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Sandman Slim: Stories (Sandman Slim Novels) [Hardcover]

Richard Kadrey (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: Aug 2009 | Series: Sandman Slim Novels (Book 1)

Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero in Sandman Slim, star of this gripping, gritty new series by Richard Kadrey

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.

Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Voyager (Aug 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780061714306
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061714306
  • ASIN: 0061714305
  • Product Dimensions: 18.9 x 14 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 742,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

“The best B movie I’ve read in at least twenty years. An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece, Sandman Slim swerves hell-bent through our culture’s impacted gridlock of genres…it’s like watching Sergio Leone and Clive Barker co-direct from a script by Jim Thompson and S. Clay Wilson.” William Gibson

“If Simon R. Green wrote an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter, it would read much like Sandman Slim – violent, vivid, non-stop action of the supernatural kind. I couldn’t put it down.” Charlaine Harris

“The most hard-boiled piece of supernatural fiction I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. … all confident and energetic and fresh and angry. I loved this book and all its screwed-up people.” Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

“Paced like greased lightning (watch out for friction burns on your turning finger), blend the movie-ish delights of tough guy noir and such smart-mouthgore-fests as “Reanimator” and “Army of Darkness”, seasoned by soupcons of Gaimanian romanticism and Koontzian sentiment.” Booklist

“Nicotine and octane in equal parts might come close to the high-energy buzz from Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim. Crisp world building, recognizable and fully-realized characters, and a refreshingly unique storytelling style make for an absorbing read. Sandman Slim is my kind of hero.” Kim Harrison

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Book Description

Escaped from Hell, Barred from Heaven, Guess that only leaves L.A.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars No More Heroes 17 Sep 2009
By Call me Sparky VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Another antihero hits the streets in the shape of Stark, a recent escapee from Hell.

Killed by jealous 'friends' he is back after 11 years trying to figure out why his ex-girlfriend is dead and at the same time plotting revenge on his murderers.

Without giving too much away, this could have been Urban Fantasy by the numbers - something which has affected the Dresden series recently.

It isn't though and Kadrey (who I had never heard of previously) has concoted a world that is familiar yet disturbing.

Strong prose, a tight plot and believable,fallible characters.

If you like Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman or Mike Carey, chances are you will power through this.

A good start to a new series.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Stomping supernatural romp (no Endless here, however) 28 July 2012
By Rowena Hoseason TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This is an interesting start to a new supernatural series. It's harder and darker than the typical modern `urban fantasy', exchanging everlasting love and swooning heroines for everlasting anguish, while demons are despatched with poise and prejudice and interestingly weird weapons of war.
The action takes place in modern American - indeed, some of the slanguage needed a quick translation on this side of the Pond. The hero returns after spending over a decade fighting hellions in the arena down below, swearing vengeance on the magicians who betrayed him. It all gets off to a great start when he decapitates one of his ex-friends, keeps him alive, and stores the body in a closet being tortured by a TV tuned to daytime programmes...
On the upside, this is an inventive tale with a vivid tone, plenty of action, a credibly constructed reality and an interesting protagonist. On the downside, he picks up a defenceless female apprentice in no time flat (enough with the girly apprentices, already), and my hackles didn't appreciate the blatant abuse of the 'sandman' tag. The name was utterly irrelevant to the character and it felt like a feeble attempt at getting the book listed in the right genre. Don't come here looking for Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Morpheus would wipe the floor with these guys without Goldie so much as cheeping.

Once I got over myself, however, I really enjoyed this opening chapter in what is plainly going to be an extended story arc involving the forces of heaven, hell and a bunch of bad guys. The dialogue is laugh-out-loud snappy in places, and one of the final scenes with Someone Important was a gem.... Read more ›
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Hell in LA 21 July 2012
By D. J. H. Thorn TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
There are hints in 'Sandman Slim' that Richard Kadrey is a fan of Werner Herzog's films. First, one of his characters, Kinski, appears to be named after the star of most of Herzog's films. Secondly, one of those films, 'Fitzcarraldo', is referenced during the novel. I mention this because Kadrey's novel seems to share Herzog's pessimistic view of humanity, although while the latter's work is melancholy, Kadrey's novel is a mix of action and gallows humour.

The title character, who is actually known as Stark for most of the book, comes across to me not so much a flawed hero as a villain with virtues. Sent to Hell while alive he escapes back to this world, seeking to destroy those who sent him there. Both he and his adversaries have magic powers and the nature of the battle is somewhat macabre. There are few characters in the story you would want to rub shoulders with; the innocent tend to be comprised of bystanders who are in the way and are therefore expendable. We are also frequently reminded that the love of Stark's life was killed before he went to Hell. This device comes across to me as an arbitrary means of persuading us to empathise with him. I think what is missing is the detail, what sort of character she was, what they shared and what he loved about her, rather than her just being dead.

For all that this is a decent novel, bolstered by the author's sense of humour. It has a cracking opening and there are several page-turning scenes. There are, however, several scenes which for me lack momentum. I usually read a book of this length in three days during a working week. This one took me twice as long. Though there was never any chance I wouldn't finish it, I put it down frequently when I didn't have to.

The book's premise seems original enough.... Read more ›
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Hellboy for adults. 17 May 2013
By Byron Evans
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
A truly gripping read, I could not put it down, Tarantino dialog with evil dead overture, excellently researched I can't wait to start Kill the Dead.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining 14 May 2013
By Brunneria
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Some of the one liners made me laugh out loud. I liked the writing style - fast paced, gritty and not at all self indulgent. Characters were not backward in criticising our hero, and he just shrugged, snarked back, or hit them.

This is an action hero, whose emotional fixation is on revenging the death of a girlfriend. The horrors of being a demon punchbag and torture victim for eleven years, seem to have left few consequences except a lot of physical scarring and 'low impulse control' (aka wanting to beat the cr*p out of anyone who annoys him). This is not a guy who questions himself or who is willing to take advice.

Strangely, this didn't annoy me. I found myself enjoying his rash blundering into trouble, the casual violence and serial car thefts. It struck me as very amusing that he preferred to steal cars than step through shadows (teleport), which would actually have been quicker.

Possibly the best bit was the moral ambiguity between the flexibility and humanity shown by the occupants of Hell, and the rabid fundamentalism of those on the side of the angels.

I struggled a little with the steady diet of violence and the plot roller coaster. I suppose I wanted a little down time, some change of pace. Full steam ahead for several hundred pages was like standing in a wind tunnel.

I'll be reading the second in the series out of plot curiosity and hoping for character development. I think if the hero doesn't change/grow/develop then I might not bother with vol III.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected and better because of it
I initially thought that this was going to be a cheap badly written dime novel. However it's a deeply cynical take on the heaven hell conflict with a good background story. Read more
Published 12 hours ago by Louis Mc
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent first book in the series
This is an excellent first book in the series, and I really enjoyed it.

What I find difficult to put my finger on is quite why I really like it ... Read more
Published 23 hours ago by Dr. Stephen Culshaw
5.0 out of 5 stars I finally read this book
After hearing people rave about this series for ages, I finally acquired a copy of this, and fell in love. It's a bit like a ballsier, dirtier, darker Dresden Files. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Monica
5.0 out of 5 stars Avenging Alice...urban fantasy with violence and lots of humour.
Meet Sandman Slim. The monster who kills monsters and a recent escapee from hell who is on the search for his girlfriend's killers back in Las Angeles. Read more
Published 1 day ago by BookBunny
1.0 out of 5 stars WHAT?
This is arrant nonsense. Full of idiot fantasies. Don't encourage this type of writing. Donate the price to a reliable charity, it will make you feel better.
Published 5 days ago by doing nothing but ageing
4.0 out of 5 stars solid fun read
This is a fun read, it kept me entertained and meant I'd finished reading it the day I started it. It is a high octane Dresden files esque that will stave off the boredom
Published 5 days ago by Paul Harasiwka
5.0 out of 5 stars Sandman Slim
A great start to a new urban fantasy series!

Action packed, imaginative, gritty and dark; though with some laugh-out-loud moments thrown in, 'Sandman Slim' is a great... Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. M. Cowan
5.0 out of 5 stars Just Genius ,Bible Bashing Genius
I don't think Richard Kadrey has much time for western religion as most people know it, The Sandman slim novels shake it up ,and then smash it apart with incredible ideas and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Zombieaddict1
5.0 out of 5 stars Very cool story and protagonist.
I really hope they make a major movie of this one. It's full of dark humor, excellent plot twists, supernatural characters, and the gritty underbelly of L.A.
Published 1 month ago by Klondike Pete
4.0 out of 5 stars Watch your back, the Sandman's coming
Here's a tale of a man back from hell and he's in search of vengance and boy does he start making a mess of it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Barry Bensdorp
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