Devil Said Bang http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Devil-Said-Bang-Richard-Kadrey/9780007488100

By Richard Kadrey

About the Author

Richard Kadrey has published five novels, including Sandman Slim, 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.

Reviews

Praise for Sandman Slim: "The perfect escapist storyline ... side-splittingly funny. ... gruesome slapstick mixed with down-and-dirty Hammett-esque mayhem and double-dealing. ... If you've been hoping someone would bring the full-strength SoCal toxic waste to the urban fantasy game, then Sandman Slim is your poison." io9.com "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 on Sandman Slim "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 on Sandman Slim

The fourth volume (after Aloha from Hell) in Kadrey's saga featuring sarcastic antihero James Stark (aka Sandman Slim) is the most irreverent, darkly comedic, and downright cool installment to date. Stark, a hard-drinking, foul-mouthed "monster who kills monsters," isn't exactly enjoying his new gig as Lucifer. Although the role has some perks, like a bad-ass motorcycle and tough satanic armor, it also makes him the prime target for power-hungry denizens of Hell. After managing to get back to L.A. and the girl he left behind, Stark must somehow stop a ghost from unraveling reality while figuring out who he really is. Powered by Kadrey's twisted wit and distinctive narrative voice, this novel is replete with memorable lines, images, and pop culture references. While the existential and spiritual speculation isn't quite as strong as in earlier books, the action-packed and bombshell-laden blend of dark fantasy, crime fiction, and Hellish sitcom is utterly readable. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

James Stark, also known as Sandman Slim, is trying to break out of Hell-for the second time. This go-round, however, no one wants Stark to leave because he has become Hell's leader after killing Lucifer. Not everybody, however, is happy with the new regime, and Stark faces assassins and traitors wherever he goes. When he manages to return to Los Angeles, a place not too different from Hell, he realizes that a ghostly serial killer is threatening those he cares about. -VERDICT The fourth outing for Kadrey's antihero (Sandman Slim; Kill the Dead; Aloha from Hell) provides a never-ending supply of violence, mayhem, romance, and macabre humor that should please series fans. [Previewed in Kristi Chadwick's Genre Spotlight feature "Hungry for SF," LJ 8/12.-Ed.] (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.