Sandman Slim Synopsis: Life sucks and then you die. Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.
Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.
Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.– Goodreads
Sandman Slim Review
Richard Kadrey crafted an interesting main character in Sandman Slim. James Stark lead an interesting life, even before he was dragged to hell. Best described as magically powerful, mouthy as hell, and someone who thinks before he acts, he is not a likable character. He is, however, one that you can understand and sympathize with. The man was betrayed by the people he thought were his friends, literally put through hell, and then fought his way back.
He’s an asshat, but one you have to root for.
Kadrey’s Los Angeles is like his characters. Rude, crude, and gritty. The antagonists are irritating, and leave you with the overwhelming desire to smack them. Actually, that describes Sandman Slim most of the time, too. You just want to smack him after he wins. Pretty much the only two characters I didn’t want to hurt were Vidocq and Allegra.
It took me a while to get into this book. I’ve had it for over a year on Audible, and at one point I’d listened to twenty percent of it or so. I just didn’t hit the point where it grabbed me, so I’d moved on to more entertaining reads. However, I revisited it recently and this time around it caught and held my interest. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.
Overall, Sandman Slim is an entertaining read with a memorable cast of protagonists. Kadrey continues the adventures of Stark and company for a total of 8 books (at least published so far.) I must say, though, that whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the start to this series, I have no desire to read more in it. I will say, as a final note, that the scene with the girlfriend at the end is heart-wrenching. The author did an exceptional job in communicating that grief. Give it a try. You probably won’t regret it. Buy Sandman Slim (book 1) now on Amazon.
Title: Sandman Slim | Series: Sandman Slim | Author: Richard Kadrey (site) | Publisher: Harper Voyager | Pub. Date: 2009-7-1 | Pages: 388 | ISBN13: 9780061714306 | Genre: Urban Fantasy | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-6-8 | Source: Self-purchased book |
The whole series gets better and better. The stakes get higher and higher, and you learn to love the characters even when they are complete morons!
Interesting. I laughed at the morons thing. Cause, god, they are. Lol
Stark gets smarter…slowly 😛