Richard Mayhew was a normal guy, doing well for himself. In fact, he was doing better than well for himself. He had a great and successful job, and was soon to be married to Jessica, one of the more beautiful women in London.

One night, Richard and Jessica were running late for a dinner engagement (his fault, not hers) when they encounter a bloodied, beaten girl laying in the street. Richard found himself overwhelmingly compelled to help this girl, much to the dismay of Jessica. As he was carrying the unconscious young girl back to his apartment, Jessica threatened to break off the engagement unless he put her down. Richard said "bye" and kept on walking.

The following morning, two strange men appeared at Richard's door, asking about a missing girl. At first, they claimed to be police officers, but their mannerisms quickly called their bluff, and they resorted to threats and intimidation. Richard refused to back down, adamantly claiming to have no knowledge of any girl and encouraging them to "get the hell out."

What follows is a bizarre tale where Richard descends into an alternate reality that exists underneath the city of London. In this Neverwhere, time does not seem to exist, while life and death have merged into a gray line of existence for all those unfortunates who have fallen through the cracks of upper London to found themselves below. The tale unfolds to reveal demon-like characters, an angel, and lots of talk about the lost city of Atlantis.

In the past year, Neil Gaiman has become one of my most favorite authors. He has a very distinctive visual sense and knows how to keep the story moving at just the right pace. I have fallen in love with his descriptive technique. For example, he describes one character as being what you would see in a nightmare if you were to fall asleep watching sumo wrestling while listening to Bob Marley. With that one sentence, he didn't need to write another word about that person.

Neverwhere is a great adventure tale that reminds of the movie Dark City, but without all the mind control things. It has a few twists and surprises, but it is ultimately Gaiman's own flair that keeps things going. Its one of those books that you don't want to end, which makes it seem kind of short when you read it as quickly as I did.

From what I understand, the BBC made a movie of this novel, but it may not be available for sale in the U.S. I definitely want to see it, now that I've finished the book.



Recommended: Yes