Sandman Slim

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.

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!

Nice substitute when you need some new urban fantasy. Recommended for fans of the Dresden Files.

Supernatural action thriller with a noir-inspired main character who's been to hell and back and now wants revenge on those who sent him, as he puts it, Downtown. To add injury to insult, they also killed his woman.

The mythology and types of monsters suggest the Preacher graphic novels and Supernatural television show influence. As for Stark himself, I can imagine Jensen Ackles of Supernatural saying all of Stark's dialogue with all the tough-guy talk, the sarcasm, and so on. I also see a lot of the Preacher's Saint of Killers in Stark's characterization.

It's a cool genre and in some ways Sandman Slim is a lot of fun. An easy read that moves along at a fast pace; quite a page turner. It's just exciting enough to keep me wanting to know what's around the corner for Stark.

The execution doesn't thrill me quite as much as the concept. It's teleplay-ready, based on action sequences and expository dialogue (with occasional moments of smarty ass-ery from Stark and others). One plot point smashes into the next, often without rhyme or reason, just because the author needs it that way.

Oh, I know it's just for fun and not meant to be serious or life-changing, but I've seen writers balance thrills and spills with depth and development. (Felix Castor series excels at this.) I'm not getting much to think about with Sandman Slim.

All the supporting characters are NPC's that revolve around Stark. They only exist to 1) Hurt Stark, 2) Help Stark, or 3) Give Stark information while hurting or helping him (or sometimes flirting or exchanging insults with him).

The is a bit similar to how Harry Dresden began, including the noir style and immaturity of the character. I didn't love the Dresden Files at first either and but ended up getting attached and finding several gems in that series. This was an easy read so I may this series another try and see if the writing improved as it went along.

Wow. The compare and contrast between Sandman Slim and Felix Castor are fascinating. For instance, I think Castor is much better writing, but Slim is a better character.

If it weren't for how distracting, annoying, and damn itchy present tense style I am sure this would be one of my favorite books this year.

“If I learned anything Downtown, it's this: the only real difference between an enemy and a friend is the day of the week.”

I wasn't sure going into this book if I'd enjoy it or not, if we're being honest from the beginning. This book was featured in the book club I'm a part in, and I very nearly passed it up. I'm glad I stuck with it though!

Stark spent 11 years in Hell, escapes, and is now looking for revenge against the guy who put him there. Starting out from nothing he builds up a small mixed bag of friends, and together with stolen cars, guns, and a basically immortal body (mostly the immortal body part), he starts working towards an end goal that seems more complicated by the day.

This is very much a dark humor book. Lots of sarcasm, lots of violence, some low brow humor, and some moments where it feels like the main character has paused to mug for the camera and wait for canned laughter. If you can get past all that, there's surprising scenes of philosophy mixed in, where Stark contemplates good vs. evil, what makes monsters different than men, and the cost of vengeance. The characters, side and main alike, are all written convincingly, I think, and the settings all managed to be varied and interesting despite the book taking place (basically) in LA.

I'm glad I took the time to read this!

This is an excellent Modern Fantasy novel, and an excellent depiction of modern Noir. The Main Character functions like a foul-mouthed Noir detective, blundering his way through his problems with force and base cunning.
The setting is interesting. The characters are dark at face value, but complex when examined. The plot of this first book is a classic revenge story with several twists.

Simon R Green and Chuck Wendig Fans pay attention, read this series.

This was really cool. Definitely want to read more of the series.

I've never had any interest in urban fantasy, but I'd heard great things about Richard Kadrey. Good writing can make anything great, and this is some spectacular goddamned writing! I look forward to the rest of the series.

This was great. I might bump the rating up to 5 if the rest of the series proves to be as fun.

This really is almost an exact copy of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Or as close as Richard Kadrey could legally make it.

James Hadley Chase of Urban Fantasy. Too much verbosity but too little depth for it to convince to read the rest of the series. The hero is neither compelling nor deep enough to create a connection. Heaven & Hell are treated with too much simplicity. Would not have been a bad book but Dresden Files sets the bar very high in genre.

Great book... in need of a tv show.

My friend phoebe recommended this to me on friday as there was a .99 special for the ebook on amazon. I don't think I even got around to reading the synopsis, sorta just decided that since it was a recommendation and so cheap, why not. Especially after someone said Dresden (I have heard awesome things about the series, and loved the tv show)

I think this was my first urban fantasy novel. I found I couldn't put it down. I was 50% done before 24 hours was up. I finished the rest of the book today.

It had a lot of the god/heaven-hell mythology tied into it. Angels, Demons, Other things. I'm not really sure what to say about that, but I thought it was put together to form a good book. Even the minor characters seemed to enough depth to pull you in and like them (or hate them).

I've already picked up the next book and will get to it asap.

This book had me picturing a twisted mashup of Constantine, Sin City, and a really fun, dark, and surreal movie called Cemetary Man aka Dellamorte Dellamore (Starring Rupert Everett)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109592/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Still, demons and magic all wrapped up in a Noir version of L.A. ... yea it was a fun ride.