Synopsis
Neil Gaiman, the genius behind "The Sandman" graphic novels -- which Norman Mailer called "a comic strip for intellectuals" -- delves into novel-length fiction with Neverwhere, a wild and mesmerizing story set in a bizarre and chilling underground London. Neverwhere begins innocently enough: It's the story of Richard Mayhew, a plain man with a good heart. Unhappy in love and in life, Richard is thrust into a dark and evil world when he stops to help a young girl he finds bleeding in the street. Now Richard has much more than work and girlfriend dilemmas on his mind -- now he's wanted by two very evil, powerful, and nasty mercenaries who like to think that they are, in fact, rather gentlemanly. Lyrical, humorous, and horrifying, Neverwhere is a fantastic novel
Audiofile
Winner of the Earphones Award. The remarkable thing about this tape [HighBridge] is that, from the first lines, it gives one a strong impression of darkness and dread. It's a novel based on a British TV seriesa suspenseful and funny adventure tale of a nebbishy Londoner caught up in a nightmarish, magic world below ground. Neither the premise nor the plot is all that new and compelling. But the execution! First, there's the writing the delicious witty sense of humor; the vivid, albeit broad, characterization; the delightful dialogue; the adroitly evoked black atmosphere. Then there's the performance Gary Bakewell's charming Scottish accent, his sense of the book's architecture, his puckish treatment of the humor, his deft characterizations. Third, there's the production Blakewell's narration judiciously punctuated by sound effects and music that perfectly reinforce his efforts. All in all, a delightful listen. ( January 1998 )