The Bush League Critic

This book was just what the doctor ordered: a hard-boiled, noir, detective-type story with a supernatural twist.

The blurb:

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 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.

Just a fun, fun bit of sleazy, gritty, noir fantasy. Kadrey hits a home run with Sandman Slim as well as the character of James Stark. It's a page-turner from beginning to end, and I can't wait until the next installment is released in October.

I was a little worried about it being over the top silly, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The prose is witty and sharp and the supernatural elements just seem so, well... natural. There's lots of dark humor, but it definitely fits the atmosphere and Stark's character.

Take Raymond Chandler's swift-paced, harboiled style; add Sam Peckinpah's penchant for blood; then throw a main character (who is a cross between a demonic Jack Reacher and Snake Plissken) into a war between Heaven and Hell that takes place in L.A. - and you'll have a pretty good idea what Sandman Slim is all about.

Harry Dresden wishes he was as cool as James Stark.