected something like that going in. Also because it's Simon Green, you have to go through that mental ranking checklist that all of his books require. For me, this wasn't as funny or inventive or gripping as the Nightside series, but was much better than Ghost Hunters, and roughly equal to the Drood stories. But that's just me.

I like Simon Green's heroes and their stylish handling of the horrible and bizarre, and so I'm willing to put up with resolutions that take three paragraphs and come out of nowhere; I was perfectly fine with this book. I imagine it could be a bit frustrating for a more rigorous mystery reader, but you already knew that.

Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

As a fan of the Darkside series, I didn't realise how much I had missed Simon Green's wry & witty writing style! Loving the new character and hope four many more in this series.

Pretty good. Looking forward to more.

Ishmael Jones is the sort of fellow who gets things that need doing done. He worked for the organization Black Heir, chasing down illegal Aliens (of the in from space variety) and covering up any messes they might have caused. The kill first, never get to the questioning part rubbed him the wrong way, considering the fact that Ishmael himself is not quite human. So he left his Black Heir days behind to work for The Colonel and his Organization. And when the Colonel asks Ishmael to come to his familial home for Christmas, Ishmeal starts driving.

But The Colonel is missing when Ishmael arrives, and all is very much not well in the massive, old home, or with its strange and often estranged holiday guests.

Green has written a sinister game of Clue, expertly crafted in his usual way of playing with words to make them do things you are pretty sure they did not want to do. The prose, characters you are not sure you want to like but somehow get maybe attached here and there, and the shadowy world Green has created work to bring what could have been a tired old plot to grim and uncanny life. Recommended for Green fans, mystery fans, or folks who want to leave the hall light on at night. Just in case.

*Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Dark Side of the Road marks my 16th Simon R. Green novel. I continue to be a fan of his writing. He never disappoints in bringing a unique perspective to horror storytelling.

Readers meet Ishmael Jones just as he embarks on a journey to arrive at a mysterious country manor. Jones is rather mysterious and we learn that he works for a classified agency called the Organization and his boss is known only as the Colonel. Said Colonel has asked that Jones immediately travel to a country estate despite a catastrophic blizzard. Upon arrives readers meet a cast of characters as a horrifying plot of supernatural murder and mayhem unfurl.

This is a heart-pumping, quick read for fans not only of Green but supernatural, mystery, and horror fiction.

Posted first on Amazon.com:

"The Dark Side of the Road" is the first volume in a new Simon R. Green series featuring Ishmael Jones, an immortal alien who arrived on Earth in the 1960s and hasn't aged a day since. Vulnerable to Men-In-Black-type agencies that think the best alien is a dead alien, Jones has enjoyed the protection of the super-secret Organization -- and particularly of the man who calls himself the Colonel -- for the past 15 years. In return, Jones has been an alien hunter himself, dealing justly with those that cause problems without ill intentions, and very harshly with those who go looking for trouble.

Just before an enormous Christmas storm, the Colonel does something unprecedented -- he makes a personal plea to Jones for help. Jones must travel right away to the Colonel's family's English country estate where some unspecified something has gone horribly awry. When Jones arrives, the Colonel is nowhere to be found. This leaves Jones to mingle with the bitterly bickering cast of characters, including the doddering old patriarch, his bitter first wife, her opportunistic companion, the patriarch's scheming second wife, her slutty daughter, the daughter's unwilling-to-let-go ex-fiancee, the patriarch's money-hungry business partner, and the patriarch's butler-cum-bodyguard. When guests begin dying off one by one, Jones must use all of his limited detecting skills -- and his superhuman hearing, sense of smell, and strength -- to find the killer and protect the survivors.

If you've read Green before, you know the drill. The first-person narrator is cynical and sarcastic, hard on the outside but soft and a bit heartbroken on the inside. Ishmael Jones isn't John Taylor (from Green's "Nightside" series) but the two men bear a strong family resemblance. The plot lurches along, the dialogue is terribly artificial, and the denouement is tidy but not in the least bit elegant. Agatha Christie's detectives may solve their mysteries through brilliant deductions, but Green's characters are more likely to find the murderer by killing off all the other suspects. You read Green for sharp wit, not sharp wits; for a brief diversion, not a lengthy meditation.

Bottom line: Recommended to Green fans who want more of the same. I haven't read anywhere near half of Green's novels; still, I'd wager this one is above average but not in the top third. Also recommended to those who are not familiar with Green but think they might enjoy a locked door murder mystery featuring a heartsick immortal alien with special powers. On the other hand, if you love traditional mysteries, you will probably hate this book; Green has about as much respect for mystery genre conventions as he has for naive tourists who wander into the bad part of town looking for a good time.

*Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Dark Side of The Road is a classic British Agatha Christie-type murder mystery with a paranormal twist. Ishmael Jones, agent for a super-secret organization not unlike Men In Black, receives a mysterious call from his boss just before Christmas to get to a country manor estate as soon as possible. Fighting through the blizzard of the century, Ishmael barely manages to arrive in one piece, but his boss is nowhere to be found. The house is filled with a motley assortment of Gosford Park characters - the wealthy lord, the trophy wife, the ex-wife, the companion, the daughter, the business partner, etc. Ishmael has to figure out where his boss is, and deal with the household guests being picked off one by one. I don't want to spoil the story by describing much more, but honestly, the plot is not the reason I recommend this book. The slow revelation of the identity of Ishmael, who narrates the book, is what's really fantastic. The character is thoughtful, smart, and original. The surprising pairing with a new partner at the end promises a really fun new series. If you like paranormal mystery but you're tired of the same old sexy vixens and broody vampires - give this one a try. I found it fresh and fascinating.

3.5/5 stars. This was typical Simon R. Green, with a main character who might as well be brother to John Taylor, Eddie Drood, and JC Chance. I happen to enjoy that character, so I'm okay with it. What I really loved about this book was that it was a supernatural country house mystery. A group of family, friends, and one stranger brought together and stranded at a country house in a horrible snowstorm. Some thing is killing people, and it could be anyone.

Here's a spoiler for a part I really, really liked, where the meshing of horror and country house mystery worked so very well: The premise is that something is using a glamour to hide in plain sight. The timing of the murders means the killer must be standing among us, covered in blood and gore. Which means any of us who touched or were touched by that killer could also be covered in blood without even knowing. Freaked me right out.

(Provided by publisher)

I've read a lot of Severn House mysteries but this is the first one that I've run into that is science fiction. It surprised me. It was also a very good read.

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published May 1st. If you like a book where everything ticks and ties together before the end, you'll really enjoy this one.

When Ishmael gets a call from his boss, the Colonel, that asks him to join him over Christmas at his family home, he obliges. If the Colonel needs him, he will be there, as he has been many times in the past. The Colonel belongs to an unnamed organization that takes care of messy problems the rest of the world doesn't need to know about. Ishmael is really good at this type of work because he walks "The Dark Side of the Road". People don't notice him, he draws no one's attention, and he goes in and does what he must and then vanishes again. He owes the Colonel, of course he'll go.

An awful snowstorm has started and he barely reaches his destination. When he gets there and meets the family, he's sorry he came. None of them are very nice. And no one seems to know where the Colonel is. After a major search, he's found in the yard. He resembles a snowman except his head has been cut off and then put back in place. Since no one can leave the house, it's apparent that someone in the household is the killer. They had planned to escape but instead found themselves snowbound.

Suspicions rise, the body count goes up and the only one who can probably save them is Ishmael. There's a walking horror in the house and it intends to be the only one who leaves.

While it was not what I was expecting, this was a good story. I didn't anticipate the ending. It didn't help to know who the killer was. And it was ironic that in this house of horrors with the Colonel's relatives, Ishmael also learned some truths about his past. I wouldn't mind reading another book about him. He's an interesting character.

I really enjoyed the story, but man it went fast! I read quickly, and the pace of the book clipped right along. Combine those two factors and I had a one day read. Honestly, I love it when that happens. The characters were odd and the mystery was cozy in a weird, dark, spooky kind of way. Another winner for Simon R. Green.

Ishmael Jones is someone who lives his life on the dark side of the road. He works for the enigmatic Colonel and together they work to uncover the secrets and horrors that lurk in this dark. Thing is, Ishmael has secrets of his own that must be kept buried which means he tries to remain unseen and unknown. But when he receives a strange invitation from the Colonel to join him and his family for Christmas at their remote mansion, he doesn’t hesitate because there must be something terribly wrong for the Colonel to summon him. Despite a raging snowstorm, he rushes to the manse but when he arrives, the Colonel has disappeared. As the storm worsens preventing anyone from leaving, it becomes clear that there is someone or something trapped here with them and it’s very very hungry.

The Dark Side of the Road is the latest by author Simon R Green and introduces his new character Ishmael Jones. It has been compared to Agatha Christie’s very British closed room country tea cosies but with supernatural elements. This comparison is, in many ways, a fair one what with the setting in a remote country manor; a dinner party among the gentry; everyone trapped inside by a snowstorm; a rising body count; the fact that Ishmael is not a native of Britain albeit from a bit further than Belgium; and the gathering of suspects in the drawing room to unmask the evil-doer; well, and there’s that subtitle, A country house murder mystery with a supernatural twist which, if you’ll pardon the pun, is kind of a dead give-away.

Despite the ‘whodunnit’ quality, Dark Side is pure Simon R Green. The tale is told by Jones in a first person narrative and, because of his need for secrecy, the reader can’t always be sure he’s reliable. Nor is he much of a detective, depending more on an extremely good sense of smell, strength and hearing rather than any ‘little grey cells’. He is, however, like all of Green’s heroes, wittily sardonic, making this a whole lot of fun to read. Definitely for fans of Green’s other series or urban fantasies in general.

3.5

This is a fun book to read when you want something different. While it has the feeling of an Agatha Christie novel it soon gets past that. The villain is who you would expect but their not what you would expect. I enjoyed the mystery playing the way it. The author wrote a very smart, tense, yet easy to read story. The characters are easy to like,so the story never gets boring. I think if you like a mystery in the style of the X-Files than you'll enjoy this book.

Stellar as always!

This was a good read; it was a bit violent and dark, so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. However, I was captivated by the story line and my interest was held by the ongoing mystery.

Review: DARK SIDE OF THE ROAD by Simon R. Green

This novel "blew me away"! Seamless in exposition, convoluted in its mystery, extending clues cautiously, I found myself enrapt from Page 1. (I also discovered a new favorite author--yes, sometimes it only takes one story.)

Protagonist Ishmael Jones is a fascinating and admirable character, with an honor code all his own, exemplified throughout his life. When he unfolds his secret truth, metaphorically my eyes widened to saucer size and my jaw dropped [yes, more mind-boggling than quantum physics!]. I plan to run off and devour everything Simon R. Green has composed, and witness my imagination and admiration expand.