Review by Booklist Review
Human-angel crossbreed James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, who's rid the world of some nasty evils in his day, returns in a third horror noir. Approached to look into a botched exorcism the subject not only wasn't rid of his demons, he up and vanished Slim only grudgingly agrees to take the job. Soon he's smack-dab in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell, sparked by a seriously twisted homicidal maniac. Readers unfamiliar with Sandman Slim (2009) and Kill the Dead (2010) may at first feel a bit lost. As the yarn unwinds, though, Kadrey weaves in enough background and context for newcomers to pick up dangling threads. Kadrey's mixture of horror themes and noir patter is highly enjoyable, and the supporting players, who range from the dead to the partly dead to the undead, with various permutations in between, are an entertaining bunch. If a typical horror story requires the suspension of disbelief, a Kadrey novel requires the suspension of a good bit of sanity, too. Great stuff for those so inclined.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Compelling if cartoon-like ultra-violence and sometimes brilliantly metaphoric language drive Kadrey's third Sandman Slim contemporary noir fantasy (after 2010's Kill the Dead). Lucifer has returned to Heaven, leaving a power vacuum in Hell. Mason, the magician whom half-angelic antihero James Stark recently killed, is more than willing to step into the breach, and soon he's massing demonic forces to attack Heaven and possibly destroy the universe. Manipulating angels, demons, and the monstrous Kissi, Stark must head off a full-scale war, and if that means returning to Hell, he might as well do the Orpheus thing and rescue his dead girlfriend while he's there. Fittingly, perhaps, Hell turns out to look a lot like Stark's hometown, Los Angeles, on a very bad day. This installment feels a bit long at times, but its profane mixture of noir atmospherics, black humor, and nonstop action will please Kadrey's many fans. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
