Michael Slade's Blog
December 9, 2016
HEADHUNTER Reimagined
Sixty years ago today, my dad died in a plane crash.
HEADHUNTER - published in 1984 - came out of my psychological reaction to his death, and veered my career from criminal law to crime writing.
Because HEADHUNTER was based on what I had experienced in defending and prosecuting murders linked to the sexual underground of Vancouver and hundreds of trials involving the RCMP, so much of the plot played out in real-life scenarios over the next thirty-odd years.
So - for my 15th thriller in the Special X series about the psycho-hunters of the Mounted Police - I spent the last two years writing an all-new version of the original plot with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
HEADHUNTER Reimagined is now published as a Kindle, Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Nook ebook available on this Buy page for about $3.99 US:
http://www.specialx.net/specialxdotne...
For the story behind the retelling, here's The History of Michael Slade and HEADHUNTER Reimagined:
http://www.specialx.net/specialxdotne...
So - whether you're new to Slade's crime-ridden world or a longtime "Sladist" - there's no better place to enter or revisit the Special X series than Back to the Beginning.
February 9, 2014
RED SNOW
Hello,
This is Michael Slade. Starting today - February 9, 2014 - I'll be active on Goodreads.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are under way, and in a dark parallel universe, I wrote a thriller focused on all that can go wrong.
RED SNOW was e-published worldwide this week on all major platforms...
http://specialx.net/specialxdotnet/e-...
...and will be on sale for 99 cents from Wednesday, February 12 to 19, 2014.
I've been writing Mountie Noir thrillers for 30 years (14 paper books published by Penguin)...
http://specialx.net/specialxdotnet/no...
...so if you're a potential new reader, or a "Sladist" who wants to introduce a friend to my fictional world at a topical time in current events, RED SNOW at under a dollar is a good place to begin.
All Slade novels fuse 5 crime sub-genres: softboiled, hardboiled, police procedure, thriller, and horror. For obvious reasons, I'm thrilled by this review that came in yesterday:
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Text: I think I gulped this book rather than turned pages; it moved THAT fast! The definition of "page turner" is right here: "Red Snow." The single quality I appreciate most in horror is implacability, and here is a killer mastermind, admittedly a brilliant planner, who is, quite simply, unstoppable.
M. Anne-Marie Forbes
So, thank you, Anne-Marie.
I'll be back soon.
Slade
This is Michael Slade. Starting today - February 9, 2014 - I'll be active on Goodreads.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are under way, and in a dark parallel universe, I wrote a thriller focused on all that can go wrong.
RED SNOW was e-published worldwide this week on all major platforms...
http://specialx.net/specialxdotnet/e-...
...and will be on sale for 99 cents from Wednesday, February 12 to 19, 2014.
I've been writing Mountie Noir thrillers for 30 years (14 paper books published by Penguin)...
http://specialx.net/specialxdotnet/no...
...so if you're a potential new reader, or a "Sladist" who wants to introduce a friend to my fictional world at a topical time in current events, RED SNOW at under a dollar is a good place to begin.
All Slade novels fuse 5 crime sub-genres: softboiled, hardboiled, police procedure, thriller, and horror. For obvious reasons, I'm thrilled by this review that came in yesterday:
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Text: I think I gulped this book rather than turned pages; it moved THAT fast! The definition of "page turner" is right here: "Red Snow." The single quality I appreciate most in horror is implacability, and here is a killer mastermind, admittedly a brilliant planner, who is, quite simply, unstoppable.
M. Anne-Marie Forbes
So, thank you, Anne-Marie.
I'll be back soon.
Slade
August 20, 2012
RED SNOW by Michael Slade
E-Book Available Here:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Snow-SPECIA...
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Snow-SPEC...
Someone is bushwhacking athletes preparing for the Winter Olympics.
Soon, a winter whiteout and a madman's gang of mercenaries cut Whistler Mountain off from the rest of the world.
Bent on a bloody vendetta, Mephisto sets his sights on Chief Superintendent DeClercq. His plan includes assassinating those closest to the Mountie. And that's just the start of his doomsday scheme.
To stop the megalomaniac, Special X psycho-hunters (and the reader) must solve two whodunits, two howdunits, two locked room puzzles, and a dying message.
Let the games begin!
Reviews:
"A cracking good detective story. Slade gives shock horror a chilling new dimension. I'll never look at the Winter Olympics in quite the same way!" - Anne Perry (the Pitt and Monk series)
"Faster! Higher! Stronger! Gorier! Red Snow imagines an Olympics where the gold, silver, and bronze are spattered with bright red blood. A high-proof antidote to Olympics hype." - CTV Olympics
"Slade's books are blood-chilling, spine-tingling, gut-wrenching, stomach-churning, and a much closer look at the inside of a maniac's brain than most people would find comfortable - but always riveting." - Diana Gabaldon (the Outlander series)
"Hot read! If you like gore and action, then this novel delivers." - Montreal Gazette
"Crisply-written, sly and exciting. Slade is a writer who clearly knows how to tell a story and make it real. A warning: it's not for the squeamish, or for those who suffer from chionophobia (the fear of snow, red or otherwise)." - Robert McCammon (the Matthew Corbett series)
"This one is guaranteed to keep you awake with the lights burning." - The Globe and Mail
"In the annals of dark fiction, Canada can claim one true champion in Michael Slade. Red Snow's plot yanks you compulsively toward its solution, and the shocks make you jerk back in fright." - Toronto Star
"Red Snow is Slade in top form with his trademarked relentless pacing and one of the most ingenious and unsettling murder weapons ever imagined." - F. Paul Wilson (the Repairman Jack series)
"Red Snow takes Olympics security fears to the bloody max, and leaves readers wondering if the Games can go on." - Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Victoria Times Colonist, Saskatoon Star Phoenix
"Another Slade Slam-dunk! His genius lies in being able to scare readers to death by injecting psychotic nightmares into humdrum, everyday reality." - Jack Whyte (the Camulod Chronicles)
"Ian Fleming-esque in its narrative drive. Mephisto makes Hannibal Lecter look like a dime store hoodlum." - Fangoria
"A great villain. Mephisto is the kind of homicidal maniac you can't take your eyes off. With good twists, the writing is tight and compelling." - Winnipeg Free Press
"If it bleeds, it leads. The title says it all. Slade's gory mayhem imagines every worst-case scenario Olympics Security could possibly face." - The Vancouver Sun
"What evil lurks in those packed Olympics hotels? Michael Slade has a few ideas. He won't be winning any gold medal of appreciation in this Olympics year - or, perhaps, any in the next decade." - National Post
"You can bet your last set of commemorative glasses that the Olympics Committee is none too happy about this crime thriller. If you've got the stomach for the strong stuff, Red Snow gets the job done." - Calgary Herald
"Any Olympics security officer would have nightmares reading Red Snow." - Halifax Chronicle Herald
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Snow-SPECIA...
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Snow-SPEC...
Someone is bushwhacking athletes preparing for the Winter Olympics.
Soon, a winter whiteout and a madman's gang of mercenaries cut Whistler Mountain off from the rest of the world.
Bent on a bloody vendetta, Mephisto sets his sights on Chief Superintendent DeClercq. His plan includes assassinating those closest to the Mountie. And that's just the start of his doomsday scheme.
To stop the megalomaniac, Special X psycho-hunters (and the reader) must solve two whodunits, two howdunits, two locked room puzzles, and a dying message.
Let the games begin!
Reviews:
"A cracking good detective story. Slade gives shock horror a chilling new dimension. I'll never look at the Winter Olympics in quite the same way!" - Anne Perry (the Pitt and Monk series)
"Faster! Higher! Stronger! Gorier! Red Snow imagines an Olympics where the gold, silver, and bronze are spattered with bright red blood. A high-proof antidote to Olympics hype." - CTV Olympics
"Slade's books are blood-chilling, spine-tingling, gut-wrenching, stomach-churning, and a much closer look at the inside of a maniac's brain than most people would find comfortable - but always riveting." - Diana Gabaldon (the Outlander series)
"Hot read! If you like gore and action, then this novel delivers." - Montreal Gazette
"Crisply-written, sly and exciting. Slade is a writer who clearly knows how to tell a story and make it real. A warning: it's not for the squeamish, or for those who suffer from chionophobia (the fear of snow, red or otherwise)." - Robert McCammon (the Matthew Corbett series)
"This one is guaranteed to keep you awake with the lights burning." - The Globe and Mail
"In the annals of dark fiction, Canada can claim one true champion in Michael Slade. Red Snow's plot yanks you compulsively toward its solution, and the shocks make you jerk back in fright." - Toronto Star
"Red Snow is Slade in top form with his trademarked relentless pacing and one of the most ingenious and unsettling murder weapons ever imagined." - F. Paul Wilson (the Repairman Jack series)
"Red Snow takes Olympics security fears to the bloody max, and leaves readers wondering if the Games can go on." - Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Victoria Times Colonist, Saskatoon Star Phoenix
"Another Slade Slam-dunk! His genius lies in being able to scare readers to death by injecting psychotic nightmares into humdrum, everyday reality." - Jack Whyte (the Camulod Chronicles)
"Ian Fleming-esque in its narrative drive. Mephisto makes Hannibal Lecter look like a dime store hoodlum." - Fangoria
"A great villain. Mephisto is the kind of homicidal maniac you can't take your eyes off. With good twists, the writing is tight and compelling." - Winnipeg Free Press
"If it bleeds, it leads. The title says it all. Slade's gory mayhem imagines every worst-case scenario Olympics Security could possibly face." - The Vancouver Sun
"What evil lurks in those packed Olympics hotels? Michael Slade has a few ideas. He won't be winning any gold medal of appreciation in this Olympics year - or, perhaps, any in the next decade." - National Post
"You can bet your last set of commemorative glasses that the Olympics Committee is none too happy about this crime thriller. If you've got the stomach for the strong stuff, Red Snow gets the job done." - Calgary Herald
"Any Olympics security officer would have nightmares reading Red Snow." - Halifax Chronicle Herald
