Ballistic Kiss
Sandman Slim, Book 12
by Richard Kadrey
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Ballistic Kiss lands as a fast, violent chapter in Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim saga, written in a snarky, hard-boiled voice and built around action set pieces and streetwise L.A. lore. Its useful part is the breakneck pacing and vivid, often grisly scenes that reward readers who enjoy wicked humor and morally messy antiheroes. Limitation: it leans heavily on prior-series context and sometimes pauses for chunky exposition or repetitive escalation, so newcomers and readers seeking subtlety or restraint may find parts wearing.
Read this if...
- •product manager at a busy startup who reads on commutes and needs a weekend binge before a short trip — the book’s short, high-adrenaline chapters are easy to chew through in long rides or a travel day, so it’s useful now when you want fast escapism without heavy setup.
- •early-career fantasy novelist revising a first-person draft and hunting models for sustained snark and set-piece pacing — read this now to study extended examples of sardonic narration carrying violent, cinematic scenes and to borrow tricks for keeping voice lively across action sequences.
- •single parent juggling evening childcare and limited reading windows who wants to stay current with an ongoing series — this volume rewards prior-series knowledge and delivers episodic momentum that fits short, interrupted reading sessions, so it’s a practical catch-up read right now.
Skip this if...
- •newcomers who expect a standalone: you'll likely feel lost because the book assumes knowledge of earlier volumes and skips basic setup.
- •readers who dislike graphic violence or repeated shock beats: the frequent grisly scenes and escalation can feel gratuitous and numbing.
- •you'll likely put it down when the plot pauses for long exposition dumps or serial recap — those mid-book lulls slow momentum and frustrate readers drawn by the opening adrenaline.
Sandman Slim is back in Los Angeles and kicking more supernatural ass in this inventive, highoctane pageturner?the next to last volume in the popular and acclaimed fantasy adventure series from New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey.As the battle between warring angels continues, James Stark is focused on seemingly simpler matters now t...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- product manager at a busy startup who reads on commutes and needs a weekend binge before a short trip — the book’s short, high-adrenaline chapters are easy to chew through in long rides or a travel day, so it’s useful now when you want fast escapism without heavy setup.
- early-career fantasy novelist revising a first-person draft and hunting models for sustained snark and set-piece pacing — read this now to study extended examples of sardonic narration carrying violent, cinematic scenes and to borrow tricks for keeping voice lively across action sequences.
- single parent juggling evening childcare and limited reading windows who wants to stay current with an ongoing series — this volume rewards prior-series knowledge and delivers episodic momentum that fits short, interrupted reading sessions, so it’s a practical catch-up read right now.
- newcomers who expect a standalone: you'll likely feel lost because the book assumes knowledge of earlier volumes and skips basic setup.
- readers who dislike graphic violence or repeated shock beats: the frequent grisly scenes and escalation can feel gratuitous and numbing.
- you'll likely put it down when the plot pauses for long exposition dumps or serial recap — those mid-book lulls slow momentum and frustrate readers drawn by the opening adrenaline.
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Why recommended
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books, Fantasy, and Fiction.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Patrick Rothfuss
“I don't know if I feel very attacked or very seen by @Richard_Kadrey's most recent book. Either way, I do know I enjoyed the hell out of it. If you haven't tried Sandman Slim yet, you might want to consider taking a look at the series...”
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Republic by Plato. Recommended by 13 sources.
“Plato stages an extended Socratic conversation that moves from concrete questions about justice into broad proposals about an ideal city, the structure of the soul, and what counts as reality and knowledge. Reading alternates brisk question-and-answer snippets with long, cumulative demonstrations that reward careful attention and annotation. Main value: a wealth of thought experiments for testing political and ethical intuitions. Main limitation: repetitive refutations, long policy sketches and dense metaphysical passages can feel abstruse and slow; patience and some philosophical background help.”
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How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.