Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

This has to be among the best books I've ever read. Its got some amazing characters (particularly the Marquis de Carabas) and a gripping plotline that keeps you guessing right till the very end. I loved the use of underground stations set as real places, i.e. Knightsbridge and Earl's Court. All in all this is a great dark thriller with the occasinal moments of comic genius that Gaiman is so good at.

If Clive Barker had written the Wizard of Oz it would have resembled this gripping dark fantasy. Richard Mayhew, a ordinary englishman sees a young girl bleeding in the streets of London.He rescues her and he takes a trip to her world which is London underneath where he and the girl, named Doors and her mysterious helper, marques de cabrais and a deadly lady bodyguard named Hunter must battle two of the most sinister baddies to ever be on the printed page: Croop and Valedemar. This novel is filled with scenes of wonder and terror and dark humor.