The Night Market is the third book in Jonathan Moore’s Triptych of novels set in San Francisco (after The Poison Artist and The Dark Room), and this one kind of blew my mind. Set in the near future, this SF noir mystery has a lot going for it. There is a very strong Blade-Runner feel to the setting in this book, with all the action being at night, or near dusk, constant rain, electric cars, areas of destruction and rubble adjacent to new extravagant edifices, LED postcard ads ("glowcards") littering the sidewalks and futuristic equipment used by the main character, Detective Ross Carver.

Ross and his partner, Cleve Jenner, are called to a very strange late-night crime scene where the body is covered in some kind of growing gray moss. FBI agents dressed in Hazmat arrive and that’s the last thing the detectives remember: something has erased their memories. Ross awakens days later with his new neighbor, Mia, at his side, with no memory of recent events, but with the knowledge that something is very, very wrong. I cannot write much more about his excellent mystery without giving too much away, but suffice it to say that it will leave you very unsettled, but with the feeling that you’ve been in the hands of a very creative and imaginative author. The books in this series can be read in any order, but I can recommend all three. Happy Reading!
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I love the hardboiled/noir tone of this book; it feels like a near future Raymond Chandler novel. I like the plot, too, despite not fully understanding the alternate realities/timelines (which perhaps is a function of my not having read the previous two books in the "series"). I would definitely read more by this author. Recommended for all libraries. ( )

It is partially mystery, partially science fiction, with a futuristic conspiracy theme that produces horrifying implications. The best I can say is that it was an entertaining read with likable characters that you can really care about, but the plot was very weird. I'm still not entirely sure what happened. ( )

Ross Carver is an inspector with the San Francisco police force, in a near future setting that finds most of the city without electricity, streets full of debris, and houses falling down. Ross awakens on a Sunday afternoon to find he is being cared for by a neighbor he barely knows, and not being able to remember what happened since his last work-related investigation on Thursday evening. Both he and his partner Jenner seem to be having some serious health issues, and as Ross's memories begin to slowly return, he remembers seeing a dead man covered with some kind of unknown substance that was eating his skin. And the neighbor Mia is of little help, only able to tell him that he was brought home by plainclothes officers. As the story progresses, Ross begins to suspect that Mia may know more than she had led him to believe.
This was a well-developed story, a gripping tale, and interesting characters, although I felt the romance that was thrown into the mix was totally unnecessary, and even a little too convenient. This was my first book by Jonathan Moore, and I will certainly consider reading others by him.
Thanks to Library Thing for providing me an audio copy of this book. ( )

I am unsure exactly what to say about Jonathan Moore's The Night Market. My feelings fluctuated from one extreme to the other while listening (I had the audio CD version) so have tried to base my rating on the feeling I have a couple days after finishing, which is largely positive even if somewhat ill at ease.

While I thought the narration was good (I think gritty stories need a gritty rather than a conversational voice) I think this is a book I would have preferred to read. In fact, I would have preferred paper to e-format. I like to pay attention to a book, whether written or audio form, so the extent of what I will do while listening is exercise, drive, maybe cleaning around the house. I found I wanted to sit and listen closely with this one and there were still times when I wanted to slow it down. Not the reading, it was clear and not rushed, but I wanted to digest some of it before going on but it becomes a pain to do that with audio unless you always want to break when the reading breaks.

There were, as others have mentioned, some confusing elements or at least things that might not causally have made sense. I do think they were largely ironed out by the end but I would like to actually read some parts to make things a little more clear in my mind. This is, very broadly speaking, about technology and its potential abuse, about people and their ability to be inhuman, yet also about the humanity that survives, if not in everyone, at least in some.

I would recommend this but I think I would suggest a print or ebook copy (I would opt for print). If you listen to a lot of books and have gotten used to following closely then I think the narration was good, so the audio version will be fine. I don't listen to that many books, maybe 5-7 of my about 150 books a year are audio books, so I haven't developed the listening acuity I think is needed for this book. The audio is divided into 5 minute tracks so there is actually ample opportunity to pause and reflect.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers. ( )