Kill the Dead

Publisher's Summary

James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim, crawled out of Hell, took bloody revenge for his girlfriend’s murder, and saved the world along the way. After that, what do you do for an encore? You take a lousy job tracking down monsters for money. It’s a depressing gig, but it pays for your beer and cigarettes. But in L.A., things can always get worse.

Like when Lucifer comes to town to supervise his movie biography and drafts Stark as his bodyguard. Sandman Slim has to swim with the human and inhuman sharks of L.A.’s underground power elite. That’s before the murders start. And before he runs into the Czech porn star who isn’t quite what she seems. Even before all those murdered people start coming back from the dead and join a zombie army that will change our world and Stark’s forever.

Death bites. Life is worse. All things considered, Hell’s not looking so bad.

More mayhem? Try another eerie earful of Sandman Slim.

©2010 Richard Kadrey (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Profane, intensely metaphoric language somehow makes self-tortured monster Stark sympathetic and turns a simple story into a powerful noir thriller." ( Publishers Weekly)

Moral compass broken. It's dead reckoning now!

Narrator makes a great book an absolute stone cold killer! You feel what he feels, and then you go numb as he does, what humanity he had ripped out and replaced with something far simpler, leaner, crueler. Plus, zombie-hunting pornstars may come close to toppling Harry Dresden's benchmark of riding a zombie T-Rex through the city center of Chicago.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Brilliant, Absolutely Brilliant

It's been a long time since I've had a book series that could tickle me so. I've read so many books in my life and to get something so surprisingly creative and unexpectedly funny at the same time is miraculous. And the joy of it is there are FIVE books in this series. I have them all and I've even listened to them again. I think Richard. Kadrey has found his perfect milieu. I can't say I like his others books so much but this series stands in a place of honor. The same for MacLeod Andrews as the narrator. His kaleidoscope of voices is just wonderful PLUS he can do women's voices without sounding like a transgender. I only wish there were more books. I remember when I discovered Patrick O'Brian and found he had 22 books... if only Sandman Slim had that many...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

EVERYBODY IN CALIFORNIA IS A BUDDHIST FOR ABOUT 15

MINUTES, THEN THEY FIND OUT THEY CAN'T EAT CHILI DOGS.
I would not recommend reading this before book one. This makes more sense if you read book one and this is not as good as book one. It is still a good book, I mean how can you not like a book, which has a CZECH, GYPSIE, PORN STAR, ZOMBIE KILLER as a main character. James ,Sandman Slim, is still a sarcastic potty mouth with a constant string of one-liners that will have you rolling in the aisles. His sidekick head, now has a way of moving around on his own and he is even funnier in this book then book one.

THE NICEST DEAD GUY, I'VE EVER KNOWN
This book is a four star, unlike book one, which is a five star. Just like many other authors who write character driven series, such as Maberry with Joe Ledger, there seems to be an attempt to make the character more likeable and more down to earth then the first book. In the first book James is Sandman Slim not James Stark so much. In the first book he is out for revenge and all he cares about is himself. In this book, we are encouraged to feel more empathy for him. This results in him being a little whinny at times. He is striving to be liked and to be nicer. He is nicer to his bodiless sidekick and there are these moral issues about family, that we get hit over the head with. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO RESCUE FAMILY, EVEN ASSHOLE FAMILY. FAMILIES ARE DIFFICULT, BUT HAVING NONE IS WORSE.
To me there are plenty of books out there with high morals and feel good endings. Occasionally I want something that is dark and funny and that is why I liked book one. I would not want all my books to be dark and mean, but it is a release sometimes to indulge in such books. Making James, cute and cuddly, is not what I want or why I would read a Richard Kadry book. MAYBE WHAT YOU NEED IS AN ENGLISH TO ASSHOLE HANDBOOK?

HE WAS GANGBANGED BY A THESAURUS
The narrator is pretty good, but I do think Ray Porter would be better.

I would not normally continue a series once it drops below a five star, but due to the strength of book one, I will go one more to see if he regains his nastiness.

15 of 24 people found this review helpful

HOPING FOR MORE....!!!!

eep looking for a series that will keep it interesting the whole way through. Thought I had found what I had been searching for but......!!!!
The first half was good and parts of the middle BUT the ending was a let down. The title character "Sandman Slim" had lots of issues. Wanted to slap him in the mouth and say grow up you punk. To much sappy memories talk about a girl that he only knew for a brief time and was willing to watch the world burn in order to find revenge.
MacLeod did an excellent job in keeping the story rolling BUT at times "Sandman Slim" sounded more like a whinny baby than a stoned faced killer.
With all that being said I'm going to attempt the 3nd book in the series and see where it leads.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

High plains drifters (zombies) abound.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it is a fast paced interesting book with lots of punk attitude.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Kill the Dead?

The zombie havoc in LA was well done. Also, the little girl ghost was really creepy.

What does MacLeod Andrews bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he just has the attitude of this series down pat. He also has a great range of voices and makes the whole greater han the sum of its parts.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No.

Any additional comments?

Two things I generally don't like are stories about time travel or zombies. In this case the author made a zombie story that was actually interesting and fun. You can't go wrong with this book or the series as a whole.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

good enough for me to buy book 3

Any additional comments?

i found ktd (kill the dead) entertaining but not as entertaining as sandman slim. stark is more of a gumshoe this time around. he works for the golden vigil, collecting a gov't check. stark's brought in for his opinion of the death of an old sub rosa. as the story progresses, we learn more about the sub rosa and their factions.

uriel and candy are on the run and stark comes across a new partner, bridgette bardow, a porn star gypsy who hunts revenants (zombies). she teaches him the proper way to subdue a revenant by tearing out its spinal cord.

in ktd, you never get the sense that stark is evenly matched or outmatched like in sandman slim.

i found lucifer scarier and more terrifying in sandman slim. even though he had a few minor parts, he oozed power. the narrator's calm, easy tone conveyed lucifer's confidence and power. you hung on every word. stark even seemed to bbe afraid of him, not wanting to speak out of turn nor dare be disrespectful. now, stark talks back and throws wise a$$ remarks lucifer's way. i don't get the abrupt change. in ktd, lucifer is portrayed as a celebrity with people fawning over him instead of fearing him and putting their arm around him instead of cowering in fear. this was my biggest disappointment.

macleod andrew's performance was great again. he even pulls off an eastern european porn star. lol

overall, a pretty good follow-up. i grade it a sohmore slump after being blown away by the first book. don't get me wrong, i've already downloaded the 3rd book.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Book 2 in the Sandman Slim series

. just gets better and better, can't wait to read the third book in the series. Narrator MacLeod Andrew is fantastic, Richard Kadrey really knows how to keep a story moving thee were NEVER any dull moments. It all ended to soon for me. I hope that Audible will be getting more from this author.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

The Sandman has come at last!!

The second book of the Sandman Slim is filled with as many if not more twist and turns that will keep you plugged in till the end. Even after the book end it will you still wanting more.

R.K. is a great storyteller and has a great way to keep you in the moment. This book picks up six months after the end of book 1. Giving you a feeling of picking up right where you left off from book one.Sandman is forced in to looking for answers to questions that he really does not want to know. Things are going to get bad, but is he ready?

My only complaint about the book is that, I fear R.K. will take another year to write the next book. He has me chomping at the bit for more.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

great narration, lacklustre story

Like with the first book, The narration was amazing. the dialogue, especially that from Stark felt extremely forced this time around as though the author were trying to push as many ridiculous jokes in as possible. the story plodded along slowly until the climax, which wasn't terribly exciting, then slowed back down for the epilogue which drug on too long.

perfect narrator

I have read the series before and was a bit skeptical about hearing someone narrate it. Luckily, he does a better job bringing Stark to life than I envisioned. I recommend the series, the writer and the storyteller.