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catsluvcoffee 's review for:
Ballistic Kiss
by Richard Kadrey
Ballistic Kiss is the eleventh book in the Sandman Slim series. The series features a half-man, half-angel protagonist, James Stark, in a world filled with vampires, demons, and magic. Those of us wanting some Dresden file detective noir happily stumbled onto the first self-titled Sandman Slim book back in 2009.
Stark is quite an unconventional character. Being half-angel is only the start of it. He spent years in Hell, battling demons in gladiator pits. He's also a movie junkie, owning his own movie store, practically a relic these days. A lot of old Hollywood features in the SS series, fitting considering it's set in LA and you feel the culture through the writing. You would think being half-angel would mean that he's a handsome hero. You'd also be wrong. Stark is one of the most self-flagellating anti-heroes that you will meet in fiction, but at least does so with mostly humorous internal (and external for that matter) dialogue.
I just really struggle with Stark and his relationships. He's just so stunted emotionally that it's hard to commiserate with him during his woe-is-me moments. You spend so much time in his headspace that it wears thin pretty quickly. In this case, it's Janet with whom he's gone on a few friendly dates. Janet is non-binary and attempts to explain gender assumptions to Stark. Surprisingly, he's more accepting of it than I thought his character would be given his snarky ways and he spends the rest of the novel correcting himself with his pronouns. Janet is also the reason he ends up with The Zero Lodge, because who doesn't love playing red rover blindfolded in highway traffic.
It has been a while since I found myself in a Sandman Slim novel but it didn't take very long to immerse myself back into Stark's world. There was a lot to like about it. The Little Cairo ghostly infestation was an interesting side job but the real zinger here is The Zero Lodge. While I love paranormal detective noir and I understand that making your character flawed makes them more relatable, a "little less talk and a lot more action" is needed for me to love Sandman Slim.
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Stark is quite an unconventional character. Being half-angel is only the start of it. He spent years in Hell, battling demons in gladiator pits. He's also a movie junkie, owning his own movie store, practically a relic these days. A lot of old Hollywood features in the SS series, fitting considering it's set in LA and you feel the culture through the writing. You would think being half-angel would mean that he's a handsome hero. You'd also be wrong. Stark is one of the most self-flagellating anti-heroes that you will meet in fiction, but at least does so with mostly humorous internal (and external for that matter) dialogue.
I just really struggle with Stark and his relationships. He's just so stunted emotionally that it's hard to commiserate with him during his woe-is-me moments. You spend so much time in his headspace that it wears thin pretty quickly. In this case, it's Janet with whom he's gone on a few friendly dates. Janet is non-binary and attempts to explain gender assumptions to Stark. Surprisingly, he's more accepting of it than I thought his character would be given his snarky ways and he spends the rest of the novel correcting himself with his pronouns. Janet is also the reason he ends up with The Zero Lodge, because who doesn't love playing red rover blindfolded in highway traffic.
It has been a while since I found myself in a Sandman Slim novel but it didn't take very long to immerse myself back into Stark's world. There was a lot to like about it. The Little Cairo ghostly infestation was an interesting side job but the real zinger here is The Zero Lodge. While I love paranormal detective noir and I understand that making your character flawed makes them more relatable, a "little less talk and a lot more action" is needed for me to love Sandman Slim.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest