Sandman Slim

I was recommended this book by some people over at a Reddit page known as Suggest Me A Book. So, first of all, thanks to those guys and gals for suggesting it to me. I asked for a modern-day urban fantasy story and they sure delivered!

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND SPOILERS

The best thing about this novel, in my humble opinion, is the character. He's well-fleshed out and really entertaining to read. He's a bit of a dick, but somehow likeable. However the author pulled that off, I'm not sure.

The side-characters are also suitably interesting and enjoyable to read. You've got an interesting variety of characters, from an immortal alchemist, to a fallen arch-angel, to something known as a Jade. I've heard of Jade's before, sure, but I always thought they were dragon-type things, not what's described in this book. I won't give to much away, but Candy, the Jade in this book, is pretty bad-ass.

There's a lot of world-building in this book. After all, it's the first book in a series of an alternative reality where things like angels, something called Kissi, Jades, Vampires, Magicians, and much more roam the earth. The author has managed to weave all sorts of bits of information about the world into the story, without any of it seeming info-dumpy or hard to keep up with.

I'm going to stop here, because I've already started the next book in the series. A) I keep getting confused between what was in book 1, and what I've already read in book 2, and don't want to spoil the second book. B) The book is calling me back, and I need to read it!

I'm not gonna lie: I loved the hell out of this book. (Pun intended.) I wish I could have given it 6 stars, or go back and adjust my other previous 5 star reviews down to 4's because this one set a new bar for me. It was a ton of fun to read. It grabbed me immediately and did a great job of balancing character history with running plot.