Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey (5/5 stars)

I loved this book. But then I am a big fan of your classic down and dirty comics. I think if you like dark graphic novels you will dig this book.

Sandman Slim (or Jimmy if you want to piss him off) has just escaped from Hell. He is here to revenge his girlfriend and will stop at nothing to get the guys that did her in. And, hey, if he gets stuck in a plot to stop world destruction on the way to his main goal who's to say that he actually meant to save the world?

Sandman Slim is your typical down and dirty anti-hero. He does good deeds because he is stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has no intention of being a hero. He has a dark biting sense of wit, and this shows through in the number of over-the-top biting analogies he makes or phrases he tosses out. Almost every line he speaks sounds like it's jumping out of a comic book; so if you don't like this type of writing I would skip this book. I felt like I was wandering the dark streets of a dirtier Gotham City for parts of the book; at other times I was sure I had fallen into Simon Green's Nightside books.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The dry, dark sense of humor had me chuckling a number of times. Slim's gun-toting attitude was amusing as was his serial stealing of hot cars. Oh, yeah, and Slim is a super cool magician too, so don't forget that.

Slim was one of those characters that keeps getting beat to a pulp and then gets up and dusts himself off for some more; reminded me in some ways of both John Taylor (Nightside series) and Harry Dresden (Dresden Files). All of the characters in this book were quick and dirty types (a lot of over the top quotes thrown around like in the Nightside series). I particularly liked the Jade and the Doctor, as well as Slim's close alchemist friend.

This book was quick paced, action packed, and didn't pull any punches when it came to the gore involved. If you don't like to get down and dirty then don't read this book. Surprisingly there really wasn't any explicit sex, just violence galore.

The book wrapped up nicely, but there could be more books in the future featuring Sandman Slim and I certainly hope that there are.

I would recommend this book if you liked: The Nightside by Simon Green, Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Sandman by Neil Gaiman, or dark graphic novels (Batman, Sin City, etc.).