A worthy finish to the Sandman Slim cycle. The action keeps going throughout. The ending is a little ... sudden? But it felt great and is one of my favorites of the series.

Jim Stark, known as Sandman Slim, is the only Nephilim in existence, so far as he knows. Now he's in the midst of an epidemic that causes infected to literally gnaw at their own bodies and eat the flesh. He is struggling to protect all of his friends and atone for what he perceives as his past mistakes and faults.

Stark has done a great many things in his life, from filling in as Lucifer for 100 days (and what a rocking hundred days they were!), to being imprisoned "Downtown," the euphemism for Hell. He's learned fighting skills and magic in the fighting pits of Downtown, pursued evil in all its forms, and tried to make things better. He's no angel, though, but he has killed at least one on occasion.

I have always loved the character range, though over the series of books, many of them have been killed or changed so that they aren't part of Stark's life most of the time. Mr. Munin, Vidocq, Candy, Samael, and many more have walked through the chaos that Stark lives in.

He's no longer living in the apartment over Max Overdrive, the video store. Many businesses are closed by mandate to prevent the spread of the epidemic (gee, where did Mr. Kadrey get that idea?), but Max Overdrive under the supervision of Kasabian, now restored to a fully human body after being a head on a skateboard for many books, is still running. Overdrive gets bootleg movies from another dimension, so they are in great demand, along with the traditional movies from THIS dimension.

King Bullet starts showing up in graffiti, and ultimately Stark notices. He decides to confront him and ends up getting his butt kicked and his face shot by the Shoggot minions that follow Bullet. The Shoggots disfigure themselves and riot throughout Los Angeles. The vampires have retreated to a stronghold and won't get involved. Various other factions have pretty much decided the same thing. The Dreamers are consumed with infection and fear, and they're staying out of this fight. But somebody's got to get involved, or there won't be anything left. Donut Universe is torched, the House of Dolls is threatened repeatedly, and Max Overdrive is attacked.

Stark takes one last jaunt on the Hellion Hog, a motorcycle he brought back from Hell, and goes to war against King Bullet. He has met his match.

If you have not read the series in its entirety, you won't get the full depth of the characters here. You won't know who they are. Mustang Sally cruises the freeways, a beautiful woman who occasionally gives Stark a ride and advice to boot. Carlos runs the bar at the House of Dolls. There's enough side characters to fill a city bus. Stark feels obliged to look after all of these people, plus get some revenge on some that are evil. Now it looks like the ultimate evil has arrived...and he's stuck with wearing a She-Ra character face mask. The masks are required for supposedly preventing infection, but they also help hide identity and the immense scarring that the Shoggots do to themselves.

I view this as the darkest of the Stark books, and it was pretty creepy reading it in the middle of the night. If you have followed him through the series, you need to read this one and find out what happens. If you're new to his antics, start with book 1, "Sandman Slim." These books are adult-oriented. There are discussions of suicide, death, sex, and violence, so they may be a bit much for younger readers, and even some adults.

I got to read an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Our series finale begins with a pandemic of unknown origin raging through Los Angeles, causing total chaos, garbage build up, out of control gangs, and the terror that your friends will kill you by breathing on you (Stark has to be reminded so many times to wear his mask!). Sound familiar? Even the Sub Rosa aren't safe from this plague. So what is our floundering Sandman Slim supposed to do amidst all this uncertainty? Why, find someone to fight, of course!

King Bullet, the big bad, is controlling all the gang violence, and seems unstoppable. Abbott hires Stark to take him down, but Stark has suspicions about Abbott's motives. KB seems to have it out for Stark personally, and does his best to make it personal to Jimmy dear as well. The whole crew gets together, giving Stark lots of time to pine for Candy, and consider the many other women in his life.

Overall, this final installment was as exciting as every other Sandman Slim book and was exactly what we've come to expect. To that end... it just felt like another installment. I would want the big bad in the series finale to be an extra special villain, someone who's identity has meaning and emotional ties to our hero, and I don't think King Bullet fit that bill. Stark was clearly still trying to overcome his past experiences and be a better person, mentioning his PTSD pills several times, but we never really got the chance to see if he was making progress or not. Other than that, the ending was very satisfying, our chance to bon voyage all the major characters was fulfilled, and I had a lot of fun reading it. Best of all, Kadrey left a little wiggle room for a continuation at some point if he so desires!

Any reader this far into the series has some idea of what to expect with Kadrey and Sandman Slim.

What I wasn't expecting was perhaps the delicacy and care it handled and worked in some of the darker themes. I appreciate the content warning at the start, and the conversation between Stark and his guest broke my heart in the first few pages.

There is perhaps, most... raw and present, the plague theme. I don't know if that was Kadrey's original plan or if he changed it. But it hits you in the gut, reading it still in the middle of a pandemic, while offering escapism.

I'm a huge fan of the Sandman Slim series and was very excited to get a chance to read this early copy, this final book of the series didn't disappoint.

James Stark is a Nephilim with a kick ass and take names attitude, he has no love for the angels above or below and finds himself up against an adversary that is his equal (if not more so). With the gang working to help Stark and survive this new threat, we find lessons being learned and amends made. Kadrey doesn't leave anything behind with this final book, and without giving anything away... the ending is classic Stark.

If you haven't read this series, I recommend doing so from the beginning. You won't regret it and I highly recommend.

Great finish to a series I’ve enjoyed so much. Fantastic characters, exciting action sequences, and great dialogue. Thank you for the opportunity to read!

Twelve books into a series, how do end it?
Do you end with a quip and a metaphor about life? How about a callback to the opening book, a reference to eleven years ago in the first book?
When a reader has invested this much time/energy into a series, the ending will never please everyone (Looking at you Dark Tower).
So if the story ending isn't going to make everyone happy, let's look at the characters instead. This story is about Sandman Slim, and for him, the ending is amazing. One of the best character arcs I can think of, even if a little heavy handed.
King Bullet has a pandemic, riots, fire and brimstone, regret and forgiveness. A good ending to a story started a lifetime ago.
My only real criticism is the book tried to do too much too fast. The series has a certain pacing/feeling to each book, and this story would have benefited from a more thorough telling.
Kadrey, you did good. Thank you.
**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.