Book Review: Neverwhere

This book was first publisher.   It's a fantasy novel.  I usually read fantasy, but this is the first time I've read any novel by Neil Gaiman.  It won't be the last.  He weaves a wonderful, believable tale.  Neverwhere was also a television show produced by the BBC in 1996.

Richard Mayhew is a stock broker living in London.  He lives an enviable life, rising quickly through the ranks of his stock firm.  He has a beautiful girlfriend named Jessica, and they are engaged.  Jessica works for a high powered firm and is on the fast track for promotion and power.


That all changes one strange night.  A strange girl literally drops out of a door from the middle of nowhere.  She is covered in blood and unconscious.  Against the will of his girlfriend, Richard stops to help this strange girl and finds himself in the middle of a strange and unusual world.

Two strange men appear at his door the next morning, searching for the girl, whose name is Door.  When they entered the room where she had been hiding, the found nothing.  As he tries to help her find her way home, he finds himself in a strange part of London where he had never been before, speaking to strange people that he had never before noticed.

When Monday morning arrives, Richard finds that he is no longer visible. He could not be seen by anyone, and he could not be heard by anyone.   Tracking down the strange young woman he had helped the night before, Richard discovers the strange world known as London Below - a place where lost people who fall through the cracks end up.

As Richard begins his quest he joins forces with Anesthesia, Hunter, Door and the Marquis as they journey through London Below to find The Key that will unlock their destiny.

But will the key be the solution that they expect?