The Neon Court by Kate Griffin

Synopsis From Back Cover:

A daimyo of the Neon Court is dead and all fingers point towards their ancient enemy - The Tribe.  And when magicians go to war, everyone loses.

But Mathew Swift has his own concerns.  Has has been summoned abruptly, body and soul, to a burning tower and to the dead body of Oda, warrior of The Order and known associate of Swift.  There's a hole in her heart and the symbol of the Midnight Mayor drawn in her own blood.  Except, she is still walking and talking and has a nasty habit of saying "we" when she means "I."

Now Swift faces the longest night of his life.  Lady Neon herself is coming to London and The Tribe is ready to fight.  Strange things stalk this night: a rumored "chosen one," a monster that burns out the eyes of its enemies, and a walking dead woman.  Swift must top a war, protect his city, and save his friend - if she'll stop trying to kill him long enough for him to try.

When I reviewed The Midnight Mayor, the previous book in the series, I promised myself that I would wait too long before I read this one.  Instead of keeping that promise, I think I waited even longer for this one.  Almost two years has passed since I wrote that review, and I wish I could say the wait was worth it.

I still love Matthew and the London of his world.  His is a London full of magic, but not the magic of nature and pixie dust.  His London is made up of a magical world that inhabits the cities, the grit and grim of urban life.  In his London, a weary traveler down on her luck, with sore feet and a broken heel, may find herself catching a bus that caters to those who have given up on getting to their destination.  It's a world were beggars and bag ladies have their own gods, and where neon light breathes out life to those that need it.  It's a world of old trying to keep up with the new, and failing most of the time.  It's city teeming with the magical undercurrents found in phone conversations, spray paint, and plastic bags.  It's a version of London I would love to live in, hell, give me and city like that and I would be happy.

My problem with the book, and I mean problem as in, I didn't love it as much as I did the first two books, but I still enjoyed it, was the pacing.  At times it moved at such a snail's pace, I found myself getting bored.  I don't think you would be surprised if I told you that I'm not used to being bored in Mathew's company.  But I'm not sure if that wasn't on purpose.  The entire book takes place over a really extended day, as in someone is not allowing the day to end, time is stopped.  And that's what most of the book feels like.  So ti's either a genius move on the author's part, or it was just slow paced all on it's own.

I'm still looking forward to the next book in the series, I just hope it doesn't take another two years before I get to it.