Review - The Bride Wore Black Leather (The Nightside, Book 12) by Simon R. Green (4.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Release Date: January 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1937007133
Stand Alone or Series: 12th book in the Nightside series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This was the 12th and final book in the Nightside series. It was a great end to the series; a lot of favorite characters are in the story and John Taylor faces a challenge tougher than any he has faced before.

John wants to do one last case as a PI before he settles down in his position as the new Walker and ties the knot with Shotgun Suzie. When an anonymous tip about an Immortality Serum shows up on his desk he decides to crash the Immortality Ball to try and figure out what's going on. This draws him into a case involving a double murder and eventually into a face off with the Sun King. The Sun King is trying to bring daylight to the Nightside and John will have to fight both his enemies and his friends if he will wants to stop the Sun King. Not to mention Shotgun Suzie was offered a really really good bounty on John's head and seems bent on collecting...now even the wedding is up in the air.

This was a great conclusion to the Nightside series. It wasn't super surprising and there weren't any moments that really awed me, but the story was very well done. We get to see a lot of the wonderfully disturbing and quirky characters that we have come to know and love. Dead Boy, Razor Eddie, the Oblivion brothers are all here. There are some great new characters too; we get to meet Frankenstein's Bride and Jack the Ripper and they were both fun.

The best part about this book is that, for reasons I won't reveal, John ends up facing off against a lot of his super powerful friends and these are some interesting fights to read about. The implications of what could happen to the rest of the world if daylight is brought to the Nightside are interesting as well.

Suzie isn't in the story a ton, which was a bit disappointing. But the role she plays towards the end of the story is stellar and all around awesome. Readers should be very happy with how the series ends. Although I am a bit sad we won't be seeing more of Taylor and his buddies. I would love to see some books about Taylor in his role as the Walker.

It did seem like Green is trying to lure readers over to his Secret Histories series (of which I have read the first book). There are mentions of the Drood family and things that they have done/had happen to them throughout the book. Some of these mentions are spoilers; I was a bit bummed to find out the fate of the Drood family in this book when I had only read the first book in that series up to this point. So just something beware of.

Overall a stellar conclusion to this series. Not quite as surprising and earth-shattering as Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth was, but still a very well done book. We get to read about a lot of our favorite characters and Taylor has to unravel a plot to bring daylight to the Nightside. Fans of this series should enjoy this installment. If you love dark urban fantasy full of quirky characters I highly recommend this series. It is a lot of fun and you never know what crazy thing each new page will bring.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge