Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey is a book that contains many interesting aspects to it. The setting of the book taking place in a California, Los Angeles infested with vampires and demons.

Coming off of the first book Sandman Slim,Kill the Dead finds the main character James “Sand Slim” Stark, nephilm who is the son of an angel and a mortal and as such posses certain powers and uses these abilities to slay the monsters of the world.

The book finds the character working as a bounty hunter for hire. When he is bitten by a zombie and infected the infection instead of turning him into one of them slowly begins to take away his human side and transforming him into a emotionless demon of death with stronger powers.

The book is written well as Richard Kadrey sets a tone for the story that is both serious and humorous. The main character “Sandman slim” while usually coming off as immature, selfish, and cold, shows a very strong moral compass at various times helping those in need.

Kill the Dead explores many themes with one of which being religion as the entities of God and the Devil and the presence of angels and demons are acknowledged many times in the book and the moral dilemmas that we as people face on a daily basis when it comes to power over compassion. The universe of Kill the Dead contains many interesting characters from vampires to numerous disfigured monsters, to zombies, and mythical creatures.

As enjoyable as the book is Kill the Dead should not be read by children under the age of seventeen for its very vulgar language and very explicit subjects that should not be read by anyone under the intended age.

All in all, the book makes for a delightful read for those interested in the action and mystical supernatural genre.