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Sandman Slim: A Novel (Sandman Slim, 1) Paperback – September 2, 2014
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“An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece.”
—William Gibson
“A sharp-edged urban fantasy, drenched in blood and cynicism, tipping its hat to Sam Peckinpah, Raymond Chandler, and the anti-heroes of Hong Kong cinema….A bravura performance.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“I couldn’t put it down.”
—Charlaine Harris
Sandman Slim has arrived—a wild and weird, edge-of-your-seat supernatural roller-coaster rider that propels author Richard Kadrey to the forefront of the fantasy, thriller, and a host of other literary genres. This spellbinding, utterly remarkable tale of a vengeful magician/hitman’s return from hell is part H.P. Lovecraft, part Christopher Moore, part Jim Butcher, and totally, unabashedly dark, twisted, and hilarious.
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Voyager
- Publication dateSeptember 2, 2014
- Dimensions1.02 x 5.18 x 6.94 inches
- ISBN-100061714356
- ISBN-13978-0061714351
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Editorial Reviews
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“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
“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
“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
“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
“Sarcastic, irreverent and ridiculously enjoyable riff on the Urban Fantasy genre. … a lot like a mosh pit -- rough, exuberant, unpredictable -- and a heck of a lot of fun.” — Miami Herald
“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
From the Back Cover
Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero
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.
About the Author
Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir books. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film. Some of his other books include The Wrong Dead Guy, The Everything Box, Metrophage, and Butcher Bird. He also writes the Vertigo comic Lucifer.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Voyager; Reissue edition (September 2, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061714356
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061714351
- Item Weight : 9.3 ounces
- Dimensions : 1.02 x 5.18 x 6.94 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #261,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,174 in Humorous Fantasy (Books)
- #6,865 in Fantasy Action & Adventure
- #9,373 in Paranormal & Urban Fantasy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir series. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film.
Some of Kadrey’s other books include The Dead Take the A Train (with Cassandra Khaw), The Pale House Devil, and Butcher Bird. His work has been nominated for both the BSFA and Locus awards.
Aside from books, Kadrey has written for film and comics, including Heavy Metal, Lucifer, and Hellblazer. Kadrey also makes music with the band, A Demon in Fun City.
Customer reviews
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
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I never give away any spoilers as I do not wish to encounter them myself (the old Golden Rule) but here is what I thought:
The premise of the book was occultist and interesting. There was a long period in the book when I did not know what to expect whereas once in a while it was very predictable. This was not too often and happens to the best novels sometimes. There was a point in which I had no idea how the parts of the story would be tied together but the author managed to do it (tip of the hat for bringing it together).
I almost did not finish this book as it did start a bit slower than what I like but it swiftly picked up the pace subsequently.
I found the character (the humanistic portion and nothing supra-physiological) likable and I found myself cheering him on sometimes in his quest. This novel is not perfect but I think it was the beginning of a series that will only get better. I am looking forward to starting the next in the series soon.
The biggest knock I had about it is how it felt like it sometimes toed the line between YA and Adult but in the end, it was a good read and listen.
It's not that this is a bad book. It's entertaining and filled with quite a few quotable passages (though these passages did often feel like they were more there to BE quotable than to serve the narrative). But, like I said, I cut my urban fantasy teeth on the good stuff and this comes up a bit weaksauce by comparison. It also has a somewhat wearying habit of repeating information that we'd already gone over, particularly regarding the mythology and backstory -- it's one thing if the next book in the series were to have a quick refresher to remind the reader of any salient points from the previous story, but when the *same* book feels compelled to tread the same ground again and again, it becomes a bit tiresome, no matter what new turn of phrase the narrator employs in the retelling.
Despite being a story about a man supposedly returned from Hell to get revenge on those who sent him there...he doesn't actually do much of that. There's a lot of meeting with people, a lot of shoot-outs and shouted threats, but in the end he actually does very little in the way of taking revenge into his own hands. He races into dangerous situations and then turns and runs just as quickly out of them once he's caused them to spiral out of control, and when the dust settles he's conveniently come out on top. While in the various flashbacks to Hell he usually takes the initiative in whatever he's doing (up to and including his escape), in his time on Earth he spends more time having things happen TO him than anything else. When he finally does get to the point, the ends are tied up all in a rush. Oh, and the "Sandman Slim" of the title? It's a nickname for the lead character, suddenly introduced 2/3 of the way in, and why THAT name (other than seemingly to ride Neil Gaiman's wave) is anyone's guess.
The book has neither highs nor lows. At no point did I find myself thrilled by Stark's apparent successes or dreading his potential defeats. At no point did I feel any sense of real danger or concern for any of the characters, none of whom have a very distinctive voice. They all talk kind of the same. If you dig it (which I did well enough), then it's a pleasant read for the most part. If you don't, then you're not going to be able to get through it.
One thing that stood out to me was a nagging inconsistency in how much Stark knows or understands about a world he's been separated from for eleven years. While the existence of BlackBerry smartphones and this thing called "the Internet" baffle him, he somehow knows enough about pop culture to take a dig at Harry Potter -- despite the fact that he would have been sent to Hell before or just after the first book's U.S. publication. These (to be fair, few) occasions of the author editorializing rather than letting it grow out of the character would take me out of the narrative.
As I said, it's definitely not Huston or Gaiman, and sometimes I found it frustrating to think of what they might have done with the same material. Nonetheless, if you enjoy irreverent romps through Abrahamic mythologies (as I do), you could certainly do worse than this one. Grab the Kindle sample and see if it appeals to you -- the book neither improves nor declines from there. I found it a quick read with some promising ideas and I'll probably get around to the second installment eventually to see if it gels a bit more, though I'm not overwhelmed with any desire to do so immediately.
And seriously folks, I'm not affiliated with the author or publisher in any way, but: if you liked Sandman Slim, do yourself a favor and pick up Already Dead . You won't regret it.
Top reviews from other countries
Original as all hell. Compelling characterization and chock full of action.
Refreshing break from the drearily derivative.









