Killing Pretty (Sandman Slim Series #7)

by Richard Kadrey Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

Overview

Sandman Slim investigates Death's death in this hip, propulsive urban fantasy through a phantasmagoric LA rife with murder, mayhem, and magic.

James Stark has met his share of demons and angels, on earth and beyond. Now, he's come face to face with the one entity few care to meet: Death.

Someone has tried to kill Death-ripping the heart right out of him-or rather the body he's inhabiting. Death needs Sandman Slim's help: he believes anyone who can beat Lucifer and the old gods at their own game is the only one who can solve his murder.

Stark follows a sordid trail deep into LA's subterranean world, from vampire-infested nightclubs to talent agencies specializing in mad ghosts, from Weimar Republic mystical societies to sleazy supernatural underground fight and sex clubs. Along the way he meets a mysterious girl-distinguished by a pair of graveyard eyes-as badass as Slim: she happens to be the only person who ever outwitted Death. But escaping her demise has had dire consequences for the rest of the world . . . and a few others.

For years, Slim has been fighting cosmic forces bent on destroying Heaven, Hell, and Earth. This time, the battle is right here on the gritty streets of the City of Angels, where a very clever, very ballsy killer lies in wait.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

04/27/2015
Urban fantasy fans who place a premium on humor are most likely to enjoy Kadrey’s seventh Sandman Slim novel (after The Getaway God). Slim, aka James Stark, is one of the nephilim—half human, half angel—who’s working as a PI in Los Angeles. His powers are pretty impressive; before the book begins, he’d killed “a weasely fragment of God who, if he’d lived, would have ruined the universe.” That, understandably, has annoyed the angelic host, who joins a lengthy roster of Stark’s foes. Thwarting Stark’s hope of returning to more mundane cases, Kadrey gives him another daunting challenge: someone dragged Death into a human body and cut out his heart, killing him, and Stark’s boss, Julie Sola, wants him to find out whodunit. Julie hopes that finding Death’s killer will restore some normalcy, as after the assault “no one is dying anywhere.” There’s little sense of menace or looming darkness, but plenty of over-the-top entertainment. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown Ltd. (July)

From the Publisher

Kadrey’s done amazing work keeping one of literature’s great anti-heroes in adventures this long, and Killing Pretty proves that he isn’t slowing down.” — Cory Doctorow on KILLING PRETTY

“If your tastes trend to noir grit and L.A. cool, Slim is your man.” — Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on KILLING PRETTY

“Kadrey’s fantastic seventh Sandman Slim installment rivals the first.” — RT Booklovers Magazine, Top Pick on KILLING PRETTY

“Six years after stumbling into Sandman Slim’s seedy, seamy world, I’m still hungry to go back every time. To get lost in it. I have yet to be disappointed. But if this is escapism, it’s the most masochistic kind I can imagine.” — NPR Books on KILLING PRETTY

RT Booklovers Magazine

Kadrey’s fantastic seventh Sandman Slim installment rivals the first.

Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on KILLING PRETTY

If your tastes trend to noir grit and L.A. cool, Slim is your man.

Cory Doctorow on KILLING PRETTY

Kadrey’s done amazing work keeping one of literature’s great anti-heroes in adventures this long, and Killing Pretty proves that he isn’t slowing down.

NPR Books on KILLING PRETTY

Six years after stumbling into Sandman Slim’s seedy, seamy world, I’m still hungry to go back every time. To get lost in it. I have yet to be disappointed. But if this is escapism, it’s the most masochistic kind I can imagine.

Library Journal

06/15/2015
James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, is trying to go legit. After saving the universe again (in The Getaway God) he has taken a job with a former member of the Golden Vigil and is trying his hand at being a private detective. But Stark's life will never be normal, especially since he has Death sleeping in his storage room. It seems a neo-Nazi cult is trying to set up their own version of Death, and trapped the current Death in a mortal body. It's up to Stark to stop the group and put Death back where he belongs. VERDICT Even though his new boss is always asking Stark to walk the straight and narrow, series fans shouldn't fear that he's going soft. There's still plenty of the violence and mayhem that Stark attracts without even trying. [See Prepub Alert, 2/15/15.]—MM

JANUARY 2016 - AudioFile

In this seventh volume in the Sandman Slim series, protagonist James Stark finds himself in a metaphysical bind. Narrator MacLeod Andrews ably voices Stark's world-weariness. With diminished powers, the nephilim (half-human, half-angel) has to solve the mystery of who tried to kill Death, without getting murdered himself in the process. Aided by his demon paramour, Candy, and other associates, Stark follows the trail through the gory paranormal underworld of Los Angeles. Andrews produces an enticing cacophony of accents for an international cast, including a Germanic vampire, a Czech zombie hunter, and a timid witch. He brings life to the gritty backdrop of Stark's world, even though it's largely a violent realm of death. Andrews grabs listeners and propels them through this dazzling journey from Death to life to, well, death again. D.E.M. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173576576
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/28/2015
Series:	Sandman Slim Series , #7
Edition description:	Unabridged

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