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Cover of Sandman Slim

Sandman Slim

416 pages

A whiskey-soaked, blood-spattered joyride through a grimy supernatural Los Angeles with a protagonist who literally crawled out of Hell.

What it feels like

Reading this book feels like being strapped into a muscle car with no brakes, careening through the darkest, grimiest alleys of a supernatural Los Angeles. It is a relentlessly propulsive, blood-soaked joyride that thrives on its own chaotic energy and pitch-black humor. The narrative voice is incredibly distinct, cynical, battered, and armed with a razor-sharp wit that cuts through the relentless violence and existential dread. You are immersed in a world that smells of sulfur, cheap whiskey, and stale cigarette smoke, guided by an antihero who is as likely to punch a problem as he is to mock it. It will absolutely delight readers who crave gritty, hardboiled urban fantasy that never takes itself too seriously but always delivers on visceral thrills.

Mood
  • grimy
  • chaotic
  • neon-lit
  • blood-soaked
  • frenetic
Tone
  • irreverent
  • cynical
  • hardboiled
  • darkly comedic
  • gritty
Pace
propulsive
Themes
quest for vengeance · reluctant redemption · urban decay · absurdity of existence · antiheroic survival
The writing
Punchy, visceral, and relentlessly profane, the sentences hit like a brass-knuckled fist.
The arc
The protagonist shifts from a state of pure, destructive vengeance to a begrudging, messy acceptance of his role in a chaotic universe.
Who it's for
Readers who love their urban fantasy soaked in whiskey, dripping with sarcasm, and starring deeply flawed, unkillable antiheroes.
Content notes
  • graphic violence
  • gore
  • profanity
  • substance abuse
  • torture

About the book

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

Description from Open Library.

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