Neverwhere (Author's Preferred Text)

Richard Mayhew is an average and unobtrusive businessman living in London. His fairly normal and uncomplicated life includes a comfortable apartment and a beautiful but domineering fiancée. One night, Richard happens upon a young girl bleeding in the street. He helps her. Shortly thereafter, Richard is introduced to a world that he could not have imagined, the mysterious, dangerous, and strangely entrancing realm depicted in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.

Gaiman, the tremendously successful author of the "Sandman" comics, took bits and pieces of various thoughts and conversations he has had over the years and utilized them to fashion a stunning parable about an enigmatic and hallucinatory world, a place where people "fall through the cracks" that exists in the bowels of London. Mayhew, our reluctant protagonist, and the reader discover this world simultaneously. It is the home of Door, the girl whom Richard aided, and whom he must continue to help if he is ever to return to his safe and mundane existence. It is also significant that the outcome of Door's treacherous venture might not only affect the fate of this labyrinthine kingdom but of humanity and even the entire universe.

Gaiman populates his world with vivid characters that pulse with reality as well as with the imagination of his netherworld. They include Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, two assassins whose penchant for sardonic conversation is matched only by the ruthless and sadistic way they carry out their work; the Marquis de Carabas, a dodgy man whose need to constantly stay one step ahead of everyone is finally put to the ultimate test; Hunter, a fierce and laconic female warrior who has more than one agenda; and a very tangible and hospitable angel. Gaiman uses these characters as his palette to paint a remarkably lucid portrait of a world that will totally enrapture the reader.

Neverwhere is a paradoxically beautiful and perverse pairing of the Magic Kingdom and Hell. The twists, turns, and nebulous rooms and passageways of Gaiman's mythical world are reflected in the twists, turns, and ironies of his page-turning plot. Neverwhere is a book that will stay with you, especially when you are walking down the street and you find yourself wondering what lurks beneath your feet.