Supernatural fantasy's greatest anti-hero goes back to hell
In "Sandman Slim" Stark came back from hell for revenge.
In "Kill the Dead... read full description
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Jan 19, 2012
Nosocialize
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To read this at my website with pictures and in the dueling review format versus another book about hell navigate here: http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/201...
Aloha from Hell is the third book in the Sandman Slim series, but above all accounts it can be read stand alone. There are many references to the previous books, but important details are explained so you won’t be lost. The book follows Sandman Slim, a man built with a bad attitude stuck between heaven and hell,who acts as a More...
Aloha from Hell is the third book in the Sandman Slim series, but above all accounts it can be read stand alone. There are many references to the previous books, but important details are explained so you won’t be lost. The book follows Sandman Slim, a man built with a bad attitude stuck between heaven and hell,who acts as a More...
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Dec 07, 2011
Venus
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*Warning: May contain spoilers!*
This one was by far the best in the series. Unlike the other two books, there was not a single moment where I questioned my picking up the book.
So here we go again with James Stark and a new chapter of his story. There isn't much 'stage' time for his sort-of sidekicks Kasabian, Vidocq and Candy, though. They are present predominantly till mid-novel and then they are only mentioned here and there, while the plot mainly focuses on Stark, who, by the way, More...
This one was by far the best in the series. Unlike the other two books, there was not a single moment where I questioned my picking up the book.
So here we go again with James Stark and a new chapter of his story. There isn't much 'stage' time for his sort-of sidekicks Kasabian, Vidocq and Candy, though. They are present predominantly till mid-novel and then they are only mentioned here and there, while the plot mainly focuses on Stark, who, by the way, More...
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Feb 06, 2012
Michael
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What can I say, I was on a Kadrey kick.
I did not enjoy Aloha from Hell as much as I hoped I would. Part of this comes from my own expectations. I was looking forward to more interaction with the earthly (read: alive) characters, especially the relationship between Stark and Candy. While there is a little of this, a good deal of the book takes place after Stark return Downtown to once again exact revenge upon Mason, the current ruler of Hell.
All right, I get that Stark More...
I did not enjoy Aloha from Hell as much as I hoped I would. Part of this comes from my own expectations. I was looking forward to more interaction with the earthly (read: alive) characters, especially the relationship between Stark and Candy. While there is a little of this, a good deal of the book takes place after Stark return Downtown to once again exact revenge upon Mason, the current ruler of Hell.
All right, I get that Stark More...
Dec 06, 2011
Eric
rated it: 
Aloha From Hell is Richard Kadrey’s (@Richard_Kadrey) latest book in the Sandman Slim series (the first two being Sandman Slim and Kill the Dead). Kadrey’s mix of urban fantasy, hard boiled crime, and supernatural elements make for a fun read, but it’s Stark (or Sandman Slim, as he is known to the monsters of this world and the underworld), that really shines. How could a smart-ass, ass-kicking, “monster who kills monsters” not be fun to read about?
Attention: SPOILERS ahead. If they bo More...
Attention: SPOILERS ahead. If they bo More...
Nov 13, 2011
Mason
rated it:
I might have to read this again, because it went by so quickly. Which isn't to say it's too short (though perhaps it is), but more that it's a whirlwind, and a fun one at that. The third in the Sandman Slim series, by this point Kadrey is so comfortable with his characters that it all flows very smoothly. The story, that is -- things aren't smooth for the characters at all. I mean, when your main character kills himself (sort of) in order to get to Hell -- on purpose -- to get involved in the la
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Nov 09, 2011
Fangs for the Fantasy
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After reading Kill the Dead, I was really hoping that Aloha from Hell would redeem the story of Sandman Slim for me. It was certainly a better book than the second book in the series; however, that doesn't make this an exciting read at all. At best all I can say about this book is that it didn't bore me, but it certainly didn't excite me, or encourage me to read any other books in the series. I almost feel as though he is bored with his own series.
This entire story has been leading More...
This entire story has been leading More...
Nov 05, 2011
Sara
rated it:
I read the first two and enjoyed them, despite some editing issues.
But in this novel, there are construction issues, world building conflicts as well as editing problems.
Editing was the usual loose style that needs to be tightened. For example, reference is made in a conversation to something that was not actually part of the conversation. It probably probably referring to a line of dialog that was edited out, but it needed to be corrected in the entirety.
But those are issues More...
But in this novel, there are construction issues, world building conflicts as well as editing problems.
Editing was the usual loose style that needs to be tightened. For example, reference is made in a conversation to something that was not actually part of the conversation. It probably probably referring to a line of dialog that was edited out, but it needed to be corrected in the entirety.
But those are issues More...
Oct 16, 2011
J Edward
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After the hellish events of Kill the Dead, it’s understandable that Stark — also known as Sandman Slim — just wants to take it easy.
The Devil’s back in Heaven, his inner Angel’s behaving (mostly), and things are finally coming around with Candy the bloodthirsty monster (on the wagon, we hope). He’s not having to bust his ass as much anymore. It’s been so long since he killed someone he can’t even remember when it was, or why. Heck, even his dead girlfriend’s ghost is telling him to qui More...
The Devil’s back in Heaven, his inner Angel’s behaving (mostly), and things are finally coming around with Candy the bloodthirsty monster (on the wagon, we hope). He’s not having to bust his ass as much anymore. It’s been so long since he killed someone he can’t even remember when it was, or why. Heck, even his dead girlfriend’s ghost is telling him to qui More...
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Sep 02, 2011
Tracy
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I love the Sandman Slim books, I purely do. Richard Kadrey knows how to tell a story; his prose is as smooth as a 35 year old single malt, full of violence, cheerful vulgarity and extreme smart-assery. "Aloha from Hell" is no exception. It's a rough, funny novel with an awesome body count just like the first two.
In this third book of the series which picks up fairly soon after the end of the second book, Stark figures that killing all the zombies on earth should earn him a More...
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Jul 05, 2011
Sarah
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Sandman Slim is the man Mike Hammer wishes he could be. Slim is so hard-boiled he's practically stone at this point, and the baddest shut-your-mouth since Shaft graced the screen.
"Aloha From Hell" is the book you go to when you want a non-stop ride of snappy dialogue, gruesome characters, and L.A. the way we always knew it was deep down. Fresh from saving the Earth from High Plains Drifters (that's zombies to you uninitiated folks - and if you ARE uninitiated, go pick up t More...
"Aloha From Hell" is the book you go to when you want a non-stop ride of snappy dialogue, gruesome characters, and L.A. the way we always knew it was deep down. Fresh from saving the Earth from High Plains Drifters (that's zombies to you uninitiated folks - and if you ARE uninitiated, go pick up t More...
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Nov 02, 2011
Susan
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The Sandman Slim novels are always great fun - violent, dark, cynical fun. Aloha From Hell, the third novel in the series, ramps up the violence a bit, but also brings Sandman Slim into a slightly better place emotionally. Slim has discovered his true nature and is struggling not only with the ramifications of that discovery but also his growing attraction for Candy, a not-quite-human female who can not only handle Sandman Slim's violence, but even revel in it to a great degree. Slim feels a
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Dec 31, 2011
Chris
rated it:
This is the third in Kadrey's ongoing series about an undead demonic hitman with a heart of tarnished gold and a catchy nickname. It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer for grownups with expensive drug habits. Kadrey won't win any awards for his prose style; in particular, all his characters talk in the same voice, like postmillenial Americans. There isn't much character development, and his sometimes strained plot devices can move the story along like jumps between videogame cutscenes. But his combinati
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Jan 03, 2012
David
rated it:
I loved Sandman Slim and was a little disappointed in Kill the Dead because it lacked that je nais se quoi that made the first book so very much fun to read. The good news is that Kadrey reclaimed that certain something in this book, the third in the trilogy.
Aloha from Hell starts off with Stark still in LA, sharing a hotel room with Kasabian while the video store is rebuilt. When he's goaded into taking a job against his will, it starts him down the path to finally kill the man who More...
Aloha from Hell starts off with Stark still in LA, sharing a hotel room with Kasabian while the video store is rebuilt. When he's goaded into taking a job against his will, it starts him down the path to finally kill the man who More...
Nov 12, 2011
Kate Strawberry
rated it:
Well, the writing's not exactly Pulitzer quality, and the story has all the subtlety of a grenade launcher, but things get blown up, burned, shot, stabbed, filleted, and otherwise destroyed. Reading these books is just fun. It's sort of like watching an action movie; sure, there's some plot there, and it's probably exciting (I like the way Kadrey paints Heaven and Hell), but the real point is the explosions. (And actually, this series would make great movies. Start producing, Hollywood.)
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Oct 20, 2011
Contrarius
rated it:
Stark isn't a nice guy. He isn't polite, he isn't considerate, he doesn't play by the rules. He is continually pissed off, he goes through a LOT of destroyed clothing, he hates almost everyone, and he loves to steal cars.
What's not to like?
The Sandman Slim books aren't perfect, but author Richard Kadrey has managed to create a great character in James Stark. Stark repeatedly refers to himself as a monster, and he is an efficient killing machine -- yet he is also intensel More...
What's not to like?
The Sandman Slim books aren't perfect, but author Richard Kadrey has managed to create a great character in James Stark. Stark repeatedly refers to himself as a monster, and he is an efficient killing machine -- yet he is also intensel More...
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Aug 14, 2011
Sammy
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Sandman Slim is back, acting remarkably civilized. Its been weeks since he has killed anyone, much less in a really bloody manner.
Then he finds out that his long-lost love has been taken hostage from Heaven and pulled into Hell as a hostage of the war to take over Hell and all bets all off. The war of his ex-comrade to take over both Heaven and Hell has gotten to very very personal. And Slim will do anything - even go back to Hell - to stop it and save his lost love.
Kade More...
Then he finds out that his long-lost love has been taken hostage from Heaven and pulled into Hell as a hostage of the war to take over Hell and all bets all off. The war of his ex-comrade to take over both Heaven and Hell has gotten to very very personal. And Slim will do anything - even go back to Hell - to stop it and save his lost love.
Kade More...
Nov 19, 2011
Frankj
rated it:
Taken as a quasi-mythological pulp fiction story, it's a good way to pass a few days. Some repetition of words and phrases kind of stuck out as I came across them, and some of the pop culture references are kind of blunt - we know from the first two books who Stark/Sandman is - but then, maybe it's more than the author hitting his limits, and just furthers a depiction of the limits of the character.
*POSSIBLE SPOILER FOLLOWS*
As the main story arc has seemingly r More...
*POSSIBLE SPOILER FOLLOWS*
As the main story arc has seemingly r More...
Apr 07, 2011
Carol
rated it:
Experiencing Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim novels doesn't feel like reading; more like jumping onto a runaway carnival ride traveling at 110 miles per hour through a magically enhanced Hollywood's punk underground, with an impossibly cool smartass of a tour guide. In Aloha from Hell, investigating a demonic possession leads Stark - the half-angel magician also called Sandman Slim - to face his worst fear: a return trip to Hell. With the kidnapped soul of his murdered girlfriend Alice at stake, S
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Feb 10, 2012
Katie
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I really love this series. If you are looking for a great UF; look no further than Sandman Slim...I love the characters. I love Kas, Lucifer, Mustang Sally, Jack the Ripper, and especially Candy. I like that the story is angsty and full of action. Plus, all kinds of great quotes! "I'd bet the Pope's red shoes," is my favorite of this book. This installment has Sandman Slim going back to Hell to try and stop a war that will destroy both Heaven and Hell.... After all the dust is s
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Dec 18, 2011
Dorothy
rated it:
I'm on page 158 and very much enjoying 'Aloha from Hell', the 3rd installment in Richard Kadrey's 'Sandman Slim' series. Given my sensibilities, (borderline Nouveau Victorian) I really shouldn't like the Sandman Slim novels at all, but I love them. The books are told in the 1st person present tense. In the first novel, the hero, Stark has returned from the gladiatorial arenas of Hell to wreck vengeance on the former friend who sent him "Downtown" and murdered his girl through the arc
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Jan 11, 2012
Matt
rated it:
What scares the bogeyman that the bogeyman are afraid of? That's the question presented in this book.
What has impressed me about Kadrey's writing, and Aloha from Hell in particular, is the way that each book has noticeably improved upon the last as he became more comfortable with his writing style. Though I really enjoyed Sandman Slim, the quality from the first offering to this book is night and day. I really enjoyed the evolution of Stark's voice, from a somewhat cavemannish jack- More...
What has impressed me about Kadrey's writing, and Aloha from Hell in particular, is the way that each book has noticeably improved upon the last as he became more comfortable with his writing style. Though I really enjoyed Sandman Slim, the quality from the first offering to this book is night and day. I really enjoyed the evolution of Stark's voice, from a somewhat cavemannish jack- More...
Dec 13, 2011
Alex
rated it:
The concluding volume of the Sandman Slim trilogy is a series of anticlimaxes. Almost everything important happens off the page while Stark is busy getting from one place to another. More than any other book in the series, this is a travelogue concerned with a man on a relatively bland journey to a place that is confusingly described. How exactly does Hell converge with an unconscious vision of LA while the original Hell still consists in and of itself?
Don't ask this question, because More...
Don't ask this question, because More...
Jan 01, 2012
Erin
rated it:
Not as engaging as the other books in this series. The ending was a letdown...I can't say too much without spoiling it, but while I always knew hew would take that position, the 'departure' from his life was a surprising letdown.
Sandman Slim just didn't seem...well, like Sandman in this one. I didn't really feel a sense of his rage, anger, or any of the strings of emotions we've come to expect. Although, in this one, his emotions tend to be flatlined, mediocre, with an almost "I More...
Sandman Slim just didn't seem...well, like Sandman in this one. I didn't really feel a sense of his rage, anger, or any of the strings of emotions we've come to expect. Although, in this one, his emotions tend to be flatlined, mediocre, with an almost "I More...
Jan 18, 2012
Kevin
rated it:
OH man, I wanted this to be a 5 star book. I really did. This one is third in a series by Richard Kadrey. If you don't know about the Sandman then you must start with Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey. Like most series, the first is the best and the rest are trying to keep up with that first book.
I loved this book because it is filled with what Stephen Sullivan would call kickassitude. The humorous dialogue is perfectly on the edge of being over the top. The book is funny in a very dark More...
I loved this book because it is filled with what Stephen Sullivan would call kickassitude. The humorous dialogue is perfectly on the edge of being over the top. The book is funny in a very dark More...
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Oct 03, 2011
Karissa
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I got an advanced reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine Program. This is the third book in the Sandman Slim series by Kadrey. I have absolutely adored all of the Sandman Slim books; they have a grittiness to them that you don't find in many other books and are incredibly creative and interesting...not to mention absolutely hilarious at times.
Stark (Sandman Slim) is enjoying the peace that has come after he annihilated all of the zombies in the entire world (I know, Stark More...
Stark (Sandman Slim) is enjoying the peace that has come after he annihilated all of the zombies in the entire world (I know, Stark More...
Jan 12, 2012
Tabitha the Pabkins
rated it:
WARNING - There are SPOILERS in this review! Don't read it unless you really feel like reading a rant of poopy pants-ness.
I have to start out that I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, so this being book three I was expecting great things. I know some people will probably be shocked that I have such a low opinion of it.
The entire reading experience to me this time around was completely lackluster. The entry action scene of Stark and Vidoqc robbing a house More...
I have to start out that I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, so this being book three I was expecting great things. I know some people will probably be shocked that I have such a low opinion of it.
The entire reading experience to me this time around was completely lackluster. The entry action scene of Stark and Vidoqc robbing a house More...
Oct 25, 2011
Jason
rated it:
4.5 Stars
“When you're born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire. But it's not."
This has been one of the most enjoyable series to read for me, and I really was looking forward to reading this one. I love the small horror subgenre of Christian horror. Kadrey does a fabulous job at trying to bring as much real Christian religion into these fiction horror novels.
James Stark, also known as Sandman Slim is the ultimate antihero. He is aft More...
“When you're born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire. But it's not."
This has been one of the most enjoyable series to read for me, and I really was looking forward to reading this one. I love the small horror subgenre of Christian horror. Kadrey does a fabulous job at trying to bring as much real Christian religion into these fiction horror novels.
James Stark, also known as Sandman Slim is the ultimate antihero. He is aft More...
Nov 27, 2011
Jamie
rated it:
Done. Finally.
It hurts me to give a Sandman Slim novel a 3 star ranking. Kills. Me. I have been an avid supporter of this series since the first book, Sandman Slim, was published. I've always had a soft spot for Stark and the cast of quirky, dangerous characters Richard Kadrey has created.
Aloha From Hell begins with Stark being basically bored. He's returned from Hell, saved the world from zombies and renegade angels, and seen his arch nemesis go willingly into Hell. T More...
It hurts me to give a Sandman Slim novel a 3 star ranking. Kills. Me. I have been an avid supporter of this series since the first book, Sandman Slim, was published. I've always had a soft spot for Stark and the cast of quirky, dangerous characters Richard Kadrey has created.
Aloha From Hell begins with Stark being basically bored. He's returned from Hell, saved the world from zombies and renegade angels, and seen his arch nemesis go willingly into Hell. T More...
Feb 20, 2012
Shelley
rated it:
*Rating* 3.5
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Review*
James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, is bored to tears. Since returning from Hell eight months ago where he was held since he was 19 years old, Stark has gone on a one man mission of revenge (Sandman Slim) and then helped defeat the zombie hoards in Kill the Dead as well as allowing Lucifer to once become an Angel.
Stark, who considers himself to be an abomination since he is part angel or Nephilim, hasn't killed anythi More...
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Review*
James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, is bored to tears. Since returning from Hell eight months ago where he was held since he was 19 years old, Stark has gone on a one man mission of revenge (Sandman Slim) and then helped defeat the zombie hoards in Kill the Dead as well as allowing Lucifer to once become an Angel.
Stark, who considers himself to be an abomination since he is part angel or Nephilim, hasn't killed anythi More...
Jan 11, 2012
Brett
rated it:
Richard Kadrey hits another out of the park with Aloha From Hell, The 3rd Sandman Slim novel.
For a guy that was dragged downstairs to hell and spent 11 years fighting hellions, Slim has a hell (grin) of a sense of humor, although it is a tad bit dark.
In this novel Slim's murdered wife has been kidnapped out of Heaven and is being held captive by his enemy, the one who trapped him in hell, downstairs in the fiery pit. Plus Mason (bad guy) has decided to invade Heaven so Armageddon More...
For a guy that was dragged downstairs to hell and spent 11 years fighting hellions, Slim has a hell (grin) of a sense of humor, although it is a tad bit dark.
In this novel Slim's murdered wife has been kidnapped out of Heaven and is being held captive by his enemy, the one who trapped him in hell, downstairs in the fiery pit. Plus Mason (bad guy) has decided to invade Heaven so Armageddon More...
