6,5/10
It's kitsch, it's cheesy, predictable and full of deus ex machina. The worldbuilding is clearly more focused on impressing the reader with the great creativity of the author, scariness of creatures or the everpresent danger in nightside, but it does so through telling rather than showing. You are always told who the character is and why exactly you should fear him before he has any time to act. It's, to put it lightly, not a very good book and at the same time, it's everything I need it to be.

This is the second time around for me with this book and I still love it. This time I listened to the audiobook and it was so well done.

As quick and easy as the first, but my two major annoyances from the first book (way too much repetition of little useless facts, and that I was always painfully aware that we were being introduced to the world and the next books and thus felt like the mystery it was centered around was just a sub-plot) have been majorly toned down. Yes, the descriptions and character introductions are still the same, and by now I really am aware that John doesn't carry a gun because he doesn't need one, you don't really need to explain that to me or the other characters all the time. Once for new readers is more than enough thank you very much. Still it was much worse in the first book, and just by being the second book we don't get as much of a "set up" of the world & future series. It just builds on what we already know.

It is, like the first one, a hunt for a missing object that takes John and Suzie through various Nightside locations, waving their weapons and powers about trying to shake answers out of people and not get caught by some bigger players. It's fun, some of the characters that we meet (and haven't met before) are creative etc. John is still fairly flat as a character, but we learn more about his past (nobody wants to tell him about his mum though, she's just this scary thing everyone seems to want to forget ever existed) and get hints about what is to come (sort of, it is rumor based so it doesn't have to lead anywhere, could just be red-herrings, but seeing as we get so little information I doubt it). Suzie Shooter gets a lot revealed about her as well, and I like this better than with John. I don't know why, probably because everything that is revealed she needs to tell us (or we are shown through a vision-situation where John goes into her head to fish her out of fear) and thus it doesn't feel as "flat" as it does when John serves us info about himself. I feel like his personality traits are just statements, rather than actual traits (even though he does act as he says he does). I can't really put my finger on why he doesn't work that well for me.

Still: Fun, fast & satisfying!

A quick, enjoyable read. My biggest complaint is the constant use of the terms "major players" and "movers and shakers". Still, it was full of interesting characters and places.

This book started out with so much potential! I love well done urban fantasy, and I liked the concept of seeking the "Unholy" Grail. I thought that was a nice twist. But then when I immediately figured out that Jude was Judas (like, within 2 pages of his introduction), I started to get worried. Turns out, I had good reason to. This book is a mess!

The plot hinges around a MacGuffin. The minor characters seem to only be there for shock value, and the main characters are one-dimensional at best, and repulsive at worst. The writing is cliche and repetitive. (Green mentions the angels have come to Nightside at least a dozen times, which is 11 more times than necessary.) And the overwhelming amount of gore and violence feels gratuitous throughout.

The book's only saving grace is its relative brevity. At 234 pages for the paperback edition, I flew through it in a couple of days; and not a moment too soon!

An old favorite of mine. I can't tell you how many times I've read this book, but it never gets old. I read it for the first time in high school and fell in love with the author and this series. It is the perfect combination of bad ass characters, awesome ladies, snarky humor, and biblical mythology. An odd combination, but one that works brilliantly:

I really loved this story! It was absolutely fantastic!! :)

It opened with John Taylor's meeting with Jessica Sorrow the Unbeliever, an incredibly scary woman/thing. In this very same opening chapter, a frightened man was turned into a statue by unknowns for not having the correct Grail in his hands. What a harrowing and fun-to-read first chapter! :)

Soon everyone, from the Nightside's major players to angels from Above and Below, wants to hire/force John Taylor to find the Grail - the Unholy Grail, that is - for them. This makes for an incredibly vibrant and exciting story. :)

Among the horrific happenings, we learned

of an S&M club run by demons; that the entire 100-member Fourth Reich was gunned down; the Bedlam Boys were psionically giving people, including our very own John Taylor, intense phobias and manias; and the angels were busy turning even more people into salt statues!

It was scary yet fabulous to read about all this. :)

I really had to shudder, though, when I read of "The Speaking Gun." *shudder* I won't say too much about it; just suffice to say it's really disgusting, repulsive and sickening. *shudder*

The twists and turns never failed to take me by surprise, including the final one:

Jude the client turned out to be Judas Iscariot!

While this made perfect sense in retrospect, I was truly shocked! :)

John Taylor's force of will is to be admired. If only my own were as great: all the hints about John's mother are killing me! Here's hoping the next book will contain some revelations about her. :)

Review written after first reading, January 25-26, 2014.
Second reading in March 2015.

Ein Jahr nach Band 1 pendelt John wieder zwischen Nightside und normaler Welt und hat einen neuen Auftrag: es gibt einen Unheiligen Gral, der alles zerstören könnte und in der Nightside gibt es viele, die daran Interesse haben... doch auf welcher Seite stehen eigentlich die Engel?

Band 2 war noch abgedrehter als Band 1 und enthielt einige Szenen, die mich noch lange verfolgen werden... (graphic content warning!)



"Zwei dunkle Gestalten kamen die Straße entlang auf uns zugerannt, Schattenrisse gegen die Brände hinter ihnen.

Beide sahen ... irgendwie seltsam aus, und dann kam die Haut Graf Videos die Straße entlanggeflattert, leer und blutig, und sein gehäuteter Leib rannte weinend hinterher."

Mini-Review:

The main story line about JT's parents keep me hooked. I liked how minor details get flushed out more in this one. I can't help but imagine a world that smashes together many sci-fi/fantasy elements from the 70's-80's. It's a bizarre collage that draws out a range of responses from laughter to grimaces of disdain.

On one hand, I want to zap all of the books to find out what's going to happen but there are repetitive bits that will detract from the story if I don't take a break or two between stories. I want to know more about Nightside and JT's gift. Coming up next, book 3!