The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar)

If Michael Carpenter (Dresden Files) and Sandman Slim were brothers, then Bobby Dollar would be their youngest sass-mouthed brother. He is not quite good, not quite bad, and always very interesting. Leave it to Tad Williams to fill in a blank in Urban Fantasy that I didn't realize was missing until now. I look forward to the further adventures of the D-Man.

The premise is very interesting and there are some excellent and original concepts in it. I'm just not sure how I like the blend of detective-style writing blended with the topics. In some ways, the lead character is similar (but not as fleshed out) as Zelazny's Corwin in the Chronicles of Amber series. But, Zelazny set a very high bar.

Somewhat reminiscent of his Shadowmarch series in tone, but set in an urban environment. The story moves along at a good pace and I love Williams' writing style. A touch of humor helps to keep the story moving along. If you liked Simon Green's Darkside novels, you should enjoy this series.

I read this book because it was urban fantasy, which I dearly love and because it was Tad Williams. Boy sometimes two strong elements like that just aren't enough.

I couldn't get into this book. Bobby just didn't interest me. He seemed to have a pretty good life, nothing really going wrong and causing him angst. There was a lot of writing in this book about bobby being known for asking questions but when it came right down to it he really didn't. He was still firmly on the good side. He might have been a more believable character if he was someone like Fatback, the ghost sisters or the gunsmith or Chico. Someone who had once been on the inside but was now on the outs.

I think that is what Tad appeared to be going for but never really achieved it. I frankly got very tired of Bobby. Very tired of the things he would think over and over again throughout the story.

As others have said one of the best features of the book is the world building. I liked the concept, it definitely had some unique elements. There was also definitely some distinct lack of clarity. I kept wondering all thru the book - did Bobby's "boss" actually know whatever bobby thought or did? Bobby didnt know. And I found it frustrating that we didn't get a better sense of that one way or another.

Kind of led to believe the powerful Angels are just as clueless, otherwise how could so many of the elite be caught off guard at the conference? Wouldn't you think somebody would see that one coming?

The ending really fizzled, as someone else mentioned. Wow did the ending suck big ones. And not because of a cliffhanger, folks. I might could have lived with that. It was really like a chapter end, and then the book had to be sent for printing before the next chapter could be written. So totally wrong.

It's rare I give two stars but when you compare this story to Tads own history and the top of the heap in this genre, I felt like I had too. Final word? I won't be worrying about the sequel.

Bobby Dollar is a fast-talking, wiseacre angel advocate for the recently demised. This book is so well and tightly written that if the author's name was removed from my copy and I had to guess who wrote it I'd guess Aaron Sorkin. Now, Tad Williams, if you're reading this review I'm not detracting anything from you, it's meant as a compliment.

In The Dirty Streets of Heaven we're introduced to the parallel real estate beyond the "zipper" where the fresh souls of the newly departed are up for grabs and the decision to send them on the up or down elevator is debated by the Angel Advocates and the Prosecutor Demons. They argue the merits of the departed before the Principalities Judge. The lesser angels and demons appear on sight by a short step out of earthly reality but the Principalities, we are told, appear on scene like silent lightening and we learn the important angels are bright and beautiful with a lot of scary in them.

Dollar tells us that it's pretty darn interesting being an angel; that he's not met God yet; it's not clear what religion is right and though he'd like to explain Heaven it's kind of complicated. Reading this book is like taking an amusement park ride through Theology. Bobby Dollar is actually sort of a community activist for us mortals and has all the foibles we humans suffer including a taste for demon rum and a little lust now and again.

The Dirty Streets of Heaven really gets rolling along with the death of a Captain of Industry in the Silicon Valley. When his soul disappears, something that has never happened before in the history of, well, history, both sides are upset, distressed, and go a little berserk. The dark side sends in a Fixer known only as the Countess, a shapely vixen who immediately gets the attention of Bobby. The Heavenly faction regroups to solve the mystery and here the ride begins. Almost immediately the earthly body of the Satanic prosecutor Grasswax is found dead in the most horrible of manners. This puts both sides on alert and the reader knows that he's holding an all-night read in his hands.

We go to college town dive bars, slop farms of were-pigs, and here things go from bad to worse. If you've read Revelations and thought "Wow, that's some bad mojo" just wait till you get into Tad Williams The Dirty Streets of Heaven. This is a well written, fun, frightening, LOL, look at Heaven, Hell and all points in between. If the seven deadly sins have ever made you smile just a little try reading about them is this excellent book.

The Dirty Streets of Heaven (2012) is the first urban Fantasy novel in this series. It is set in San Judas, California, along the southwest shore of San Francisco Bay. The city is a port at the mouth of the Red Wood River.

In this novel, Doloriel is an advocate angel. Bobby Dollar can't remember a time when he was not an angel, but neither can any of his associates.

Temuel is an Archangel and Bobby's boss. He works in the Celestial City.

Sammariel is also an advocate angel. Sam Riley has been a friend of Bobby for a long time.

Nahebaroth is another advocate angel. Monica Raber used to be Bobby's girlfriend, but they broke up with harsh words from Monica and flight by Bobby. Doloriel is still rather scared of her.

Harahliel is an advocate angel trainee. Clarence has recently been transferred from Files.

Grasswax is an Infernal prosecutor. He has enemies in both Heaven and Hell.

In this story, The Whole Sick Choir is a group of advocate angels who congregate as the Compasses bar. Eternal life can be boring, so they gather for drinks and companionship. One day, Sam comes into the bar with Harahliel.

Sam introduces the young angel as Clarence. Of course, Harahliel insists that Clarence is not his name, but the tag is accepted by all. Even Harahliel grows to accept it.

As Sam is introducing the kid, his phone rings with a duty call. Sam asks Bobby if he wants to tag along and Doloriel agrees. They take Sam's car and make the trip in few minutes.

The client is at the port. She had apparently driven her SUV off the wharf into the bay. Sam goes Outside and they find the client among the frozen police.

Of course, the client doesn't yet know that she is dead, so Bobby leads her into accepting her state. Then Grasswax shows up with a bodyguard just before the judge appears. Grasswax starts listing the sinful deeds of the client.

It looks like a clear cut case of innocence until Grasswax mentions that the client has committed adultery. Clarence speaks out and Grasswax tells him to be silent. Yet the judge allows Clarence to speak and he wins the case for the client, so she is sent to Heaven.

Later, Bobby is called out on an apparent suicide. Grasswax shows up for the case with his slightly damaged bodyguard. Then the guardian angel points out that the client's soul isn't there.

Grasswax accuses Bobby of concealing the client's soul and Bobby disagrees. He suggests notifying their bosses, but neither gets a chance. Angels and devils appear and canvas the area for the missing soul.

Bobby calls Temuel anyway and his boss immediate appears at the scene. Bobby tells him everything that had happened and his boss questions him some more about the circumstances. Temuel calls in a fixer and the Minister questions Bobby even more thoroughly.

After Bobby leaves the scene, Grasswax is also killed. Death of a body is painful, but easily fixed. But Grasswax suffered a more final death.

This tale presents Bobby with a problem. He decides to take proactive measures. He calls on a cursed friend and gets some information. Then he contacts one of the Opposition and asks a few questions.

The story has a several twists and turns. Somebody seems to be worrying in Heaven and the demons of Hell are always up to something. A very menacing demon is hunting Bobby and tries several times to slice him into pieces. Yet the tale has a very satisfying ending.

Naturally there is a sequel. The next installment in this sequence is Happy Hour In Hell.

Highly recommended for Williams fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of divine and demonic intrigue, armed conflict, and a bit of romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

Tad William's novel has potential (the premise is interesting, albeit underdeveloped) but it lacks in many departments.

There are major flaws and a general lack of context development; it made the novel lose interest rapidly for me. And it's a shame, because the premise of the heavenly advocates, and the bureaucratic legal disputes between Heaven and Hell could have made for an interesting read, but sorely they are absent. The author relies heavily on “it’s none of your business”, or “that’s anther story” and “I can’t explain it because Heaven is ineffable” excuses to avoid having to think anything through (any idea that elicits a raised eyebrow is just whisked away with the previous statements). He just skips over them.

There are so many inconsistencies and weak ideas it’s frustrating: the fact that angels can decant into other bodies when they die detracts from any kind of physical tension in the fight scenes; the romance between the 400-year old succubus from Hell and the street-smart angel reads like a teenage Romeo & Juliet; and so on. The main character has to constantly explain himself (badly) past these issues, but it just doesn’t work.

And finally, the writing is very bland, and although I’m not expecting Pulitzer level prose, maybe something more than your average paperback action style.

I really wanted to finish this based on the good reviews Tad Williams has, but the novel needed many more months of work. Again, it’s a shame when good authors rush their work.

I was very excited when this book was announced; Tad Williams was going to write about an angel caught between the politics practiced by Heaven and Hell. This was going to be a trilogy, and with Tad forsaking his door-stopper novel length approach, the project simply upped the intrigue factor for me besides its wonderful premise.

The main gist of the story is that angels reside among us; their angelic presence is ensconced in corporeal human shells. This allows them to go about doing their business, which is saving as many souls as possible when people die. The process consists of the following: after every death a representative from both Heaven and Hell gather in the dimension known as "The Outside", where every soul gets a hearing during which an angel and a demon argue like lawyers for its possession, and a heavenly angel adjudicates over said soul's afterlife. Bobby Dollar is among the several angels who stand in as representatives for Heaven against their hellish counterpart for deciding the fate of every person deceased.

This process has been going on for eons and never has it been different, until now. The most recent case for Bobby is tragic as the soul disappears during the judicial process and both Heaven & Hell get shaken up, and soon Bobby Dollar is accused of being the mastermind behind this unholy operation. What follows is a classic mystery as Bobby decides to investigate this disaster his own way. With surprising betrayals and even more surprising allies, he weaves his way within the fictional city of San Judas. It's from here where the story truly begins its rollicking run.

My first impression after finishing the book was that this was unlike any other Tad Williams book I've read so far and that's one of the best things about it. Tad Williams is one of my favorites and all his fans know his style of developing the story and characters, what this entails is that the start of most of his books is a bit on the slower side. Not The Dirty Streets Of Heaven as it quickly opens up the world settings and pushes the reader in a noir-ish world of angels, demons, and mankind. Featuring Bobby Dollar as the quirky narrative voice, the tale is very much a mish-mash of a noir detective story with urban fantasy. Set in the fictional city of San Judas, the author conveniently creates a world wherein the reader can easily escape into. The noir settings are easily managed, and with the supernatural so easily overlapped with the normal, this effort draws comparison with the magical Windy City of Jim Butcher.

While primarily being a quintessential noir detective story packaged nicely in an urban fantasy setting with angels, demons, and whole other sorts of creatures, the author neatly sidesteps the question of religion and faith by making the characters unsure of who truly rules Heaven. The angels are themselves are in the dark about which is the correct or the most accurate representation of God's word among mankind and this particularly adds another layer of intrigue to the world setting. This story is more about the angels doing their job on Earth and the way they get humanized. Characterization always has been a forte of Tad's work and once again is one of the book's highlights, beginning from Dollar to the side character cast and even extending to the villains; the author paints a colorful and mysterious cast. The main character often drops anecdotes and offers nuggets of wisdom gleaned from his experiences which portend that he's had a motley past. This feature makes the read even more exciting as readers can only speculate how much of it is true and what's bluster. On the other hand I'm ever curious to which of these past experiences might come into play in the future books.

The humor content is another feature that makes this story shine, beginning with Dollar's sarcastic and witty narrative to his interaction with a certain white wannabe rapper. The readers will definitely be entertained by the comedic narrative flow of the story and the author does his best to slip nods to pop culture as well as to classic detective stories. One thing that is very odd is the main protagonist's name and in this regard the author could have done better, Bobby Dollar sounds more like a pimp than a detective angel. Perhaps this was the author's intent in creating a funny yet weird name but as things stand, this wasn't one of the shining jobs performed by the author.

The story follows a mystery track and veteran mystery readers will be able to pick out certain clues from the proceedings so as to predict certain points about the climax but not the entire tale. This was the one real drawback of substance in this wonderful book. The way the story is set up makes it predictable but fun, with its twists and character traits, I believe it was the author's way of paying homage to the classic pulp-noir stories.

With a complete ending to most of the plot threads begun in this book, Tad Williams proves that he's adept in changing genres as he's as changing his literary style. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is a fantastic tale from the mind that gave us the Otherland series. Read this one if you want a good tale that mixes the styles of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett with those of Jim Butcher and Tim Pratt. For its said that you've never met an angel like Bobby Dollar. Read The Dirty Streets Of Heaven to find out why...

The Dirty Streets of Heaven is quite different from what I had previously read by Tad Williams which was his Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn epic fantasy series. However, what was familiar was the solid storytelling, excellent world & character building and dialog. This was an angel themed urban fantasy unlike most that I've read recently. Williams' imagining of the inner workings of Heaven and Hell were quite original and intriguing as well as including a fast moving plot that is not lacking in action or suspense. The Dirty Streets of Heaven definitely has all the ingredients for an exciting urban fantasy This almost had a noir feel to it with the heirarchy of both heaven & hell almost set up like a Godfather movie.

Angel Doloriel aka Bobby Dollar is a fast talking, snarky cynic who spends his days advocating for souls caught on the brink of heaven and hell. He finds himself in the middle of a dangerous situation that is likely far beyond his ability to handle and he's not really sure how he got there or how to get out of it. This first novel in the series introduces a quite array of quirky characters who were as abrasive as the dirty streets the title refers to, but satisfyingly so.. I've seen this compared with Jim Butcher's Dresden series and I would agree that fans of that series may want to check out this series.

I'm excited to follow Bobby Dollar's (mis)adventures in the upcoming sequel Happy Hour in Hell which should be released September 3! I would absolutely recommend this to fans of urban fantasy, noir fantasy, detective novels, and as I said above, fans of the Dresden Files.

If more urban fantasy was like this, I would read more urban fantasy. And if this is any indication of what Tad Williams can do with an interesting concept, I also need to be reading more Tad Williams.

I didn’t expect as much diversity of opinion in a book that involved Heaven, Hell, and a host of demons and angels fighting for the souls of the departed. A point is made by one of the angelic characters saying that even they don’t know which religion has the right of it, if any. This impressed me. A lot. A lot of books dealing with theology and religion tend to approach things from a, "This side is right and every other side is wrong," standpoint, but that wasn't the case at all here. Williams plays with mythology in interesting ways that still stay remarkably true to their roots.

That’s part of the fun of this novel. The angels, ostensibly on the side of Heaven and God and all that is good and light, are not just sweet little innocents or hard-nosed warriors, fighting for souls and territory. They’re varied. They have their opinions, their own gritty personalities, get jaded by the work they do, get depressed and go out drinking, and are wonderfully human, for all that they’re, well, not actually human. They sin. Sometimes spectacularly. They drink, they question, they argue about stupid pointless things, and you’re left with the overwhelming sense that these are real people, not just characters on a page.

The plot is so complex, “wheels within wheels,” that writing this feels like I’m deliberately making vague comments and it’s not coming across very clearly. That isn’t my intent. It’s just that it’s hard to talk about a complex multi-layered plot involving theology and multiple conspiracies without sounding horribly vague, unless you want to know the whole story in advance.

And I don’t want to ruin it for you.

The story is a fast-paced action-filled exciting trip from beginning to end. Even the slower moments still hold tension and intrigue, due to the mystery element of the book. The characters are wonderfully real, and Bobby Dollar’s narrative tone… Let’s just say that I could read short stories about this guy going out to get groceries, because even that mundanity would be no doubt filled with biting wit, sarcasm, intelligent introspection, and knowing his luck, probably him falling over and then snarking himself for it.

If this book has any failing, it’s that it’s more than a touch predictable. That’s the drawback of working with so many classic noir elements.But for all that you can see things coming, you can’t always tell what they are until they’re right in front of you. You get hints, inklings of deeper machinations, but the big reveal still comes as something of a surprise.

if you’re a fan of urban fantasy, or supernatural mysteries, or just highly intelligent and witty speculative fiction, then I can’t emphasize enough how much this book is for you.

Tad William's novel has potential (the premise is interesting, albeit underdeveloped) but it lacks in many departments.

There are major flaws and a general lack of context development; it made the novel lose interest rapidly for me. And it's a shame, because the premise of the heavenly advocates, and the bureaucratic legal disputes between Heaven and Hell could have made for an interesting read, but sorely they are absent. The author relies heavily on “it’s none of your business”, or “that’s anther story” and “I can’t explain it because Heaven is ineffable” excuses to avoid having to think anything through (any idea that elicits a raised eyebrow is just whisked away with the previous statements). He just skips over them.

There are so many inconsistencies and weak ideas it’s frustrating: the fact that angels can decant into other bodies when they die detracts from any kind of physical tension in the fight scenes; the romance between the 400-year old succubus from Hell and the street-smart angel reads like a teenage Romeo & Juliet; and so on. The main character has to constantly explain himself (badly) past these issues, but it just doesn’t work.

And finally, the writing is very bland, and although I’m not expecting Pulitzer level prose, maybe something more than your average paperback action style.

I really wanted to finish this based on the good reviews Tad Williams has, but the novel needed many more months of work. Again, it’s a shame when good authors rush their work.

I was very excited when this book was announced; Tad Williams was going to write about an angel caught between the politics practiced by Heaven and Hell. This was going to be a trilogy, and with Tad forsaking his door-stopper novel length approach, the project simply upped the intrigue factor for me besides its wonderful premise.

The main gist of the story is that angels reside among us; their angelic presence is ensconced in corporeal human shells. This allows them to go about doing their business, which is saving as many souls as possible when people die. The process consists of the following: after every death a representative from both Heaven and Hell gather in the dimension known as "The Outside", where every soul gets a hearing during which an angel and a demon argue like lawyers for its possession, and a heavenly angel adjudicates over said soul's afterlife. Bobby Dollar is among the several angels who stand in as representatives for Heaven against their hellish counterpart for deciding the fate of every person deceased.

This process has been going on for eons and never has it been different, until now. The most recent case for Bobby is tragic as the soul disappears during the judicial process and both Heaven & Hell get shaken up, and soon Bobby Dollar is accused of being the mastermind behind this unholy operation. What follows is a classic mystery as Bobby decides to investigate this disaster his own way. With surprising betrayals and even more surprising allies, he weaves his way within the fictional city of San Judas. It's from here where the story truly begins its rollicking run.

My first impression after finishing the book was that this was unlike any other Tad Williams book I've read so far and that's one of the best things about it. Tad Williams is one of my favorites and all his fans know his style of developing the story and characters, what this entails is that the start of most of his books is a bit on the slower side. Not The Dirty Streets Of Heaven as it quickly opens up the world settings and pushes the reader in a noir-ish world of angels, demons, and mankind. Featuring Bobby Dollar as the quirky narrative voice, the tale is very much a mish-mash of a noir detective story with urban fantasy. Set in the fictional city of San Judas, the author conveniently creates a world wherein the reader can easily escape into. The noir settings are easily managed, and with the supernatural so easily overlapped with the normal, this effort draws comparison with the magical Windy City of Jim Butcher.

While primarily being a quintessential noir detective story packaged nicely in an urban fantasy setting with angels, demons, and whole other sorts of creatures, the author neatly sidesteps the question of religion and faith by making the characters unsure of who truly rules Heaven. The angels are themselves are in the dark about which is the correct or the most accurate representation of God's word among mankind and this particularly adds another layer of intrigue to the world setting. This story is more about the angels doing their job on Earth and the way they get humanized. Characterization always has been a forte of Tad's work and once again is one of the book's highlights, beginning from Dollar to the side character cast and even extending to the villains; the author paints a colorful and mysterious cast. The main character often drops anecdotes and offers nuggets of wisdom gleaned from his experiences which portend that he's had a motley past. This feature makes the read even more exciting as readers can only speculate how much of it is true and what's bluster. On the other hand I'm ever curious to which of these past experiences might come into play in the future books.

The humor content is another feature that makes this story shine, beginning with Dollar's sarcastic and witty narrative to his interaction with a certain white wannabe rapper. The readers will definitely be entertained by the comedic narrative flow of the story and the author does his best to slip nods to pop culture as well as to classic detective stories. One thing that is very odd is the main protagonist's name and in this regard the author could have done better, Bobby Dollar sounds more like a pimp than a detective angel. Perhaps this was the author's intent in creating a funny yet weird name but as things stand, this wasn't one of the shining jobs performed by the author.

The story follows a mystery track and veteran mystery readers will be able to pick out certain clues from the proceedings so as to predict certain points about the climax but not the entire tale. This was the one real drawback of substance in this wonderful book. The way the story is set up makes it predictable but fun, with its twists and character traits, I believe it was the author's way of paying homage to the classic pulp-noir stories.

With a complete ending to most of the plot threads begun in this book, Tad Williams proves that he's adept in changing genres as he's as changing his literary style. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is a fantastic tale from the mind that gave us the Otherland series. Read this one if you want a good tale that mixes the styles of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett with those of Jim Butcher and Tim Pratt. For its said that you've never met an angel like Bobby Dollar. Read The Dirty Streets Of Heaven to find out why...

The Dirty Streets of Heaven is quite different from what I had previously read by Tad Williams which was his Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn epic fantasy series. However, what was familiar was the solid storytelling, excellent world & character building and dialog. This was an angel themed urban fantasy unlike most that I've read recently. Williams' imagining of the inner workings of Heaven and Hell were quite original and intriguing as well as including a fast moving plot that is not lacking in action or suspense. The Dirty Streets of Heaven definitely has all the ingredients for an exciting urban fantasy This almost had a noir feel to it with the heirarchy of both heaven & hell almost set up like a Godfather movie.

Angel Doloriel aka Bobby Dollar is a fast talking, snarky cynic who spends his days advocating for souls caught on the brink of heaven and hell. He finds himself in the middle of a dangerous situation that is likely far beyond his ability to handle and he's not really sure how he got there or how to get out of it. This first novel in the series introduces a quite array of quirky characters who were as abrasive as the dirty streets the title refers to, but satisfyingly so.. I've seen this compared with Jim Butcher's Dresden series and I would agree that fans of that series may want to check out this series.

I'm excited to follow Bobby Dollar's (mis)adventures in the upcoming sequel Happy Hour in Hell which should be released September 3! I would absolutely recommend this to fans of urban fantasy, noir fantasy, detective novels, and as I said above, fans of the Dresden Files.

If more urban fantasy was like this, I would read more urban fantasy. And if this is any indication of what Tad Williams can do with an interesting concept, I also need to be reading more Tad Williams.

I didn’t expect as much diversity of opinion in a book that involved Heaven, Hell, and a host of demons and angels fighting for the souls of the departed. A point is made by one of the angelic characters saying that even they don’t know which religion has the right of it, if any. This impressed me. A lot. A lot of books dealing with theology and religion tend to approach things from a, "This side is right and every other side is wrong," standpoint, but that wasn't the case at all here. Williams plays with mythology in interesting ways that still stay remarkably true to their roots.

That’s part of the fun of this novel. The angels, ostensibly on the side of Heaven and God and all that is good and light, are not just sweet little innocents or hard-nosed warriors, fighting for souls and territory. They’re varied. They have their opinions, their own gritty personalities, get jaded by the work they do, get depressed and go out drinking, and are wonderfully human, for all that they’re, well, not actually human. They sin. Sometimes spectacularly. They drink, they question, they argue about stupid pointless things, and you’re left with the overwhelming sense that these are real people, not just characters on a page.

The plot is so complex, “wheels within wheels,” that writing this feels like I’m deliberately making vague comments and it’s not coming across very clearly. That isn’t my intent. It’s just that it’s hard to talk about a complex multi-layered plot involving theology and multiple conspiracies without sounding horribly vague, unless you want to know the whole story in advance.

And I don’t want to ruin it for you.

The story is a fast-paced action-filled exciting trip from beginning to end. Even the slower moments still hold tension and intrigue, due to the mystery element of the book. The characters are wonderfully real, and Bobby Dollar’s narrative tone… Let’s just say that I could read short stories about this guy going out to get groceries, because even that mundanity would be no doubt filled with biting wit, sarcasm, intelligent introspection, and knowing his luck, probably him falling over and then snarking himself for it.

If this book has any failing, it’s that it’s more than a touch predictable. That’s the drawback of working with so many classic noir elements.But for all that you can see things coming, you can’t always tell what they are until they’re right in front of you. You get hints, inklings of deeper machinations, but the big reveal still comes as something of a surprise.

if you’re a fan of urban fantasy, or supernatural mysteries, or just highly intelligent and witty speculative fiction, then I can’t emphasize enough how much this book is for you.

Tad Williams never fails to thrill and enrich the mind. I loved this book, as I have loved all Tad's books. At first I was skeptical to read, because I am Christian and was afraid of where Tad may take this, but nothing offended me and I love Tad's take on the afterlife. One thing I have always struggled with is the idea of Hell and of whether or not it truly exists, whether the Lord would allow such a thing in regards to us his children. I would love to sit Tad down and hear what his thoughts are on that... then of course get him to sign all of my books. Thank you for the thrilling ride, Tad. I am now reading book two and greatly look forward to all the worlds you will reveal to us in the future.

I am familiar with Tad Williams by reputation, but had not read him; I picked up the book for its description more than the author, and I have to say I understand why Williams has a following. The world-building in this urban fantasy novel is seamless. Its depth does change the experience of reading a bit. Much of the urban fantasy I read zips along like a Summer blockbuster, a light and enjoyable experience without a ton of depth. This, by contrast, is a pretty meaty book. I took the time to fully experience it, and I was glad I did. Williams may have departed from his usual genre, but he clearly brings with him the tools of a master. Right down to the infomercial playing on t.v. during one intimate scene, he creates a world of such depth and consistency that it feels completely three-dimensional, entirely real. No small feat, given that our major players include angels, demons and a cursed werepig.

In the finer tradition of urban fantasy, which owes quite a debt to film noir, Williams' characters are morally nuanced. As hinted by the title, "the dirty streets of heaven", good and evil are not so clearly delineated. Told from the tight perspective of its titular hero, it doesn't try to detail every angel or demon, but it gives enough insight to those who are closest to the hero to make it obvious that you can't judge by the trappings or even necessarily by the actions.

Inside this morally-nuanced, three-dimensional world is an engaging mystery that offers good closure. I sometimes flinch away from books that broadcast themselves as "Volume One" - I don't have the memory I once did, and epic fiction can lose me as I wait between books. I appreciate that Williams managed to leave me feeling satisfied by this story, while at the same time leaving enough open-ended in Dollar's world that I'll want to immerse again with book two.

I thought it was wonderful. I recommend.

Summary -- 4 stars:
The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams is a very interesting book set in an interesting urban fantasy world modeled on the San Francisco Bay Area. The main character, Bobby Dollar, is a bit of an anti-hero which is an interesting feat considering he is an angel. Bobby has questions and likes to push the grey areas especially if someone is messing with him or his friends.

The book is a fairly fast read but you will have to get through the first 40 or so pages to set the table for the rest of the book. It is worth sticking with the book especially if you like urban fantasy. The take on how Heaven works is interesting and well thought out.

Overall, this is an enjoyable book in the urban fantasy genre. If you enjoy anti-hero / rebel heros, then you should definitely read this book.

Note: I have never read any books by Tad Williams so I am not sure if the quality or style is similar to anything he has done before.

World Setting/Mileu -- 4.25 stars:
The world developed by Tad Williams was very interesting to me as I am native of the San Francisco Bay Area. He did a very good job of using natural elements and places to quickly build up the world setting. I am not sure how effective it would be if you are not familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area. For me, it was very effective and complete. Tad does a very good job of contrasting Earth (mythical San Juan -- located somewhere north of Palo Alto but south of San Carlos)with Heaven. The scenes in Heaven are described very well with just enough detail to give you a feel but too much detail would ruin the vision of Heaven -- each person's view of it should be unique -- Note: This is a Christian center mythology.

Writing Style -- 3.75 to 4 stars:
Tad has a clean, tight and concise writing style that gets a lot of information across without a huge number of words. The dialog was simplistic but done with a clear nod to the Noir style of detective books. The combination helps to give Bobby Dollar more dimension and fun urban fantasy flair/style.

Plot -- 4 stars:
The plot has a fair number of twists and turns in it. You have to be paying attention as your are reading to keep up with the plot. If you skip a chapter or two, the rest of the book may not make sense. It ia a well developed plot that get Heaven and Hell involved in a non-world destroying way which is a good trick considering the true between the two sides, Tartarian Accords.

The addition of a love/lust affair with a Demon Countess is an interesting element but a bit on the cliche side. I did like the Countess as a character but Bobby was a bit of love sick school boy about it.

Bobby Dollar is certainly a private investigator with a difference - actually he is really the angel, Doloriel. He lives and operates on earth and his principal role is as Advocate for the newly departed. The way it all works is that when someone dies they appear before a judge and two representatives on behalf of hell and heaven respectively argue their case. Eventually the judge decides in favor of heaven, hell or a period in purgatory.

However, much to the consternation of all concerned, when all are gathered together after a new death it is found that the soul to be judged has completely disappeared. When this appears to be more than a one off occurrence the powers that be in heaven and hell are seriously concerned as the balance between the two is threatened.

As the advocate in the first missing soul case, Bobby is soon involved and is quickly caught up in an action packed investigation which pits him against various demons and other creatures from hell, as well as less physically threatening, but nonetheless challenging entities on his own side. An author creating his own unique environment in this way treads a very narrow dividing line and the whole thing can end up as seeming rather silly. However, to Tad Williams' credit the reader quickly gets caught up in the whole scenario which seems very believable and acceptable. Bobby Dollar is an extremely interesting character and his hard drinking, swearing and sometimes violent persona are quite far removed from what most would consider angelic behavior!

This is a story which really has everything. It never flags from the word go. Despite being quite long the reader's interest is engaged throughout. The ending is not at all predictable and we even have the unlikeliest of romances along the way. This is great stuff and happily we will not have to wait to long for more as apparently both Happy Hour in Hell and Sleeping Late on Judgement Day are in the works. They will certainly be high on my reading list.

Williams plunges the reader into a plot that unfolds two mysteries--who is stealing the souls of the newly dead and why are so many people out to get Bobby Dollar? Bobby is an angel who inhabits a human body and advocates for souls to get into heaven. He strives to outsmart the opposition, literally the lawyers from hell. One of his jobs goes wrong when a newly released soul disappears. This event alarms both sides because it deprives them of their population. Bobby may not survive his search for answers, because some really mean demons think he has an object that could incriminate them.

Bobby narrates his adventures in a wise-cracking style echoing the voice of the cynical private eyes in noir suspense. He has helpers--a ragtag bunch of advocate angels who hang out in a dive bar. He has adventures, his nemesis being a monster from hell that just won't die. And he falls in love. This being a noir world, his lover is a beautiful woman with a shady past. Another feature resembling the hardboiled style is that corruption and distrust infect all levels of society. Bobby has a recurring fear that his heavenly supervisors are setting him up for a big fall. Overall, Bobby's adventures call to mind the noir classic, The Maltese Falcon, with its complicated plot of double crosses and an obsessive search for a mysterious object.

Three main reasons to like the book: first, a go-for-it hero. Bobby charges into confrontations to find out who's stealing the dead and who has the mystery item. This leads to the second reason, a plot loaded with action, particularly the battles with the monster. Third, Bobby's wise-cracking voice gives him a game face to meet betrayal and violence.

When Tad Williams is good, he's really good. When he's not he tends to fall into overused tropes and repetitive action that drives me insane. Unfortunately, this was one of the "not-so-good" books.

I picked up The Dirty Streets of Heaven from the library because when I saw the cover I thought, "Someone's been watching Supernatural. Okay. I like Supernatural." (Note: I also hate it a lot when back-of-the-book blurbs trumpet the originality of the contents and the interior is completely derivative. Do you people read? Have you not been educated? Also, I can't help but notice how a male author can't call his work "paranormal," though it clearly is. But I digress...)

Well, anyway. To make a long, painful story short, I couldn't get through this. It took me two weeks of forcing myself to read to make it halfway. The premise is kind of interesting: Angels as defense lawyers for the deceased, with demons acting as the prosecution and a mystery of souls going missing. But I found the narrator's voice--something between a hard-boiled detective and a Brooklyn cabbie--super, super annoying. He went on at great length about not much at all, and I went from not caring much about him or any of the other characters to actively despising them. I hated the way Williams copped out of coming up with anything creative to say about the workings of Heaven and Hell with the old, "Don't ask me; It's ineffable!" line ad nauseam. And I am increasingly impatient with any novel that lacks significant female characters. Come on. It's not a boys' club here.

I have no idea who might like this book. I sure didn't.

It's such a fantastic surprise when a book exceeds your every expectation. I didn't just like this book -- I loved it!

First reason: the character of Bobby Dollar, who is a modern take on the classic hard-boiled, pulp-fiction private eye. This guy can go wise-crack for wise-crack with Sam Spade or stand toe-to-toe with Mike Hammer.

Second reason: the imaginative setting. I can't think of any other neo-noir setting that is quite so much fun as this one. The uneasy truce between heaven and hell is the perfect background for a private-eye procedural where all-is-definitely-not-what-it-seems.

Third reason: the performance. George Newbern makes Bobby's wisecracks come alive. His pitch-perfect delivery of the "Prince Sat-on-a-panda" wisecrack had me in stitches.

I've been a fan of Tad Williams's since Tailchaser's Song and I'm very happy to see him return to stand-alone novels. I eagerly await the next installment in the Bobby Dollar series.

I loved Tad William's Otherland series, but haven't read the rest of his work because I'm just not much on high/epic fantasy. So when I heard about this one - Urban fantasy and the Noir kicker, I was thrilled. And it was... okay... I had trouble with the main character's voice. Mostly he's too inclined to info-dump and that's annoying. The "I know you want to ask this," especially when 'no, I don't. I just want to get on with the story' is annoying. And the extended flashback at the beginning was both unnecessary and annoying. Beyond that, I think the book has some issues with its very nature. It's hard not to feel like there's something wrong with heaven and hell if he gets to go to heaven and she gets stuck in hell. I really think the Countess, probably the most interesting character in the book - except maybe Foxy - was poorly treated (yes, misogynistic). Tad tries to work around the inherent issues (but makes no attempt to bring noir into the 20th century), but it just breaks the storyline too often for me. Overall, certainly not a bad read. I finished the book. Tad Williams can write. But I probably won't go on to the second.

When it was announced that Tad Williams' next project would be an urban fantasy series, I was intrigued. I had no doubt that Williams could pull it off and come up with something good. Over the course of his career, the author has proven time and time again that he was versatile. And yet, Williams would now play in a much different sandbox. His latest work would be compared to those of bestselling machines such as Charlaine Harris and Jim Butcher. The question was: Could Tad Williams play with the big girls? Sorry, folks, but other than Butcher, female authors dominate the charts when it comes to urban fantasy.

The answer is yes, at least in terms of quality and originality. Time will tell if the urban fantasy crowd will give it a shot and dig it, or if it will mostly be Williams' existing fans that will move units of this novel. Still, The Dirty Streets of Heaven could well be the author's most accessible book to date.

Here's the blurb:

Bobby Dollar would like to know what he was like when he was alive, but too much of his time is spent working as an extremely minor functionary in the heavenly host judging recently departed souls.

Until the day a soul goes missing, presumed stolen by `the other side'.

A new chapter in the war between heaven and hell is about to open. And Bobby is right in the middle of it, with only a desirable but deadly demon to aid him.

The worldbuilding is intriguing. Although it must be said that Williams doesn't offer more than a few glimpses here and there. Hence, not a whole lot is unveiled regarding Heaven and Hell, Angels and Demons, and their eternal struggle. I enjoyed the glimpses we got from the futuristic and bureaucratic Heaven, and I would have loved to learn more about their hierarchy. Having said that, those glimpses make you want to beg for more, so Williams sure knows how to tease and ensure that we'll be there for the second volume! Another seemingly odd decision, at least by urban fantasy's standards, was to set the action in the fictitious Bay area town of San Judas. I figure that there must be a reason for this, but nothing in The Dirty Streets of Heaven hints at what it could be.

The first person narrative of Angel Doloriel, also known as Bobby Dollar, makes for an entertaining ride. As the main protagonist, Boddy Dollar may not be as endearing as Butcher's Harry Dresden or Vaughn's Kitty Norville. But like them, he's not always the sharpest tool in the shed and given the chance he certainly grows on you. The supporting cast is comprised of a number of interesting men and women, both from Heaven and Hell. Especially Sam and Casimira, both of whom have more depth than meets the eye. However, the whole Good vs Evil love affair was so clichéd that I'm persuaded Tad Williams has something unexpected in mind. Otherwise, that plotline is too easy, and Williams is not known for taking the path of least resistance.

The pace is great. Indeed, the rhythm is crisp, making The Dirty Streets of Heaven a real page-turner. Urban fantasy is known for relatively slender novels, forcing Williams to write with a much tighter focus than is usually his wont. A single POV precludes the high number of extraneous storylines that characterize Tad Williams' epic fantasy dootstopper works and keeps the spotlight on a single character through whose eyes the readers witness everything which is taking place. Hence, those SFF fans who found Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Otherland, and Shadowmarch long-winded and slow-moving at times might enjoy Tad Williams' first foray into the urban fantasy subgenre. Like the author's short fiction, The Dirty Streets of Heaven is quite different than his past novel-length works.

Some people have mentioned that this book is kind of a huge departure for Tad Williams in style and tone, and that it may not be suitable for all audiences. Such claims leave me shaking my head in bewilderment. WTF??? Because people swear and a penis makes an appearance or two? Come on, man! This is ridiculous! Although many of Williams' novels/series have cross-over appeal for a younger audience, I've always been under the impression that he writes more or less for a grown-up audience. After all, The Dragonbone Chair and its sequels made George R. R. Martin realize that fantasy for adults could still be written and published. I mean, these so called "young adults" so many people appear so concerned about, well they hear profanities all day long in school and everywhere else, and they have access to free porn on the internet. Do you really believe that reading a few paragraphs about and man and a woman engaged in sexual intercourse will shock them out of their minds??? If so, perhaps you are the one with a problem? Or perhaps you are of the Brandon Sanderson inclination and you won't put up with swear words and sex in books, but blood and gore and graphic violence are quite all right for kids?

No worries, folks. Bobby Dollar is indeed rough around the edges, but coarse language never becomes an issue. As for the sex, there is something like two quick scenes and it's nothing to write home about. When I read about the fuss this was generating, I was afraid that Williams had turned into Laurell K. Hamilton and that we'd get stuck with a bizarre love triangle between a sexy girl and a dark and handsome emo vampire and a muscular werewolf with a 12-inch cock. Fortunately for us, that's not the case. So please don't let such claims keep you from giving The Dirty Streets of Heaven a shot. It's another smart and entertaining read!

My only problem with the book was that the ending was rushed. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is essentially a vast introduction for what is to come. As such, it paves the way for the rest of the series by introducing the key players and laying a lot of groundwork. Problem is, the novel doesn't offer much in terms of resolution. Indeed, it's not as self-contained as I felt it needed to be. I felt that everything came to a head and ended too rapidly for the finale to have the sort of impact the book needed to end with a bang.

Still, with The Dirty Streets of Heaven Tad Williams demonstrated yet again the length and breadth of his talent and imagination. His first urban fantasy offering should satisfy his legions of fans and hopefully bring some new asses into the seats. The author has never written something so fast-paced and accessible. Hence, if you have been meaning to give Tad Williams a go, The Dirty Streets of Heaven might well be the perfect introduction to the author great and disparate body of work.

Will be lining up for volume 2!

Check out Pat's Fantasy Hotlist!

Bobby Dollar's voice and sense of humor is reminiscent of Harry Dresden's, giving this book a similar "feel", but the storyline is purely original. Here we have angels and demons (as opposed to wizards, vampires, fae and other paranormal creatures found in the Harry Dresden books). This is the first book in the series and is a great start. Bobby gets caught up in all kinds of craziness, including the search for missing souls and an investigation into the murder of a demon all while trying to stay alive himself. There is a lot going on and Bobby tells his story with a very entertaining narrative voice. I listened to this on audio and it is very well-suited for this medium. Narrator George Newbern is fantastic! He does a wonderful array of voices and his cadence and tone are perfect. I highly recommend listening to it, if you enjoy audiobooks, however, it would still be great in print.

This book blew me away! It grabbed my attention from the first page and didn't let go. I loved the gritty tone and the fact that the angels aren't necessarily so angelic. I also liked the Advocates and how they fight in a Celestial Court for the the souls of the recently deceased, talking with the person's Guardian Angel and Devil, and using events in their lives to argue for eternity in Heaven, Hell, or maybe they can cut a deal for some time in Purgatory.

The story is layered with so many different things, all fascinating. From forbidden love to the mystery of what is happening to the souls of the recently deceased (who are suddenly disappearing and neither side seems to know where), to conspiracies and lies, ancient monsters and the testing of friendships. Tad Williams has written an amazing book that kept me up late into the early morning hours when I finally had to force myself to go to sleep.

Can't wait for the next book!

I enjoyed the book tremendously. It is a little more earthy than Williams' more recent books, including colorful expletives to highlight moments of tension and a couple of adult scenes to establish the power and significance of a relationship.

In simplest terms, the book is an urban fantasy about angels and demons who advocate, each for their own side, for the souls of the dead, and what happens when a soul disappears and a demon advocate is killed and an angel advocate becomes curious about those events.

This is the first book of a new series. Although most of the questions that come up in the course of this story are answered by the end of the book, there is one question, in two parts, that is left unanswered, and it is that question, I think, which will tie the series together.

This is a fun alt-theological, alt-soteriological read, a gin-soaked-PI take on the thankless gig of an angelic advocate, memory-stripped Doloriel (Bobby Dollar), whose day job of defending the newly dead against Infernal accusers at their post-mortem intake is eerily interrupted by a death without a soul. Bobby soon finds himself to be the McGuffin everybody wants (or wants dead), without quite knowing why, as the forces of Heaven and Hell come down hard -- not quite together, but close enough -- in an effort to prevent a renegade faction that wants to establish a Third Way, free of both bureaucracies.

Explicit sex and profanity make this not an angel romance for YA readers... for that matter, it's not a romance. It's Milton, re-written by Dashiell Hammett.

I used to love Tad Williams, but then stopped reading much fantasy. However, the heaven/hell thing always interests me, and I knew his take on it would be complex and detailed.

Imagine that angels and demons live amongst us, owning businesses, eating, drinking, and hopping back and forth behing the "zipper". They all have jobs, and Bobby Dollar's job is to help newly dead souls during their trial process, in which lawyers from heaven and hell debate where the person's soul should go in front of a judge.

When souls start disappearing before trial, officials in all realms get a little freaked out. Since the soul happens to be one of Dollar's assignments, he gets drawn into this drama.

The visits to heaven and hell are rich with imagery, the characters are fascinating, and the answer to where the souls have gone leads to more novels! Can't wait.

You need to pay attention while reading this book. There are so many characters, and subplots being thrown around it can get a little confusing.
But I did think that the subject matter was very interesting. I wish the author spent a little more time on the advocate portion of the job, because for some reason I found that more fascinating.
I'm not sure if I can understand why Bobby and Sam are still friends, or why Bobby puts up with Clarence. I think he has better friends in the pig and the Asian albino.
And the descriptions of Heaven are hard to gasp, but since it's Heaven I'm willing to let that go.
I'm still on the fence with the Third Way, but I'm willing to read the next book to find out how Bobby deals with that. Because I did like him as a character, he's funny.

When I started this book, I was reminded strongly of the Dresden Files; first person narrative, supernatural slant, etc. However, Tad Williams has always been known to turn a genre on its ear, whether it is epic fantasy, fairy tales, or urban fantasy. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is a story with a few predictable elements, more than a few harrowing chases, and lots of twists.

I never judge a Tad Williams series based on the first book alone. You never get the full, grand picture of things until later on. Then you wonder what you missed in the beginning and want to read it again (and again). I like this first offering in the Bobby Dollar series. The book stands on its own, but promises so much more. I can't wait to find out what lurks inside Tad's devious mind.

I've been reading Tad Williams for almost 20 years. My bookshelf attests to his penchant for long, epic, multi-book fantasies (yes, I include Otherland as Fantasy, even though its premise is sci-fi). So when I hear he plans to stray from what I consider a strength, I grow immediately skeptical and nervous.

In the case of Bobby Dollar and The Dirty Streets of Heaven, however, my skepticism has been beaten down, body slammed, checked against a railing, and tossed off a cliff. This book is just plain fun. The narrator is a likable, sarcastic, adventuresome, troublemaking angel who doesn't quite understand Heaven and isn't sure he cares to. The story shifts from story point to story point at a reckless pace, introducing new characters and new mysteries along the way without too much confusion, and it's full of hilarious observation and commentary.

The highlights come when we take a break from the earth-bound adventures and explore the ways and hierarchies (and yes, political bureaucracies) of Heaven and Hell. Here, Tad takes his fantastic world building skills and applies them to concepts with which we're already familiar, giving them new life and intrigue. In a lot of ways, Heaven behaves all too human, as does Hell. Great stuff.

At the end of the day, The Dirty Streets of Heaven shows how much fun can be had when an expert storyteller leaps into a new world, with new characters, and a new voice. What's not to love?

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.

Sam Spade with a tarnished halo, the dame who walks into Bobby Dollar's life has a hint of brimstone to go along with her perfume. Though Bobby's day to day angelic duties are more Law and Order than P. I. work, when a soul turns up missing he is forced to go off the reservation and start investigating things on his own.

It took me a chapter or so to get used to Bobby's noire point of view, but his turn of a phrase had me laughing out loud almost immediately. I was really hooked once the focus moved from how the immediately-after-life works to pounding the pavement in search of answers. Unfortunately, angelic politics frame the beginning and end of this book, which means I only found the middle completely engrossing.

Angels in urban fantasy are a tricky business for me, and while the character dynamic of THE DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN had me laughing out loud, the afterlife machinations that had Bobby Dollar on the run never really made sense. Williams writes convincingly of angels as "human" workers, advocating to win souls without nitpicking on moral matters, but it's still unclear how these flawed foot soldiers fit in to the greater celestial picture. That uncertainty is find over the course of the series, but that meant that the mystery/action portion of THE DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN didn't evoke an emotional response from me.

All of the supporting characters around Bobby are a little shady, from his buddy Sam to his ex-girlfriend to the new kid or the demonic temptress that he can't stop thinking about. I liked the uncertainty of not knowing if Bobby were making the right decisions on who to trust. Williams doesn't tie any of the these relationships up with a bow, which means all of the uncertainty and questions in THE DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN will provide character driven conflict for book two. Though book one wasn't quite enough to have me emotionally on the hook, I'm definitely looking forward to HAPPY HOUR IN HELL next year.

Sexual Content: Sex scenes.

'The Dirty Streets of Heaven' by Tad Williams is the first part of a trilogy that involves angels and demons, Heaven and Hell, mortals and immortals of various types, and...Judgement. It is an interesting set up that offers a great basis to build on, and this beginning book starts doing that.

I find the approach to this book similar to the 'Nekropolis Archives' by Tim Waggoner, which feature a PI named Matt Richer who has his adventures take place in Hell, and also close to the classic 'Infernal' storylines by Edward Lee. These books are based in Hell and give details to the beings and way of existing in such a place. Williams book does a similar thing, but using Heaven as a location and descriptions of that location and ways it is run. He does a good job of this with solid writing full of interesting detail.

The book centers around an Angel named Bobby Dollar. He is earth based in a human body, one of many he has used as in this book the type of Angel he is are given human bodies to use until they wear out and then are assigned to a new one. His job is to be present when a human dies and that persons soul is to be judged to go either to Heaven or Hell. He is the legal rep for the side of Good and also present is a demon prosecutor and a Judge. Dollar is one of just many Angels who act as 'advocates' all over the earth whenever someone dies.

Things go wrong when Dollar is called to a hearing for a recently deceased person. He is there, the opposing demon is there, the Judge is there, everyone is there...but the persons soul that is to be judged. This is an unheard of event and one that sets everything into chaos. Both sides claim to not be to blame for this missing soul, so it raises the question, if not THEM then WHO is responsible for it. From there things progress to get even MORE complicated.

Again this is the first book in a trilogy, and that is important to remember. As the book does complete one story arc, it sets up the next one in a strong way. Also there are a lot of other questions left unknown about the goings on Heaven, Hell and Earth. I am eager to see how Williams builds on these items in the following books.

'The Dirty Streets of Heaven' is a fun, interesting read. I am looking forward to the next installment.

"The Dirty Streets of Heaven" is the first book in a new urban fantasy series that combines elements of gritty noir with the supernatural. Bobby Dollar is an angel known as an Advocate, which is the heavenly version of a lawyer. When people die, an angel and a demon present arguments before a judge as to whether that soul should go to Heaven or to Hell. Bobby argues for souls in the general region of San Judas, California. However, one day souls begin disappearing before the process can take place, and when Bobby Dollar begins to investigate, he finds himself caught up in a plot that's way over his head.

Bobby Dollar's character makes this novel work. He's funny, he's sarcastic, he's sometimes an ass, and above all, he seems entirely human. He likes to drink, he hangs out at the pub with his friends, and he sometimes sleeps with somebody and regrets it in the morning. It's not what you'd expect from an angel, but Tad Williams pulls it off incredibly well and uses it to reinforce the atmosphere that the book creates.

The minor characters are equally as vibrant. There's Casimira, the Countess of Cold Hands, a goth demon chick that Bobby Dollar finds irresistible, despite (or perhaps even because of) the fact that they're working for different sides in a struggle that's remarkably similar to the Cold War. There's Clarence, the rookie, who is a new Advocate who's been sent down from the records department despite having no formal training. Then there's Sam, Bobby's old war buddy turned drinking buddy, and Monica, Bobby's ex, and the unresolved feelings between the two of them. I appreciated the way that Tad Williams was able to give his characters believable and realistic social circles, and the characters remind you of somebody that you'd know and that you'd like to hang out with.

Despite Tad William's excellent writing and vibrant characters, the story still lacks a certain spark of originality. The characterization and the details are wonderful, but the whole angels and demons arguing over souls thing sounds a bit like a made for TV movie. Mind you, I still enjoyed it, but I did wish that there would have been a bit more of a twist or a departure from tradition.

If the idea of Law & Order with angels and demons sounds interesting to you, then you'll probably enjoy this one.

Tad Williams has been a constant fixture in the fantasy & science fiction genre for the past 25 years. His MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN series is often hailed as one of the finest post-Tolkien epics, and he has established a reputation for writing intelligent door-stopping, novels such as the OTHERLAND books (four volumes) or the SHADOWMARCH series (again, four volumes).

His new novel, THE DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN, however, is something of a departure for him, maybe even a career changer. It is the first of three (for now at least) planned volumes in this series called the BOOBY DOLLAR BOOKS, but each volume is self-contained and can be read independently from the others.

Doloriel is a rather ordinary low-level angel working under his earthly alias Bobby Dollar. He is an angelic advocate; on behalf of the recently deceased he argues for their immortal souls to be accepted into heaven rather than going to hell or even purgatory. He meets his fellow angelic advocates regularly in his favourite angel bar, but he is largely minding his own business and doing his job (which is a lot less glamorous than it sounds like), when suddenly immortal souls start disappearing and neither heaven nor hell seem to now why or how. Bobby Dollar's life is suddenly at stake even though he does not really know why. However, he is quite sure that his heavenly superiors are not telling him everything and that if he wants to save his own immortal soul, he just has to find out what is happening by himself.

DIRTY STREETS starts out as a classic noir detective novel with overtones of Raymond Chandler rather than echoes of Tolkienian epic fantasy. Bobby Dollar is an engaging POV character whose distinctive, witty narrative voice drives the story forward at breakneck pace. He is playing against a colourful ensemble cast of angels, demons and other otherworldly beings. And while the books offers plenty of action and excitement, it is not all empty calories; there is some serious meat on the bones of this novel. A great, fun read that leaves this reader wanting more as soon as possible!

Bobby Dollar is an angel who serves as an advocate for the recently deceased. Whenever someone dies, their soul is fought over by Heaven and Hell, with advocates from both sides competing for it. Dollar's latest case is complicated when the soul in question vanishes, and even the infernal legions of Hell seem at a loss as to what's going on. As Dollar investigates, he uncovers ancient conspiracies, political infighting even amongst the ranks of the angels of Heaven and that he himself has been targeted by every supernatural gang in California. He just doesn't know why.

The Dirty Streets of Heaven is the opening novel in the Bobby Dollar series by Tad Williams. Williams is best known for his shelf-destroying epic fantasies and the extremely slow pace of his novels. His recent Shadowmarch series suffered from a glacially ponderous structure that sometimes threatened to spill over into outright boredom. However, Williams's move into urban fantasy has been like a shot of pure storytelling adrenalin. The Dirty Streets of Heaven moves like a whippet with its tail on fire.

The book outlines its ground rules early on: Heaven and Hell are real, but their forces have been in a state of uneasy peace (or a Cold War) for millions of years. Complex rules govern their interactions. The relationship between the two sides shifts by location; Muslims, Jews and those of other faiths experience different results to those of nominally Christian denominations. Also, being an atheist is no help either. Spirits in Heaven have their memories wiped of their mortal lives, allowing them to start over, whilst those in Hell are damned by their previous actions and forced to recall them vividly. Given the low-key nature of a lot of urban fantasies, it's interesting to see Williams outlining an epic backdrop right from the very start.

Bobby Dollar is our only POV character (the novel is told from the first-person) and is a complex individual, nominally on the side of Light but a bit too fond of mortal vices like sex and drink. His superiors despair of his methods, but he gets results and remains loyal to the Highest (who hasn't been seen or head in eons), so is tolerated. Dollar has a bunch of allies and helpers, such as fellow angel Sam (who he was in the angel special forces with) and a superb information-broker who has unfortunately been cursed into a reversed werepig, only lucid and capable of intelligence speech between the hours of midnight and dawn when he is in the shape of a pig.

Freed from the language and technological constraints of medieval fantasy, Williams goes to town in this novel. The author is clearly having a lot of fun as he hits the reader with a lot of inventive ideas, fast-paced action scenes and decent moments of character introspection. The relatively short length (400 pages makes the book a novella by Williams's normal standards) means that the pace has to be fast and furious, packed with plot twists and revelations.

The only complaint that the solution to the mystery in the book relies a little too much on the metaphysics of the setting, which have not been fully explained, so it's hard for the reader to solve the puzzle themselves (half the fun of a good mystery).

Beyond that, The Dirty Streets of Heaven (****½) is Williams on top form, delivering a page-turning, highly inventive, fun read and his best book in a decade. The novel will be available on 4 September in the USA and on 13 September in the UK.

Tad Williams wrote one of my favorite books of all time (Tailchaser's Song). As a result, I have attempted to read a lot of his other books and series. I admire the man a lot. He puts a lot of detail into his worlds. He writes interesting characters and he's decent at doling out details in his stories without making it feel like you've just taken a college course on the history of X.

Oddly, though, I'm rarely motivated to go on to book two. I hope for another Tailchaser with each new series, and I haven't found it yet. In this case, I was especially hopeful, because I'm a big fan of stories with angels and demons. This seems like the perfect setup, you know? I liked Bobby. I am a huge fan of a snarky first-person narrative (where I once thought first person was weird and off-putting; I'm a convert!). I kept coming back to the book and I wasn't bored. I genuinely wanted to follow the clues of the story's mini-mystery and I hadn't figured it out by the time I got to the end...

But I'm not particularly driven to pick up book two. I don't think that's a fault with the writing. This is a perfectly enjoyable, serviceable book. But when it comes to my reading time, I don't really want serviceable. I want to be completely blown away.

So it's not you, book. It's me. If you like snark and you like angels and you're looking for something a little different from Tad, check this one out. Maybe the angels will sing for you.