Synopses & Reviews
When he was 19, James Stark was considered to be one of the greatest natural magicians, a reputation that got him demon-snatched and sent downtown — to Hell — where he survived as a gladiator, a sideshow freak entertaining Satan's fallen angels. That was 11 years ago.
Now, the hitman who goes only by Stark has escaped and is back in L.A. Armed with a fortune-telling coin, a black bone knife, and an infernal key, Stark is determined to destroy the magic circle — led by the conniving and powerful Mason Faim — that stole his life.
Though nearly everything has changed, one constant remains: his friend Vidocq, a 200-year-old Frenchman who has been keeping vigil for the young magician's return. But when Stark's first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head that belongs to the first of the circle, a sleazy video store owner named Kasabian, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than he counted on, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future....
Review
"If Simon R. Green wrote an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter, it would read much like Sandman Slim — violent, vivid, non-stop action of the supernatural kind. I couldn't put it down." Charlaine Harris, bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels
Review
"The best B movie I've read in at least twenty years. An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece, Sandman Slim swerves hell-bent through our culture's impacted gridlock of genres. It's like watching Sergio Leone and Clive Barker co-direct from a script by Jim Thompson and S. Clay Wilson." William Gibson
Review
"Nicotine and octane in equal parts might come close to the high-energy buzz from Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim. Crisp world building, recognizable and fully-realized characters, and a refreshingly unique storytelling style make for an absorbing read. Sandman Slim is my kind of hero." Kim Harrison
Review
"The most hard-boiled piece of supernatural fiction I've ever had the pleasure of reading...all confident and energetic and fresh and angry. I loved this book and all its screwed-up people." Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
“An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece.”
—William Gibson
“A sharp-edged urban fantasy, drenched in blood and cynicism, tipping its hat to Sam Peckinpah, Raymond Chandler, and the anti-heroes of Hong Kong cinema….A bravura performance.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“I couldnt put it down.”
—Charlaine Harris
Sandman Slim has arrived—a wild and weird, edge-of-your-seat supernatural roller-coaster rider that propels author Richard Kadrey to the forefront of the fantasy, thriller, and a host of other literary genres. This spellbinding, utterly remarkable tale of a vengeful magician/hitmans return from hell is part H.P. Lovecraft, part Christopher Moore, part Jim Butcher, and totally, unabashedly dark, twisted, and hilarious.
Video
About the Author
Richard Kadrey has published four novels, including Butcher Bird and Metrophage, and more than fifty stories. He has been immortalized as an action figure, and his short story "Goodbye Houston Street, Goodbye" was nominated for a British Science Fiction Association Award. A freelance writer and photographer, he lives in San Francisco. His dramatic, primarily fetishistic photography can be found at www.kaosbeautyklinik.com.