Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell [Paperback]

Harry Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 1998

Brand new adventure of slippery Jim DiGriz, the SF superhero the TLS compared to James Bond and Flash Gordon and the Daily Telegraph, called the Monty Python of the spaceways. While our anti-hero is taking it easy on the resort planet Lussouso, his wife Angelina and her cavorting pals are at the temple ofEternal Truth, being bamboozled into believing that at last they can buy their way into heaven. When Angelina asks 1 pertinent question too many, Slippery Jim suddenly finds himself without a wife. Within the Temple of Eternal Truth lie the doors to Heaven and Hell - to find Angelina, Jim and his twin sons will have to break down those doors and explore the worlds behind them. In outer space, the devil makes work for idle hands.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a distant future, with human civilization spread across the stars, Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, has flourished, first as a classically noble outlaw, then on the side of the law as a member of the elite Special Corps. When his beloved wife, Angelina, vanishes in the Temple of Eternal Truth, both love and duty drive the Rat to find out what happened. Rescuing his wife is easy enough; solving the rest of the mystery requires the help of Angelina, both their sons, several other Special Corps operatives and a company of Space Marines (going into at least one battle armed with nothing but 20-pound salamis). The villain is one Justice Slakey, a physicist who has solved the secret of traveling among multiple universes and replicating himself, and who is using these new powers to create a transuranic element that stops time and thereby confers immortality. If the Rat's long-running adventures (begun in 1961, with The Stainless Steel Rat) had ever been intended to be more than lightweight entertainment, the adolescent sexism and casual acceptance of the romantic myth of the noble outlaw might have long since become offensive. But as it stands, the novel offers fast action, abundant (if sometimes forced) humor, swarms of weird concepts and, for fans of the Rat, a welcome return (after The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted, 1987) of what is probably Harrison's (King and Emperor, Forecasts, June 24) most popular series.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In the latest exploit of Slippery Jim DiGriz, well-known adventurer, bon vivant, criminal mastermind, and sometime upholder of the right (or at least his right), the Stainless Steel Rat (i.e., DiGriz) faces a foe deadlier and even more outrethan any he has faced before: the Powers of Darkness. When his beloved wife, Angelina, is foully kidnapped from a vacation planet, he, his son, and the usual collection of colorful cohorts must track her down, even unto Hell itself. Along the way, he gleefully battles assorted grim villains, vile powers, and, of course, the stodgy interference of more conventional forces of law and order. Fans of the Stainless Steel Rat will welcome this new chapter, the most outrageous yet, in Harrison's engaging and delightful saga. He has made this corner of the galaxy his own. Dennis Winters --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Millennium Paperbacks (December 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752817191
• ISBN-13: 978-0752817194
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,295,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Painfully Mediocre, May 29, 2002

By 

jrmspnc (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (Mass Market Paperback)

There is very little in the world worse than watching a favorite author write well below his potential. The four previous Stainless Steel Rat books I had read were all full of acerbic wit, tight action, and amazing (yet credible) escapes. This one is lacking in nearly every category. With every page, I was desperately hoping that Harrison would break out and regain his form. Alas, it was not to be.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The tanking of the series, June 23, 2002

By 

dfkap (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is what I consider the terminal end to the series. I've been a die-hard fan of Slippery Jim for around... two decades (and I'm only 26). This book, however, is a phenominal whiffle of bunk. I can't believe that the series has become this corny. It's terribly insulting that Mr. Harrison would do this to one of my most beloved literary memories. Not that I want to give away any spoilers, but I have one word for those of us that have already read the book... SAUSAGES!
So lets say that you don't believe me. Just have a look at the cover. That pretty much sums up the feel of this book. Corny. It made me irate for days.
I'd still like to recommend the first 7-8 books in the series to you folks, though.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell, March 11, 2000

By 

LLLOPY (Sanjose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (Mass Market Paperback)

It wasn't the best Stainless Steel Rat book I've read, but it was still pretty damn good!