The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar, #1)

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The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar #1)

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 1,981 ratings · 425 reviews

Bobby Dollar is an angel—a real one. He knows a lot about sin, and not just in his professional capacity as an advocate for souls caught between Heaven and Hell. Bobby’s wrestling with a few deadly sins of his own—pride, anger, even lust.

But his problems aren’t all his fault. Bobby can’t entirely trust his heavenly superiors, and he’s not too sure about any of his fellow...more

Hardcover, 406 pages

Published September 4th 2012 by DAW Hardcover (first published 2012)

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Sep 14, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-would-blurb

Back in 1996, I was in the middle of a creative crisis. I'd been working on The Name of the Wind for a couple of years, and I was consumed with doubt.

The problem? My book was long and complicated. "Am I wasting my time?" I thought, "Does anyone even publish long, complex fantasy series these days?"

Then I picked up Tad Williams' Dragonbone Chair. Apparently people *were* still publishing long, complicated fantasy trilogies.

This knowledge relaxed me, and I kept on writing.

I kept reading Tad Wil...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Experiment BL626 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, reviewed

CAUTION: Long Review

The Dirty Streets of Heaven was unoriginal and underwhelming. It was another urban fantasy about angels and demons, meaning I didn't expect the series to break new ground. Nonetheless, the countless flaws in the book underlined how much originality the urban fantasy lacked.

The World Building

+++ the twist

TDSH put a twist on the eternal war between Heaven and Hell. Violent confrontations are prohibited, instead angels and demons fight for human souls in a supernatural court of...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Amber rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, fantasy, nook

I've never heard angels swear so much. Then again I've never talked to an angel. They started off nice until the last quarter of the book. From page one I was laughing at Mr. Dollar and his thoughts. I thought the writing was well done - until a little after halfway through. It was odd I went from LOVING this book (10 stars) to "I can't wait until it's done" (1 star) super quickly.

I'm not sure if it was because I realized I wasn't going to learn anything about anyone in the book that wasn't nam...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Stephen Ormsby rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a great book so far. I expected another fantasy from Tad Williams but this so different. Angels and demons and lost souls. Very entertaining so far.

Now I have finished and I can say that this book is superb. I love the concepts of Hell and Heaven with each of us being judged as soon as we leave the mortal coil. Poor Bobby gets himself into some mischief though, don't he?

Well worth looking at. Tad, you've done it again. Oh, and more please, Sir.

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Nov 14, 2012 Pedro António rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sword-and-laser-book-club, fantasy, 2012-read

(2.5 stars rounded up to 3)

I'll start by saying this is my first novel by Tad Williams. The Dirty Streets of Heaven (TDSOH for short)is this month's book for the Sword and Laser bookclub and having heard good things about the author I decided to give it a shot.

Spoilers will be kept at a minimum as the review is aimed at those who have yet to read the book and want the opinion of someone who's new to Williams' work.

The prologue is full of action, which led me to believe it was setting the tone fo...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Joseph Keys rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've never read a Tad Williams before, and at the risk of sounding harsh on the opener, I don't think I'll pick up another. But thats not to that The Dirty Streets of Heaven was a bad read.

In the opening scene I was pulled in Bobby Dollar's apparent nonchalant attitude to fighting demonic creatures. This was appealing because it seemed that this heaven and hell based urban fantasy wasn't going to go preachy on me, and you know what? It didn't. You don't need to believe in this myths in the slig...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Dylan Rostek rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review is somewhat biased.

I absolutely love Tad Williams. His stories and the way he writes is amazing in my opinion.

That being said this book isn't written like anything else I've read of his.

I'm going to skip the synopsis as you can read that on your own (that and I finished this a little while ago and am working on distant memories.) I will, however, expand upon what the book is and why that makes it different than most Tad Williams.

Tad Williams tells amazingly complex and woven stories...more This review is somewhat biased.

I absolutely love Tad Williams. His stories and the way he writes is amazing in my opinion.

That being said this book isn't written like anything else I've read of his.

I'm going to skip the synopsis as you can read that on your own (that and I finished this a little while ago and am working on distant memories.) I will, however, expand upon what the book is and why that makes it different than most Tad Williams.

Tad Williams tells amazingly complex and woven stories throughout his multi-volume books. His previous endeavors (The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the Otherland tetralogy, and the Shadowmarch tetralogy,) are truly each one long story spread among multiple volumes. The single books barely tie up anything and instead leave the readers with a plethora of unanswered questions and simply stop at a lulled point in the story. This book, while part of a trilogy, isn't so harsh on the ending. There are still unanswered questions relating to the overall story but it feels like more of an ending than he usually does. Where it doesn't differ is in the fact that it is still an engrossing enjoyable story that never disappoints.

Another aspect of Tad Williams that makes him one of my favorite writers is his actual writing. He has an amazing ability to grow characters and get you invested in them. In most books this consists of hundreds of pages of growing the story and coming to know the characters by a slow, and to some, tedious opening. In The Dirty Streets of Heaven his character development is just as good but you aren't giving the long slow opening where you watch the character in order to get to know them; you don't have to, the character already knows themselves and just tells you what they think and feel (albeit this is somewhat skewed as what we think of ourselves isn't always our true nature, but we learn about the character through this aspect as well.) How does the character tell us? Well that leads to my next point of difference between this and other William's works.

One of my favorite things about Williams is his writing style. He has a great talent of making believable dialog full of slang and realistic speech yet his narration is incredibly precise in grammar and description and can borderline on prose, even surpassing that border at times, in the beauty of his words. This book offers plenty of the first and a lot less of the second, but it works fantastically. The story strays from his usual medieval-esque fantasy and sci-fi writings and is easily a modern day Noir mystery (only containing angels and demons, an intriguing twist,) and in staying with the Noir vain is narrated in first person. because of this the narration has to stay true to the voice of Bobby Dollar and it does this well. This doesn't mean there isn't any prose and beauty, Dollar has that side to him, but mostly it gives the story a grittier more intense feel that adds to the pacing and excitement of the tale and adds a new level to both William's writing and his ability to develop character.

If you're a fan of Tad Williams expect something different and yet very familiar but know that you won't be disappointed in the least. If you're new to Williams this is a great place to start. It's shorter and has a much faster pace than most of his works but still stands up as another great addition to his already stellar work.(less)

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Mar 23, 2013 Jamie Revell rated it 5 of 5 stars

A noir urban fantasy tale about an angel working as a defence lawyer for the souls of the dead, this is a pretty original concept. Not entirely without parallels, of course (what is?), but even when one thinks of Dogma, In Nomine, or Dead Like Me, none of those are really quite the same thing. Of course, gritty urban fantasy is hardly new, but this is an original touch on it none the less (at least to me).

It reads quite a lot like a private detective novel. Technically, the hero isn't one, but h...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Nathan Strickland rated it 1 of 5 stars

Rarely have I wanted so badly to like a book and found myself unable to do so. Tad Williams is much, much, much better than this drek. I can only imagine that he very much needed some money, or his kids got into an expensive university or something. Anything. Please.

This reads like something Jim Butcher would have written when suffering from a bout of severe constipation. The protagonist is a sloppy Raymond Chandler type who gets all tied up trying to explain his past and his job, but has no tro...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Melissa Proffitt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, urban-fantasy, mystery, detective-stories

I have a hard time reviewing this because I read it as an audiobook, a format I don't usually use, and it turns out to be a very different experience from a printed book. It's a good hardboiled detective novel masquerading as urban fantasy, a term I use loosely just because it's about angels and demons and set in a sort of run-down city. Bobby Dollar (Doloriel? Dolariel? This is the problem with audiobooks; you never know how to spell stuff) is an angelic advocate--I liked this part very much. P...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Maurinejt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tad Williams and I go back a ways. Well, not personally, but certainly as author/reader. I have struggled with him but I try him every so often. In his fantasy series, obtusely entitled Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, I wanted to like the first two books more than I actually did, though I enjoyed the last one, To Green Angel Tower. Otherland began as one of the most innovative science fiction series I have EVER read, but it was one book more than needed for the actual plot (and the books were 800+ pag...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Urban fantasy fans who like a wise-cracking hero in a noir world

Williams plunges the reader into a plot that unfolds two mysteries—who is stealing the souls of the newly dead and why so many people are out to get Bobby Dollar. Bobby is an angel who inhabits a human body and advocates for souls to get into heaven. He strives to outsmart the opposition, literally the lawyers from hell. One of his jobs goes wrong when a newly released soul disappears. This event alarms both sides because it deprives them of their population. Bobby may not survive his search for...more

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Dec 14, 2012 M.D. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

This is the first in a trilogy about a "working" angel named Bobby Dollar (angelic name Doloriel) who is an advocate for departing souls against hellish representatives. But things go quickly askew: he's stuck with an advocate-in-training he doesn't trust, he lusts after a beautiful demon, the Countess of Cold Hands, souls are disappearing before they get judged, and a monster older than death is chasing after him.

Dirty Streets is a gritty, sardonic novel as entertaining as reflexive. It's not a...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Wesley Edmunds rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams takes an interesting spin on the fantastical noir story. With a very Good Omens vibe, our story introduces us to the intrepid advocate angel Bobby Dollar who, when not trying to save your eternal soul from Hell, has a bit of trouble believing everything his superiors in Heaven say. And when souls start disappearing leaving both Heaven and Hell in a confused uproar, he finds himself caught in an intrigue wrought power struggle between the dark and the l...more The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams takes an interesting spin on the fantastical noir story. With a very Good Omens vibe, our story introduces us to the intrepid advocate angel Bobby Dollar who, when not trying to save your eternal soul from Hell, has a bit of trouble believing everything his superiors in Heaven say. And when souls start disappearing leaving both Heaven and Hell in a confused uproar, he finds himself caught in an intrigue wrought power struggle between the dark and the light. Bobby D will have to solve the mystery on his own if he is to survive and, oddly enough, the only person that he seems to be able to trust is a demon.

There is a really great angle on the ideas of Heaven and Hell in this book, along with the respective roles of the denizens of both. The underlying mystery kept me turning pages all the way through and the writing had the quality that you would expect a name like Tad Williams to bring to a title. There were a couple moments of eye rolling at some overly (in my opinion) cliched material, but they were easily chuckled off in the irreverent vibe of the rest of the book.

Tad also plays the whole Heaven/Hell thing refreshingly straight and I think this book can be appreciated regardless of your personal beliefs. In this imagining, you get an advocate to fight for your soul regardless of your beliefs, and what you believed in life really doesn't matter in death. It's the advocate's job to get your soul to Heaven and it beats the alternative. This leads to some great theological banter around the various belief systems here on Earth peppered throughout the novel.

In closing, Tad Williams provides an enjoyable theological twist on the traditional gumshoe-noir tale. He also does so without really stepping on the toes of any belief system (or maybe all of them equally), so don't let the theme deter you from reading a great book. If you like it, keep your eyes peeled for the release of the sequels Happy Hour in Hell and Sleeping Late on Judgment Day. I know I will!

4/5*(less)

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Nov 11, 2012 Gwen Nicodemus rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Dirty Streets of Heaven is the Sword and Laser book of the month for November 2012. I watched the introductory episode of S&L for the book and it sounded good. My local library didn't have the book, so I thought about it all day and finally decided to buy it.

It was okay, but it the story wasn't as good as I was anticipating.

Firstly, it was long. Normally, I like long books, but I didn't feel like there was enough forward movement in the book to justify the length. It had a lot of fight s...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Robert H rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite different from the other Tad Williams books I've read, notably the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, as The Dirty Streets of Heaven is essentially urban fantasy. The book focuses on the story of Bobby Dollar, the angel Doloriel, who is an advocate for the recently deceased in the decision as to whether they will go to heaven or hell following their death. Told completely from the first person perspective, the story quickly gets things going with a dead soul being missing when it comes to...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Yvonne Boag rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, supernatural

When someone dies and the spirit has just left the body, two advocates show up, one from heaven and one from hell to argue over that persons soul. They go before a judge and bring up everything in that person's life and the judge decides whether that soul goes to heaven, hell or purgatory. Bobby Dollar is an advocate on the side of heaven, an angel. He also swears, drinks too much and regrets actions the night before that land him in someone else's bed. He questions the status quo... a lot, but...more

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Oct 29, 2012 M Tat rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am consistently curious when Tad Williams comes out with a new novel, much less a new series. One never knows which way he's going to go, or what motivated him to write along a theme, etc.

Hooked by Otherland, I've read all of Tad's works, and know that as context for this review.

It's a fast read, truly, and I can appreciate that. Some of the time I'm looking for a novel that I'm going to ride along for the story, but that I don't necessarily want to submerge myself in the normally heavy analyt...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Eric Means rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I was distinctly underwhelmed, to be honest. I loved The Dragonbone Chair and the rest of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and have read and reread it over the years. The City of Golden Shadow and the rest of the Otherland series was likewise extensive, inventive, and well-developed.

DSOH, in comparison, feels as if Tad Williams dashed off a (relatively) short story with little to no editing in order to meet a contractual deadline or something. Some of the prose is just flat out bad (my least favorite l...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Matt Gilliard rated it 4 of 5 stars

I covet review copies. As a fledgling blogger, I had dreams about boxes of new releases arriving at my house free of charge of ARC's cluttering my already full bookshelves. Well reality and dreams rarely have much in common, and I quickly learned that it takes quite a while to build a reputation and the contacts necessary to start receiving books to review from the publisher. So I soldiered on, read the books I could afford and posted my thoughts. It's been great fun and rewarding to get to know...more I covet review copies. As a fledgling blogger, I had dreams about boxes of new releases arriving at my house free of charge of ARC's cluttering my already full bookshelves. Well reality and dreams rarely have much in common, and I quickly learned that it takes quite a while to build a reputation and the contacts necessary to start receiving books to review from the publisher. So I soldiered on, read the books I could afford and posted my thoughts. It's been great fun and rewarding to get to know some of the authors that I admire and to begin to be a part of the community of bloggers and reviewers. A few weeks back, I was shocked to find a message from Tad Williams asking to send me a review copy of his newest book. Tad wrote one of the first epic fantasy novels I ever read, The Dragonbone Chair and was instrumental in cementing my love for the genre. But I must confess, everything I read of Tad's post To Green Angel Tower left me cold, and I eventually stopped reading him. Some of that was my own personal distaste for anything even remotely sci-fi (Don't worry, I out grew that) which made his multi-volume Otherland series something I just wasn't interested in. I read War of the Flowers as well, but it didn't gel for me either. When I first heard about the premise of The Dirty Streets of Heaven with it's earthbound angels serving as celestial attorneys for the recently departed, I was intrigued. It sounded fresh while similar to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, a series that I burned through like a crack addict a few years back. But I was unsure about it, having had mixed opinions on Williams' work. So I purchased other books, promising myself I'd check reviews and pick it up later if they were favorable. Tad's message promising a review copy of course moved his novel to next on the pile.

Life got in the way a bit, and it took me a little longer to finish the book than I would have liked, but I'm so glad Tad sent me that message. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is a must read for all fans of Urban Fantasy, especially fans of Harry Dresden. Williams combines a startlingly fresh concept and a relatable, yet flawed protagonist and then surrounds him with a supporting cast of offbeat misfits in typical Tad Williams style. Top it all off with gun-battles, car chases, celestial politics, suspicion and frequent flirtation with spiritual philosophy and you have a definite A-list entry into the urban fantasy milieu.

The Dirty Streets of Heaven follows the story of Doloriel, known to all but his heavenly employers as Bobby Dollar. Dollar is an angel, inhabiting a human body and serving the Most High as an advocate, arguing against the representatives of Hell to decide whether souls ascend to Heaven or find themselves in eternal torment. When a respected citizen of San Judas unexpectedly commits suicide, Bobby is assigned to be the man's advocate. What seems to be a fairly straightforward case, quickly becomes a deadly mystery with Bobby at its center. The man's soul is missing, and neither Bobby's superiors in heaven or his demonic adversaries know where it has gone or why. And this is not the last soul to vanish, raising the stakes all the more. Add in an age old, nearly unkillable monstrosity that is suddenly stalking our hero for reasons unknown and Bobby has his hands more than full.

One of the strengths of The Dirty Streets of Heaven is the voice of its protagonist. Considering that any urban fantasy story with a male protagonist is going to face the unavoidable comparison to the 800-pound gorilla of the genre, Harry Dresden, I think Williams has something special in Bobby Dollar. Dollar is at once everything we expect; sarcastic, a ladies man, but unable to form any lasting bonds with anyone of the opposite sex. But he's an angel which comes with its own set of expectations, and Bobby meets none of them. He has no wings or flaming sword, would rather hang out with his fellow advocates at the bar than do any actual work, and is openly critical of his heavenly masters. Oh and all of those things that make him a typical urban fantasy hero don't fit very well either. For an angel, Dollar seems, well, rather weak. He battles demons with wits, fists, and bullets. No excessive displays of heavenly might, or smiting the souls of the wicked going on here. At first description, it may seem dull, but it is the secret to the character's success. Bobby's resemblance to the reader, his humanity, is what makes him such a remarkable protagonist and Williams never shies away from it.

Williams also populates the story with a memorable supporting cast. Standouts include, a chronically Caucasian who talks like a gangster rapper and desperately wants to be Dollar's wingman (no pun intended, I promise), a were-pig who can only carry on a conversation while in porcine form, who serves as the intel-specialist in the investigation, and Sam, a fellow advocate who has shares a surprising history with our protagonist. But the breakout star is Caz, a demoness who serves as Bobby's principle love interest. She steals every scene she's in with mercurial moods and ferocity, but Williams wisely adds surprising depth by fleshing out her back story, making her just as human as Bobby. Some readers may be bothered by the sudden change in her perceived character after this revelation, saying it weakens her as a character, but I disagree. I found her more believable and sympathetic afterwards, as I have known many women who have responded in similar fashion. The seemingly doomed romance between angel and demon seems to be here to stay and I am looking forward to more of Caz in the projected sequels.

The world building that was such a integral part of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn may seem to be missing in The Dirty Streets of Heaven, but I would say that Williams' has elected to paint this setting in more subdued strokes here. Heaven, like the angels, are not what one might expect. Sure everything is full of radiance and happy feelings, but the resemblance to corporate hierarchy in the day to day operations of Heaven may be jarring to some readers. This is not the Heaven that religion promises, especially since most of the rank and file inhabitants seem more like ghosts that have drank liberally of the celestial Kool-Aid. Williams; Heaven is subversive and definitely prompts more disturbing questions than anything else in the novel. There is a sense that there are leviathans swimming just below the surface of Bobby's home away from home. Williams seems content to leave almost all the specifics of heaven to our imagination, through the fact that Bobby's memories of Heaven are misty and vague whenever he returns to Earth.

The pacing is fairly standard for an urban fantasy novel, with short chapters that propel us along with plenty of surprises and problems to distract Bobby from his task to solve the mystery of the missing souls. There is paranoia and suspicion a aplenty, and while I won't say I didn't see some of the revelations coming, I was never disappointed by the results. Bobby seems poised for many more adventures, and there are just enough loose plot threads left dangling that I need to know the answers. Much like the Dresden Files, I feel that the story will only become more complex, and the world more detailed as we follow each subsequent adventure. Williams has the makings of series that could challenge the seeming supremacy of Butcher's eponymous hero. More the merrier, indeed.

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Sep 27, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I decided to read this because Patrick Rothfuss (*squee*) recommended it on his blog. Although I've been aware of Tad Williams for years, I never got around to reading any of them. Until now. Although I enjoyed this book it was like...to use a metaphor, it was like taking a walk with breathtaking views and scenery, but there's a rock in my shoe the whole way. Something was bothering me about the story, and I finally figured out what it was: This is urban fantasy, and for me, urban fantasy always...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Toby rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a departure for Tad, it's Fantasy sure, Urban Fantasy even, but not like War of the Flowers, I don't like Urban Fantasy but WOTF was good, this though, this is something else, a Noir-esque thriller, there may even have been a rooftop show down at one point but the difference here is our narrator is an angel, as are most of his friends. Everyone else appears to be a demon. The Angels drink more though...

After the slightly disappointing Shadowmarch series (nothing wrong with the writing, j...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Artesia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, religion, part-of-series, noir, male-wish-fulfillment, humor, demons, angels

3,5 stars. While entertaining and humorous, this novel isn't original by any means, full of clichés and two-dimensional characters. Basically, it's all you can eat trope buffet, with both UF and noir tropes. I'm still not sure whether it was intentional on the author's part or not.

Bobby Dollar, angel advocate and his merry band of misfit colleagues work on defending newly departed souls from going to hell. As every noir-ish protagonist, Bobby doesn't trust his bosses, and falls for the woman wh...more 3,5 stars. While entertaining and humorous, this novel isn't original by any means, full of clichés and two-dimensional characters. Basically, it's all you can eat trope buffet, with both UF and noir tropes. I'm still not sure whether it was intentional on the author's part or not.

Bobby Dollar, angel advocate and his merry band of misfit colleagues work on defending newly departed souls from going to hell. As every noir-ish protagonist, Bobby doesn't trust his bosses, and falls for the woman which is definitely bad for him. Also our hero is a bit of conspiracy nut, but in the context of this novel he is probably right. So, Bobby finds himself in a middle of a (surprise!) nefarious plot, in which both heaven and hell are involved.

Author's vision of Heaven must be one of the most clichéd that I've ever read or seen, reminded me of that Robbin Williams movie, "What Dreams May Come", with a pound of paranoia added for good measure. Same can be said about heaven and hell minions. Novel's setting is inconsistent - deceased soul can go to hell for an adultery, but earthbound angels are screwing left and right, cursing, drinking, blaspheme and so on, with nary a warning from their superiors. It could be that author wanted to show us hypocritical nature of heaven, but I'm sure that wasn't the case, because that clearly non-angelic shortcomings are practically not even mentioned as something wrong. As for other religions and where do their faithful go after death - novelist chose most lazy cop-out imaginable - our protagonist says that he doesn't know and doesn't care.

I could understand and even forgive this shortcomings, if mr. Williams was an amateur author, but that's clearly not the case. I've read and enjoyed his "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" in 90's, and was impressed by that trilogy. So why a professional, veteran author chooses to write such trope-heavy, unimaginative novel? Easy cash? Tongue in cheek? Dwindling talent? I have no idea.

Again, this novel was entertaining,if very formulaic. It a) has male protagonist; b)isn't romance-centric; c) has some genuinely funny moments, and d) its action scenes are quite well-written. But it could be so much more.(less)

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Sep 21, 2012 Shona Mackintosh rated it 5 of 5 stars

In this new, but still familiar, world, Bobby Dollar, Angel Advocate, is one of a misfit bunch of angels sent back to live in real bodies so as to better understand the souls of the newly departed, who they are employed to represent during judgement. Well-known for asking awkward questions and generally pissing people off, Bobby gets caught up in a maelstrom of danger and deception after souls start failing to show up for judgement. Now the heavenly court wants to talk to him and there's a demon...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Felicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-paranormal

So I own all of Tad Williams' work in hardback, except for the book about the cats because I refuse to read books with dogs or cats as protagonists because EVERY TIME ONE OF THEM GETS KILLED AND I CRY. Ahem.

Anyway, having loved his more fantasy-based stuff, I was a bit hesitant to read this foray into an urban fantasy/noire world starring angels and demons. But OMG it is SO GOOD you guys. I couldn't sleep after I finished reading it because I was so sad about the characters' stories ending. Bobb...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For those used to Tad’s more traditional Fantasy (such as Memory, Shadow and Thorn and the Shadowmarch series) this one is different. So different in that, had the name not been on the front, I wouldn’t have said they were the same writer.

This is being widely seen as Tad’s take on Urban Fantasy: you know, moody male with issues, living a tough life, with ‘problems’, usually of the supernatural type.

Not his usual, then: but it is good.

First thoughts are that Bobby Dollar, Tad’s protagonist, fit...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Linna Drehmel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was privileged to be asked to do an advanced review of Tad Williams new book The Dirty Streets of Heaven.

SYNOPSIS:

Bobby Dollar has a secret. Actually he’s got a ton of them. The most important one is that his real name’s Doloriel and he’s an angel. Not an important angel, maybe, but a rough-and-tumble guy who’s always done his part in the long cold war between Heaven and Hell.

But now he’s stepped into the middle of something that’s got both sides very nervous — an unprecedented number of missi...more I was privileged to be asked to do an advanced review of Tad Williams new book The Dirty Streets of Heaven.

SYNOPSIS:

Bobby Dollar has a secret. Actually he’s got a ton of them. The most important one is that his real name’s Doloriel and he’s an angel. Not an important angel, maybe, but a rough-and-tumble guy who’s always done his part in the long cold war between Heaven and Hell.

But now he’s stepped into the middle of something that’s got both sides very nervous — an unprecedented number of missing souls. And if that wasn’t enough, someone has summoned a truly unpleasant Babylonian demon that’s doing its best to track him down and rip him to pieces. Also, his opposite number on the case is arguably the world’s sexiest she-devil, and Bobby has feelings for her that Heaven definitely does not allow.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
" I found Sam sitting in the open doorway of his room pulling his loafers on. I dropped down beside him because I wanted to tie on my own shoes properly. I had a gun, yes, but no socks, no flashlight, no shirt and no wallet. It's hard to be prepared for a major explosion in your hotel, but I'd definitely dropped the ball."

What I liked:
The characters. They are well developed and well rounded. You love the good guys, and it is obvious who the good guys are but they are not with out flaws themselves. The bad guys are really well created and are easy to identify but are not with out their appeal.

What I loved:
I loved that this is another one of his suck zone books! You open to the first page and you are sucked in! The story is so rich and fun that you get sucked in from the very first word! When I started to read this book my worst fear becomes...WHAT IF I DIE BEFORE I FINISH READING THIS BOOK? Truly for me Tad has once again created something new and fresh. There really is no comparison to any other book on the market, including his own. I know this because I have read everything that he has written. The best I can do is to say the feel of the flow of the story is similar to The War of the Flowers. The Dirty Streets of Heaven has a unique feeling to the story line. I love how he comes up with the new concepts and a fresh perspectives in his story telling.
I highly recommend this book to a scifi/fantasy reader, but due to cussing in the book I would say those over 17.
**as a reviewer I received a free advanced copy of his book The Dirty Streets of Heaven, however I have received no payment or compensation to do this review.(less)

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Nov 05, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

A quick and easy read for me, absolutely loved the gritty noir detective feel. I also enjoyed the creative take on the afterlife and it had a tiny bit of a Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch vibe to it. It wasn't Pratchett funny but I was chuckling pretty often and loved Bobby Dollar's narration and paranthetical asides. I will say that while some things are wrapped up, I didn't find it completely satisfying as a stand alone and I really wish I had the next book...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Pamela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-sword-laser

The Dirty Streets of Heaven is the November pick for the Sword and Laser book club. It is definitely out of my comfort zone (gritty, urban fantasy with religious themes) but that is what a book club is for. Although it was an enjoyable read, I didn't really like the book that much. The writing is fine, but I apparently haven't read a first person narrative in a while and forgot how much talking there is. Bobby Dollar (the narrator) talks endlessly. Granted that is how first person narrative work...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Dark Matter rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams, a review

Blurb from the publisher:

BOBBY DOLLAR ISN’T YOUR AVERAGE ANGEL.
Sure, he takes the occasional trip to Heaven, but his job as an advocate – arguing the fate of the recently deceased – keeps him pretty busy on Earth, and he’s more than happy to spend the rest of his time propping up the bar with his fellow immortals.

Until the day a soul goes missing, presumed stolen by ‘the other side’.

A new chapter in the war between heaven and hell is about to...more The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams, a review

Blurb from the publisher:

BOBBY DOLLAR ISN’T YOUR AVERAGE ANGEL.
Sure, he takes the occasional trip to Heaven, but his job as an advocate – arguing the fate of the recently deceased – keeps him pretty busy on Earth, and he’s more than happy to spend the rest of his time propping up the bar with his fellow immortals.

Until the day a soul goes missing, presumed stolen by ‘the other side’.

A new chapter in the war between heaven and hell is about to open. And Bobby is right in the middle of it, with only a desirable but deadly demon to aid him.

Dirty Streets has a Columbo-style voice in the form of Bobby Dollar. The major plot-line is a whodunit: not so much whether the death was a murder or suicide, but who stole the soul. Sub-plots include celestial politics that smack of factional and office politics, love or lust, and theft. Even though the point of view of the narrative is carried solely by Bobby Dollar, the plot and sub-plots unfold pretty well, holding the reader’s attention while keeping one guessing.

I think Williams cheated a little with one of the sub-plots but not being the major plot-line it was okay. There were a few continuity errors; [Spoiler] for example someone – either Chico or Sam – had their ribs broken in a fight, later it was Bobby, later still it can’t have been Bobby because he’s fine while other people are suffering. A gun had two or three bullets, it was fired a couple of times at something doing more damage than it had previously, then it still had two or three bullets left. [Spoiler ends] In my opinion these issues are only going to be noticed by the really particular reader or a critic; the action combined with Dollar’s entertaining voice can easily carry you through without even noticing these finer details.

The one thing that really annoyed me was Foxy, a demon who was initially described as an Asian albino, with the emphasis on albino being the reason he was really creepy. Williams said, ‘He did have something of the look of the Opposition [Hell], but that might just have been his skin condition.’ After Foxy’s initial introduction, every time he reappears his albino appearance is referenced but he was only referred to as Asian once more. Foxy is also the only character in the novel who looks like an albino, so the message is clear: albinos are evil and crazy. Using this trope reinforces highly destructive stereotypes alienating a portion of the disabled community. This trope is so frequently used when albinos are represented at all in pop culture that albinos have a lobby group campaigning for more equal representation. It seems to me that it’s no longer acceptable to point the finger at ethnic minorities in this way, so authors often use an even smaller minority of the population instead, while still focusing on appearance (estimates suggest 1 in 17,000 US and Australian citizens are albinos).

Even worse, Williams also differentiated Foxy’s eyes as ‘not the more commonly pink’; this is a factual error. Human albinos do not have pink eyes, they usually have blue or violet eyes if they’re at the palest end of the albino spectrum. The myth of human albino eyes being pink or red comes from animals who have pink or red eyes and from flash photography giving albinos red eyes. The difference between albinos in flash photography red-eye and ‘normal’ people is that albinos have a condition called ‘transillumination of the iris’: in other words, light travels through the iris (coloured part of the eye) not just the pupil (black centre). Thus when a flash photo is taken, light isn’t just reflected out through the pupil but also through the iris, making it look like an albino has red irises and – worse still – possibly making albinos look like their eyes are glowing. Our culture is sufficiently sophisticated that we don’t call the exorcist when someone other than an albino has red-eye in flash photography and I hope that educating the masses will change attitudes towards albinos. I am sure Tad Williams has not set out to be discriminatory or destructive towards albinos, but I’m equally convinced that he hasn’t thought through the issues.

Williams’ theology is fairly CS Lewis-like, with Heaven as a non-denominational entity that even takes atheists if they’re good enough people, whether the atheists like it or not Dirty Streets is part This Present Darkness, part Wings of Desire, and part Good Omens. The conflict between Heaven and Hell reminds me of This Present Darkness; this is a conflict very similar to a human war, both hot and cold. The theological and philosophical questioning by an angel is reminiscent of Wings of Desire, while the snark reminds me of Good Omens.

Overall I enjoyed Dirty Streets of Heaven due to its well-paced, engaging plot, characters and snarky, misfit voice of the protagonist.

Four stars.(less)

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About Tad Williams

Tad Williams has held more jobs than any sane person should admit to—singing in a band, selling shoes, managing a financial institution, throwing newspapers, and designing military manuals, to name just a few. He also hosted a syndicated radio show for ten years, worked in theater and television production, taught both grade-school and college classes, and worked in multimedia for a major computer...more

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Books by Tad Williams

The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #1)

Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #2)

To Green Angel Tower (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3)

To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3; Part 2)

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“Just get up. What's your name, kid?"
"G-man"
"I don't mean your codename down at the Dickhead Club. What does it say on your driver's license?” — 3 people liked it

“You show me what someone listens to, I’ll tell you everything you want to know about his soul. (For instance, a bunch of Nickelback albums would have indicated he never had a soul in the first place.)” — 3 people liked it

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The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar #1)

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