Review – Ballistic Kiss (Sandman Slim, Book 11) by Richard Kadrey (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 364 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: August 25, 2020
ASIN : B07X8HR8W9
Stand Alone or Series: 11th book in the Sandman Slim series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“As the battle between warring angels continues, James Stark is focused on seemingly simpler matters now that he’s resurfaced on earth: an invasion of ghosts. L.A.’s Little Cairo neighborhood has suddenly been overrun by violent spirits, and Thomas Abbott knows if anyone can figure out why they’ve appeared—and how to get rid of them—it’s Stark.
Armed with the Room of Thirteen Doors, Stark quickly learns that the answer may reach back to the 1970s and the unsolved murder of small-time actor, Chris Stein. As he begins to dig into the cold case, another area of Stark’s life takes an unexpected turn when he becomes entangled with Janet, a woman he saved during the High Plains Drifter zombie attack.
Janet’s brush with the living dead hasn’t quenched her thirst for danger. She’s an adrenaline junkie and a member of The Zero Lodge—a club that promises “there’s zero chance you’ll get out alive.” The Lodge attracts thrill seekers who flock to perilous events such as night walks through the LA Zoo—with its deadliest animals uncaged. Joining the lodge to be with Janet, Stark makes a pair of crucial discoveries that could decide the fate of LA and Heaven itself.
To prevent the Little Cairo haunting from consuming the city, Stark must piece together the connections between the Lodge and a missing angel last seen in a Hollywood porn palace. But while he may dispatch the ghosts, Stark knows that without his help, the bloody war in Heaven could rage forever.”
Series Info/Source: This is the eleventh book in the Sandman Slim series. There are twelve books planned in this series, with the 12th book, “King Bullet”, planned to publish in August 2021. I borrowed an ecopy of this book from my library.
Story (4/5): Sandman Slim/Stark is adjusting to being back alive and trying to reintegrate back into his group of friends. Then the Sub Rosa contacts Stark about some very unfriendly spirits taking over the Little Cairo area of LA. On top of this, Stark is dating Janet and Janet is part of a sort of thiller/suicide Lodge where the members partake of crazier and crazier deadly stunts. Are the two events intertwined somehow?
This book wasn’t quite as good as previous ones, the story just wanders a bit too much. Stark spends a lot of time feeling sorry for himself and about the fact he doesn’t know how to throw parties or grocery shop. In fact a good portion of the beginning of this book (way too much) was about him angsting about how to throw a party for his friends. Don’t get me wrong there are good parts here too, it just felt a bit inconsistent.
Characters (4/5): All of our old favorites are here, there are also some new characters. Janet is probably the main newish character and we meet some additional characters at The Lodge. The whole Candy/Stork/Candy’s girlfriend thing is getting a bit old. I also got really sick of all of Stark’s whining, I mean come on man buck up and get moving. I get that he’s been through a lot but he never struck me as a whiner before. There is a section of the story about Bridgette getting deported which was a bit random but I am going to give the benefit of the doubt that that ties into the final book somehow.
Setting (4/5): We are back in LA for this story, with journeys to different parts of the city. The setting is well described and really comes alive for the reader. I loved Little Cairo and the creepy underworld adjacent The Lodge.
Writing Style (4/5): This was one of the weaker Sandman Slim books IMHO. It’s almost like there was too much going on but not enough at the same time. Stark spends a lot of time sulking and being kind of bored and lost and in turn that makes the reader feel kind of bored and lost. Then there are a lot of plot lines going on about the ghosts, The Lodge, Bridgette, angels, etc. They all kind of came together in the end but the way it was done was pretty messy and, at points, a bit hard to follow.
Additionally, there was a lot more of a political tone to this book. Kadrey has Janet declare as a “they” and there are same sex marriages and lots of intersex relationships are discussed way too much. I don’t have issues with any of that but it was really dwelled on quite a bit in this book and I don’t really read this series to hash politics, it just took up a lot of page space that would have been more fun as mystery-solving action scenes.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this book but didn’t love it. It was honestly kind of a let down after the last book 10 in the series. I am hoping things are better in the final book, “King Bullet”. The story just wandered and Stark wandered around and whined, it was very unlike him. There was almost too much going on at points and at times it was just boring, so pacing was really inconsistent. We do get an intriguing storyline around vicious ghosts and a mysterious cult-like group but I wish more time had been spent on that and less on Stark’s moping.
