Once upon a time, people believed in monsters. Then the industrial progress and the lights everywhere, reduced these beliefs to superstitions, leaving no place for these creatures of the dark. Or so the story goes anyway. But as Daniel Carter is about to learn, this is just what they want humanity to think - they are still around, in the shadows, controlling the crime networks of the world. And there is only one organization which seems to be on humanities side: Jekyll & Hyde Inc. (led by no other but Mr. Hyde himself of course).

Meet Daniel Carter, a London policeman who is tasked with breaking a crime den... and ends up almost dead after monsters try to kill him. Noone believes what he saw (how could they?) and he had almost resigned in living his life as a disgraced policeman with a broken body. Until one of the men he believes to be dead show up - and an interesting proposal - and off he goes to meet Mr. Hyde, hoping for something but still refusing to believe. And before long, his body is cured (courtesy of Dr. Jekyll's serum), he has a partner (in more than one way) and he is on the path to destroying all the remaining clans of monsters.

That is an awesome premise for a series. Or a novel. What follows feels like a misuse of the premise. Simon R. Green can write snarky characters and these are not an exception but usually this snarkiness is attached to something else... here is feels like snarky is the only thing that holds the characters together.

Had you ever played one of those first-person shooter games ("Doom II: Hell on Earth" for example) where the only strategy is to kill all the monsters so they do not get you while jumping into the next level... where you do the same over and over? Or watched those C-list (or Z-list even) actions which Hollywood produced by the hundreds (or so it seemed) in the 80s and 90s and which were essentially "a guy against the world" (some of them worked better than others; most of them were shadows of the successful ones)? I grew up with these movies and Doom II was the first computer game I ever played -- and the novel, once Daniel was cured, reminded me of both of these -- a never ending cycle of go to a clan, fight a clan, destroy a clan, mop up the survivors, go to your apartment with the hot woman and break the bed with her. Rinse and repeat for most of the book. There is also Mr. Hyde who shows himself as being more and more sinister, even if our heroes don't seem to notice for a long time. And if you think that you know the story of THAT character, you may get surprised (that's one of the parts that actually was very well done).

The end of the novel came as expected - in a tale which has the name Hyde in it, expecting black and white would have been silly. The last chapters, once all the killings of clans was done, work in some ways and ties together all the lose threads from the beginning. That middle portion seems almost like a fill-up - the beginning and the end is where the story really happens and where the surprises keep popping up. So I am glad I did not give up mid-novel...

The novel is not bad for what it is and if you enjoy battles in a urban fantasy setting, you probably won't be disappointed. And I cannot blame the author for not writing the book I wanted him to write or expected to read when I picked that one up. But I keep thinking how this premise could have been used for a whole series (although killing a clan per installment would have been too formulaic). I hope that Green will return to the earlier days of that story - before Daniel came onto the stage - leaving this as the coda of a much longer story. Although I suspect that it won't happen. ( )

Daniel Carter is a London cop with a conscience who is sent with his partners to raid an illegal organ harvesting operation in Jekyll & Hyde Inc, by Simon R. Green. Carter and the other young cops sent on the raid hope it will be a feather in their caps and an opportunity to move forward careers they fear are stuck in neutral. What they find instead is that monsters are real. Most of them wind up dead, nearly torn to pieces, and Daniel is left a cripple. No one believes his story leaving both his life and his career in tatters. Sometime later, one of his friends shows up and gives him a card with an address on it. Turning up at the address, Carter finds himself in the office of Edward Hyde. The Edward Hyde. In exchange for Carter’s help, he offers him Dr. Jekyll’s elixir which will restore Carter’s body and then some. All he has to do is help destroy the monster clans which run London’s criminal underworld. Now a monster himself, Carter is set loose on the clans, Frankenstein, Vampire, Mummy, and Werewolf. With a little luck, he might even survive.

This book has an irresistible premise and a lot of great action pieces. Each of the monster types presents a different and more difficult obstacle to overcome which leads to some great fight scenes and clever attack strategies. The characters are a little one-dimensional and the plot jumps from battle to battle with little transition. The reason the clans are all gathered is also convenient and unconvincing.

If you love the premise and enjoy some fun fight scenes then this is something worth picking up. Just be prepared to overlook some gaps in the plot and weak character development.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. ( )