Rating: 
Summary: Michael Slade's worst novel
Review: The author admits at the end of the book to having written it on a bet. Well it certainly wasn't written to contribute to any further character development of the characters in his previous novels.
The novel is the author's worst work to date, and I say that having actually enjoyed most of his previous novels. There is really no story here and most of the book is filled with historical notes few of which are germaine to the plot. There are a lot of fantasies and flashbacks to previous Michael Slade novels.
Overall the book is boring and nearly unreadable. It certainly convinced me not to look forward to any other novels from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: gruesome psychothriller
Review: The Forensic Psychiatric Hospital at Colony Farm in Vancouver is the home of the insane serial killer known as the Ripper. He believes that he is actually the real Jack the Ripper who can go back in time through a wyrmhole in space caused by his magical manipulation of the tarot card The Hanged Man. He blames Inspector Zinc Chandler of the Special External section of the RCMP for his inability to do go anywhere besides Victorian England. Ripper holds Zach responsible for ruining a magical rite the Ripper was performing. He also knows that Zach's efforts led to his present captivity.When the Goth visits the Ripper at the hospital, he begs the psycho to teach him the art of time travel. The Ripper does so in return for the Goth's promise to kill and then eat Zinc. The police feel that two murders, one and a half years apart in Vancouver and Seattle, were committed by the same person. Zinc, who is involved in both cases, is taking a vacation to the South Seas Cook Islands lured there by the Goth who intends to spring his trap while on tour. Michael Slade is the king of psychothrillers, and his latest work BED OF NAILS comes as close to horror as the genre is defined without actually crossing over the line. This is not a work for the faint of heart for there is very gruesome, gory and explicit scenes spread throughout the story line. The incredible imagery will give readers nightmares. Readers who relish monsters wearing a human face must read a Michael Slade novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Oh, the horror.
Review: The serial killer as fictional entertainment has become a rich staple of the horror genre, spawning arguably more novels than there could conceivably be actual killers. Thomas Harris melded terror and skill with his Hannibal Lector trilogy. Joyce Carol Oates fictionalized the exploits of Jeffrey Dahmer in her literary gore-fest Zombie. James Patterson has being paying the rent for years with his countless and frankly lousy Alex Cross novels. However, the genre would be hard-pressed to spawn a novel as unrelentingly, irredeemably awful as the latest from Michael Slade. Bed of Nails, the eighth in a series of Canada-based 'psycho-thrillers', tells the gory, convoluted, and insanely boring story of Zinc Chandler, inspector with a branch of the RCMP which deals with serial killers. When a body is found posed in the manner of the Hanged Man tarot card, Chandler becomes enmeshed in a revenge plot involving Jack the Ripper, cannibalism, Captain Cook, and the cult novelist H. P. Lovecraft. Slade is actually a pseudonym for a series of rotating authors, here represented by the father/daughter team of Jay and Rebecca Clarke. Mr. Clarke is a criminal lawyer, leading one to anticipate a modicum of realism amidst the narrative, a melding of hard law and gruesome prose. Instead, the team has penned a novel of such astonishing ineptitude, the trashy novels of Harlequin Romance seem like Dostoevsky in comparison. Slade's prose is so leaden, so bereft of style, it would work far better as parody. When Chandler loses his wife (not a plot point so much as a pointless attempt at characterization), he shakes "his fist at God in anger for what He . . . She . . . It - whatever - had done to Alex. You celestial psycho, he thought. Satan damn you. Burn in hell, God." Whatever Slade anticipated as a reaction to Chandler's crisis, it shouldn't have been derisive laughter. As the novels of Dean Koontz attest, even badly written stories can be breezily entertaining. Slade, however, has no apparent conception as to how to create any sense of flow. At one point, while Chandler pursues his quarry though a Caribbean cave "like waste through a cancerous intestine", Slade constantly interrupts the chase with datum on the formation of stalactites, the bat-like qualities of a native bird, and so forth. A three page chase is extended over twenty agonizing pages through Slade's purposeless and distracting asides. The only thing more excruciating than Slade's inability to tell a story is the ludicrous killer. As Thomas Harris proved, even convoluted revenge fantasies can be delivered with style and believability. Yet Slade shows no aptitude for either character or plot, leaving the "psycho" to blather on incessantly and unnecessarily. Worse still, the 'surprise' identity of the killer is stunningly obvious to anyone who has ever read another book or seen any movie on the subject. Bereft of suspense, void of character, and deficient in talent, Bed of Nails is a failure at every level, save one. In its last pages, Slade blatantly sets up a sequel. Oh, the horror.
Rating:
Summary: THE ONGOING SAGA OF THE RCMP
Review: Unlike a previous reviewer, I found this lastest edition of the fictional - based on factual - account of life in the world of the RCMP as related by Michael Slade to be another rousing good read.
I particularly like the detail provided at the end of each book based on the factual information used in creating the story.
I have been hooked on this series ever since the first offering (Headhunter), and frequently recommend this series to those interested in an ongoing mystery series with characters that continue to grow with each offering. They become old friends and I actually become interested in wanting to know more about them. I have a curiosity about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and it has been filled completely by this author.
There are few times I have ever found myself re-reading any book - but I have read all of the prodigious output from Michael Slade at least twice and I can't say this of any other current author.
If you find yourself in need of a good reading diversion - pick this one and all the others up whereever you can find them and give your brain a rollercoaster ride into the imagination of Michael Slade.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Bad
Review: Vile. Atrocious. Ghastly. And that just concerns the quality of the writing. BED OF NAILS is, without question, one of the worst 'novels' ever written. How Penguin Books ever agreed to publish such overesteemed garbage is a mystery.
Rating:
Summary: A new standard of ineptitude
Review: Without question one of, if not the worst books I have ever read. The writing is so ploddingly inept, predictable and devoid of basic flow and struture that you wonder if it is merely a first draft by a bad writer that somehow escaped an editor. Of all the books out there, I can think of no conceivable reason for anyone to ever bother picking up this piece of crap and attempting to read it. The only thing that is more alarming than how bad the book is would be the number of people here singing its praises. Anyone who thinks this is a good book is a moron.
Rating:
Summary: Ouch, is this awful
Review: Wow. Wow. Has the authors ever even read a book before?
Atrocious writing. Abysmal. Laughable. Inane. Gawdawful.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK TO DEVOUR...
Review: You have to give the writing team of Michael Slade credit...no one does the graphic novel as well. This father and daughter have given us the tenth in this series, and "Bed of Nails" is a book to devour. Cannibalism is the main focus in this one, but it's also the intense plot and that charming Zinc Chandler that propel this novel into its dark and blood-curdling ending. Slade gives us another well-researched book, this time offering us information on the various cannibalistic tribes of the world; the voyages of Captain Cook; and even some delightfully trivial information on certain horror films. The addition of the Horror Convention adds some fun atmosphere, as well. While not quite as fast paced as some of his earlier Special X novels, the story is interesting, and even though the identity of the Goth is no real surprise, it does have its twists. At least this time Zinc comes out relatively unscathed for a change. Is "The Congo Man" our next Special X book..the ending with the Ripper certainly forbodes it. Delightfully written, and admittedly gory, "Bed of Nails" is another winner in the Special X series. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating: 
Summary: Another good thriller in the Special X series
Review: Zinc and I meet again for another adventure with Special X. This is a series, so it is best to start from book one, and move on. They are all quick and facinating reads. I thought it was a neat idea to use a previous killer in this book, but he is locked away in a mental ward. It was a bit too obvious who was doing the dirty work for him, but none the less, it was a well researched book, dealing with cannabalizim in the Cook Islands. It is a must read for any Slade fan, and if you havent gotten into this series, you should. They are wonderful books. I feel like the characters are my best friends. In previous books, Slade gives alot of detail about the characters, and their personal lives. This book did not really develope the characters any more, which is one of the only complaints I have about it.
Rating:
Summary: Another good thriller in the Special X series
Review: Zinc and I meet again for another adventure with Special X. This is a series, so it is best to start from book one, and move on. They are all quick and facinating reads. I thought it was a neat idea to use a previous killer in this book, but he is locked away in a mental ward. It was a bit too obvious who was doing the dirty work for him, but none the less, it was a well researched book, dealing with cannabalizim in the Cook Islands. It is a must read for any Slade fan, and if you havent gotten into this series, you should. They are wonderful books. I feel like the characters are my best friends. In previous books, Slade gives alot of detail about the characters, and their personal lives. This book did not really develope the characters any more, which is one of the only complaints I have about it.
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