The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar, #1) in The Sword and Laser

Nov 02, 2012 Emmalynne Crist rated it really liked it

Shelves: 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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Dec 31, 2012 Winter rated it really liked it

Shelves: urbanfantasy

The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams

I'm giving this book high marks, but they are high marks that come with a qualifier. If you like this type of book, you will like this book in particular. The problem is finding the right shelf for this type of book. Urban fantasy? yes, that's part of it. But something of the mystery genre mixed in, specifically the noire detective novel. But with a supernatural twist to it too. Supernatural noire mystery. Ya, it's a pretty small bookshelf.

Jim Butcher' The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams

I'm giving this book high marks, but they are high marks that come with a qualifier. If you like this type of book, you will like this book in particular. The problem is finding the right shelf for this type of book. Urban fantasy? yes, that's part of it. But something of the mystery genre mixed in, specifically the noire detective novel. But with a supernatural twist to it too. Supernatural noire mystery. Ya, it's a pretty small bookshelf.

Jim Butcher's 'The Dresden Files' were previously the only other volumes filling that slim shelf. And I love those books. And as quickly as Jim Butcher births those slim volumed paper babies, there's still time between them. And like the addict that i am - the junkie addicted to first-person wise cracking detectives who don't play by the rules and always get the dames - I've been itching for a new one.

The Dirty Streets of Heaven fills that niche nicely. Starring Bobby Dollar, the angel with a few bad habits who doesn't trust anyone and throws out one-liners so bad they make the entire English language weep, this story has all the right ingredients. You've got your convoluted mystery that our hero is pulled in to, your cast of colourful characters both heavenly and hellish, your sub-mystery that may or may not have something to do with the main mystery, and you literally have a "and then she walked into the room" moment.

Williams gets all these things right. It's hard to believe this is the first novel he's written like this. I only have two complaints.

The first is the pacing near the end of the book. I might have been set up for this one. Someone had warned me that the chase scene near the end of the book seems to drag a bit. So maybe I was anticipating it. But I'm going to have to agree. Without giving anything away, there's a segment where our bad ass angel is being chased by badder-asser things. It seems to fall into this roving cycle of "hey we've got you, there's no way out" and then "ha ha, i found a way out, you're chasing me again!". The pacing just felt a little off here. It didn't ruin the book by any means. But in a story where pacing is so important it definitely stood out.

My second complaint would be the ending. It wasn't bad, but it was a smidge too much "tune in next time to follow the adventures of Bobby Dollar" for me. By this time I was hooked, so I will be picking up the next book. But still, a tighter, more complete ending would have made me happier.

In short, if you like The Dresden Files, or Noire mystery in general, you're going to enjoy this book. If you aren't sure, it's worth picking up and trying. It's a fun book, fast paced, and well written.

If you couldn't get into, or even disliked, the Dresden Files, you probably aren't going to enjoy this one either.
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Sep 19, 2012 Joby Walker rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

A pretty good start to a new series.

The Good
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Action: Once you get beyond the beginning the action starts to pile on and is quite engrossing -- though I'm usually more OK with large introspective expositions than most.

World: A great unique spin on the Urban Fantasy genre.

Caz thread: Well done -- the ride and the ending were great.

The Bad
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Bobby Dollar: I just hate the name.

Beginning: The beginning is quite weak. The first ...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Jay Crossler rated it it was amazing

Awesome! My favorite Tad Williams book... very unlike his other ones.

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Nov 09, 2012 Oliver rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, crime

This was a quite fun and light read ... I was entertained. I guess this would be labeled as Urban Noir Fantasy, and it uses all the tropes of the Noir genre quite well. The story was a tad predictable, but in this case I didn't really mind too much as I enjoyed the well worn character and story tropes. Fluffy fun entertainment. ...more

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