Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is an interesting read. When Richard Mayhew saves a young girl from a London sidewalk, his life changes from normal to literally abnormal. The young girl, whose name is Door, comes from “London Below”, where she escapes from two hired killers. The two killers are known as Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar, and they’d killed everybody in Door’s family.
After the good deed, Richard’s fiancée chucks him; he loses his wonderful job at a securities firm; he loses his apartment; he nearly loses his mind, too.
From “London Above” (his normal London), he finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the mysterious “London Below.” Nothing will prepare him for the dark adventures he is about to embark on. His normal life no longer exists. He goes back above, but nobody ‘sees’ him.
With every turn of the page, readers will discover, for themselves, a cast of intriguing underworld characters such as the rat-speakers, the marquis de Carabas, Hunter the bodyguard, Old Bailey, the Black Friars, etc. Extraordinary friendship and teamwork are forged.
The plot thickens as the story nears its end. Will Door ever avenge her family? Will Richard ever regain his normal life? Can dead people be made alive? Who is the real baddie?
I have enjoyed reading the novel very much, and I must say that Neil Gaiman has never failed to deliver intriguing stories. Creepy, imaginative, never dull. Quoting Mark Frost, the author of The List of 7, he said Neverwhere is an eye-popping Alice in Wonderland for the new millennium. Indeed.
