Sandman Slim

Sandman Slim (2009) Richard Kadrey

Stark has just gotten out of Hell. His former friends sent him there, but somehow he managed to survive, and now he has escaped and is looking for revenge.

That simple summation tells you about the story, but it is so much more than that simple synopsis. If you read Butcher Bird (and you really should) you’re familiar with Kadrey’s writing style–a cross between Simon R Green and Mike Carey with London replaced by LA.

Now that I think about, do you need more of a recommendation than that?

I wake up on a pile of smoldering garbage and leaves in the old Hollywood Forever cemetery behind the Paramount Studio lot on Melrose, though these last details don’t come to me until later. Right now all I know is that I’m back and the world and I’m on fire. My mind hasn’t quite kicked in yet, but my body knows enough to roll off the burning trash and to keep rolling until I can’t feel the heat anymore.

When I’m sure I’m out, I struggle back to my feet and shrug off my leather jacket. I run my hands over my lower back and legs, There’s no real pain and all I feel are a couple of blisters behind my knee and right calf. My jeans are a little crispy, but the heavy leather of my jacket protected my back. I’m not really burned, just singed and in shock. I probably haven’t been on the fire too long. But I’m lucky that way. Always have been. Otherwise, I might have crawled back into this world and ended up a charcoal briquette in my first five minutes home. And wouldn’t those black-hearted bastards down under have laughed when I ended up right back in Hell after slipping so sweetly out the back door?

Rating: 9/10

Published by Eos

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