Ballistic Kiss

Ballistic Kiss
Richard Kadrey
HarperCollins Publisher
Harper Voyager
Publish Date 25 August 2020

About the Author:
Richard Kadrey is a San Francisco-based writer and photographer


About the Book:
Sandman Slim is back! And he's...a ghosthunter?  The Augur has Stark trying to exorcise Little Cairo before the ghosts can escape and destroy the city of L.A. On top of that, Samael has him looking for an AWOL angel in the hope she can help to end the war in Heaven.

All of Stark's Sub Rosa and mundane friends are back, with the addition of Janet, a gender-fluid donut shop worker whose life Stark saved during the invasion of the High Plains Drifters. Between Janet and his old girlfriend Candy, Samael, the Augur, and ghosts, Stark nearly has more than he can handle. AND there's The Zero Lodge, a questionable group that play blindfolded tag on the freeway, among other fun activities. Oh, and there's a murder from the 1970s to be solved as well...

This is the eleventh book in the Sandman Slim series, and I hope Mr Kadrey writes more. I was hooked on the first page of the first book, when James Stark wakes up — on fire! — back on Earth in Hollywood Forever cemetery, after ten years in Hell; he's looking for revenge on the coven that sent him "Downtown" all those years ago.

The series is written in first person from Stark's point of view, and I just can't help but see and hear Bruce Campbell in his Evil Dead days (only with more scars) when I read and re-read this series. Each book has enough plot and sub-plots to keep the pages turning, but not so many as to be confusing. There's tons of great dialogue and snappy one-liners.

Stark lives in L.A., and if one is familiar with area, it's easy to picture exactly where the action is taking place. The characters are very well written and believable, and encounter plenty of monsters and deities in impossible situations and wild locations.

Start from book one and read through Ballistic Kiss — or read Ballistic Kiss, then start with book one and read Ballistic Kiss again! I'm sure the series will become one of your favorite reads.

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