The Perdition Score by Richard Kadrey

This is book 8 of Kadrey's Sandman Slim series, and more than anything, I wish I had gone back over the last seven as a refresher before starting this one. It's not like you can't figure it out if you just want to jump in on this one but it does make some of the references more clear if you're caught up on previous hijinks.

James "Sandman Slim" Stark is settling in to a relatively settled life. He has taken a lucrative, if uneasy, job with Thomas Abbott, head of the Sub Rosa in Los Angeles, his relationship with Chihiro nee Candy is progressing, and he almost never thinks about his time as a gladiator in Hell's arenas. Only every other breath or so. In fact, the post-traumatic stress of all his multiple death-defying acts is starting to get to him, pushing him to take bigger and bigger risks just to feel alive. Fortunately, the world always needs saving and even something as simple as a missing persons case can turn into a situation where the fate of all the souls on Earth and in Hell are at stake.

This series has had its ups and downs for me and I am 90% certain that it just depends on what mood I am in when I read them. They are remarkably consistent in writing style and tone, which is to Kadrey's credit as a consummate professional. The character of Sandman Slim is just so unrelentingly violent, I feel like you're either down for the ride or you hate every word. Personally, I love this kind of angels and demons and antiheroes and mayhem thing. I have every single book in this series and while I have not loved all of them, I have always been interested by them.

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