Ripper

Rating:
Summary: One of the most violent books I have ever read
Review: 400 pages of insanity, wall to wall chaos, gore, sex, and chaos. Slade's best book in my opinion for the simple fact that this novel is unashomed to be what it is - a 400 page trip to hell and back.

Read this book!

((Hoping Burnt Bones and Death's Door are this good...about to read those....))

Rating:
Summary: BUT THE KITCHEN SINK
Review: I gotta hand it to Michael Slade's "Ripper." There's enough plot lines and stories going on in this book, it could be two or three books in one! And one can't help but admire his blatant rip-off of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." The whole thing on the island mystery murder trip is a novel in itself, and Slade pulls the stops out on the way he disposes of the writers who have come there. Ironically, the killer's identity follows very similarly the path of Ms. Christie's classic, so don't be too surprised when the identity is revealed. With that said, what can one say about a book that features not only this, but two gruesome serial killers, a devil cult that goes back many years, witches, sadism, bestiality, and some of the most descriptive gore and sexual perversion ever captured on ink. Whew! This book does demand a lot of bending the rules. Give it to Slade, though. It's good, and well developed. The characters of LeClerq, Craven and Zinc Chandler are exceptional. Of course, since this is a series, this thriller leaves some storylines unfinished, but hopefully they will be resolved in his next one. This is my first Slade; Some of his earlier works are very hard to acquire, but I do have the follow-ups to "Ripper" so I'm anxious to see if he maintains his bold approach to the genre.

Rating:
Summary: BUT THE KITCHEN SINK
Review: I gotta hand it to Michael Slade's "Ripper." There's enough plot lines and stories going on in this book, it could be two or three books in one! And one can't help but admire his blatant rip-off of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." The whole thing on the island mystery murder trip is a novel in itself, and Slade pulls the stops out on the way he disposes of the writers who have come there. Ironically, the killer's identity follows very similarly the path of Ms. Christie's classic, so don't be too surprised when the identity is revealed. With that said, what can one say about a book that features not only this, but two gruesome serial killers, a devil cult that goes back many years, witches, sadism, bestiality, and some of the most descriptive gore and sexual perversion ever captured on ink. Whew! This book does demand a lot of bending the rules. Give it to Slade, though. It's good, and well developed. The characters of LeClerq, Craven and Zinc Chandler are exceptional. Of course, since this is a series, this thriller leaves some storylines unfinished, but hopefully they will be resolved in his next one. This is my first Slade; Some of his earlier works are very hard to acquire, but I do have the follow-ups to "Ripper" so I'm anxious to see if he maintains his bold approach to the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying on many levels
Review: I've been a fan of Michael Slade's since a friend lent me a copy of "Ghoul" several years ago. What elevates Slade above the dross one generally finds within this genre is the amount of historical fact that provides the backdrop to the action. Slade excels in this respect. With "Ripper" the fictional crimes are inspired by the activities of a true-life Jack The Ripper suspect in the person of Roslyn D'Onston Stephenson (the favoured suspect in the opinion of at least one author, Melvyn Harris, whose "The True Face of Jack the Ripper" is heavily referenced by Slade in his book). If you're looking for a highly entertaining, if bloodthirsty, read, then this is the book for you. If you're an amateur Ripperologist, Ripper will send you scurrying back to Amazon.com to order some of the books Slade used to research his novel.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Slade Book yet
Review: This was actually the first Slade book I read, and was really the greatest. If you like booby traps that kill people in unusual, and quite gruesome, ways, you will love this book. It's fast paced, except for some history background that will slow the story down a little bit. But a book could not be called a Slade book if it didn't have some interesting historical story to back it up with. A great read and will keep you on your toes til the very end.

Rating:
Summary: GUTT WRENCHING! DISTRUBING! AN EXCELLENT READ!
Review: This was my first Slade reading and it was great! Scary, suspenseful, well written, and greatly detailed. With a great mix of legend, facts and characters. I will now be reading all of his books--I guess I'm a Sladist, too! Can't wait to get the others!!